English in for a race?

Dr Dee, I feel bad that I dismissed your endorsement of Kathy Dahlkemper so off-handedly (is that a word?) It appears that for once the Democrats are interested in putting up a serious challenge against Phat Phil. I'm shocked, but I guess they see this whole Bush-driven negative-Repulican backlash thing as making Phil vulnerable.

Personally, I couldn't believe it when Phil got elected back in 1992, after Ridge vacated the seat. From what I recall, the Erie County Democrats, with Ian Murray acting as the party director at the time, badly mismanaged the race and ended up sending three or four fairly strong candidates against each other, which split the vote up here and allowed a badly underqualified guy from Mercer or Butler - Bill Leavens I think was his name, to walk away with the Democratic nomination. Phil, who I always thought came off as a clown (of course, I felt the same way about George W., so that shows what I know), ended up crushing Leavans in November and hasn't looked back since. Sure, Ronnie DiNicola gave it another go in 1996, but he was a bit too California for people around here, not to mention the Mercer County area where I was living at the time.

I will say Phil has managed to fix up his image, at least in my eyes, during his years in office, and I'm interested to see how the Dems will attack him. I guess I could say I'm also disappointed that it has taken the Dems so long to mount a serious campaign against him. I mean has it really taken everyone this long to figure out that Bush and his cronies have been mucking things up? Phil's been in office for like 15 years and the best you could come up with was Stephen Porter? Come on. Now that the guy is finally gaining some serious seniority, experience, and allies, you want to throw him out. Oh well, maybe some fresh air would be good.

Cheers.

Ralph

Charles I of England

Part One

A study of Charles I of England is quite useful in this modern age.

It all happened in the first half of the 1600s. Much like our own President Bush/Cheney, Charles I was an advocate of the Divine Right of Kings.

According to Wikipedia, Charles' "last years were marked by the English Civil War, in which he was opposed by the forces of Parliament, which challenged his attempts to augment his own power, and by Puritans, who were hostile to his religious policies and Catholic sympathy."

Sounds familiar. We've got the Iraq War--which is clearly a Civil War---that is threatening to spill over into Iran, Israel, and Turkey. We've got a Democratic Congress who is (at least on paper) hostile to Bush's edicts, and we've got the Christian Right, who has grown increasingly dissatisfied with King George's various policies.

We've also got a president who, at every turn, has tried to gain more power for the presidency. Dick Cheney, in particular, has been very clear about his notion that Presidential Authority trumps everything...even the US Constitution.

Part Two

Wiki continues: Charles "remained defiant by attempting to forge an alliance with Scotland and escaping to the Isle of Man. This provoked a second Civil War (1648 - 1649) and a second defeat for Charles, who was subsequently captured, tried, convicted, and executed for high treason. The monarchy was then abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was declared. Charles's son, Charles II, became King after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660."

In other words, the more powerful Charles became, the more he thought he was above the law. Turned out he wasn't. Eventually, the people caught up to him and "took care of business" by separating his head from his body.

Now, I'm not suggesting that Bush will be tried, convicted, and beheaded. Instead, I want to conjure up a separate troubling point discussed on this blog a few days ago: The US has inherited the monarchy that England trashed four hundred years ago.

The first piece of evidence is that the current US president behaves like King Charles. And, as Ralph pointed out, we may--if Hilary Clinton is elected--be in a position where we could be under the reign of either a Clinton or Bush for 28 years in a row (Bush I: 4; Clinton I: 8; Bush II: 8; Clinton II: possibly 8).

Is that a democracy or a monarchy? It's rule by blood, so I'd say the latter.

It seems we've inherited entirely too much from England on this count...even governing parts of England that the English didn't want.

Part Three

Finally, this article from The Economist describes the circumstances of Charles I's execution. It's worth reading.

DDDDDDDDDDDDD

Socialism vs. Communism

Ralph,

Your comments on Socialism vs. Communism are accurate, from what I've been reading.

Basically, Socialism is the notion that the community should own and control the means of production and the distribution of wealth.

Communism takes that idea further, taking most (all?) private property away from the individual, turning it over to the state. Bad idea.

From my view, Communism goes too far, because who can trust the State to behave equitably?

Like Communism, Capitalism can go too far as well, and should be resisted at certain points. For example, there are multi-billion-dollar conglomerates that own many (most?) of the companies in the world. When this happens, you have too much power in the hands of too few.

For example, there is a company called Diageo that owns Tanqueray, Bailey's, Guinness, Smirnoff, and several other brands. This is not unusual (I read a book about these conglomerates several years ago...The bottom line is that it's hard to compete against these investment companies, so we don't see many new brands [except for wineries]).

Isn't it ironic? Competition is at the heart of Capitalism, but Capitalism, taken to its extreme, becomes Communism, where a few big companies take control, making decisions that effect everyone.

Personally, I like a blend of Socialism and Capitalism. It's good to have State Parks, for example, don't you think? And it's good to have the Allegheny National Forest as public lands (rather than some rich dude's 500,000 acre estate).

At the same time, it's important for average people to own their own homes and their own plots of land. Private ownership is critical to personal liberty. It is also critical for the economy.

Out.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Nature Boy

Check out this mezmorizing performance by Nat King Cole.

Here's a Web site about the guy who wrote the song. Apparently, he was one of the country's first hippies, like way back in the 1940s.

Cheers.

X

Good vs. Evil

The latest Game of the Century, is the most intriguing mid-season NFL-game that I can remember in some time. Seriously, you have two teams, both of which could potentially go undefeated if they weren't playing each other this week. Then, you've got the history between them over the past few years, and finally, you've got a whole good vs. evil undertone.

I mean, everybody loves the Colts, and if you don't, it's probably just because they are so squeaky clean, they make you sick. Kinda' like Roger Staubach back in the day. Peyton Manning is by all accounts a good guy, who lives, sleeps, eats, and breathes football (and he's really funny in commercials). Coach Tony Dungy is a renowned Christian and a sympathetic figure whose son committed suicide. Their best defensive player is 5-8 and he's from Erie...

And then, there's the bad guys. Cheatin' Bill Belichick and super model/actress fuckin' Tom Brady. Dope smokin' Randy Moss. A team that has such a chip on its shoulder that it feels the need to run up the score every week just to prove its dominance. I really hope the Colts kick their ass this week, if just to increase the Patriots bloodlust and set the stage for much bigger game in January-when the shit really counts.

Either way, the morality play that will occur on the field on Sunday is one of reasons I love sports. It should be fun.

Cheers.

Ralph

Pro Sports Parity

It's interesting, but the way the Patriots and Colts are running roughshod through the NFL, with a showdown set for Sunday, you could argue that there is less parity in the salary-cap controlled NFL right now than there is in free-enterprise driven professional baseball, where of eight playoff teams, only one was a repeat from last year. Communism, once again, is going to be defeated.

U.S. Becoming Third World

Interesting story about the Argentinian former first lady who was elected president yesterday. Sound familiar? Was listening to an NPR report on the story this morning and someone from Argentina was quoted as saying how in Latin America power seems to consolidate in the hands of a few and how this made them nervous. Then, I remember reading somewhere a couple weeks ago how the election of Hillary, who seems to be the front-runner, would cement over 20 years of rule by the Bush-Clinton dynasty. And, you wonder why we can't/won't catch Osama bin Laden.

Cheers.

Ralph

Kathy Dahlkemper vs. Phil English

The Times-News ran an article announcing Kathy Dahlkemper's bid for Phil English's house seat.

She could win. The Dahlkempers know a lot of people....

I predict she will have widespread support in Erie County.

Personally, I'd vote for her.

DDDDDDDDDDDD

Hitler mustache

This is a tremendously darkly funny article written by a Jewish guy who walked around New York for a week with a the "toothbrush-"/Hitler-mustache. My favorite line is something like, "If you want to be left alone in coach on a crowded airplane, wear a Hitler mustache." Anyhow, it's got great laugh-out-loud lines like that, while all along enveloping the tragedy that was Hitler. Sad and funny -always a great combo.

Cheers.

Ralph

The Adventures of "Girls Gone Wild Creator" Joe Francis

I've been fascinated with the dealings of Joe Francis, creator of the Girls Gone Wild DVDs.

For me, a guy like Francis is a case study in karma. I mean, how long can you go around coercing drunken young women into taking off their bikinis without any consequences?

You know what I mean? These girls have fathers and brothers. Wouldn't you be afraid that someone would find you and kick the shit out of you? I would.

And if, by pure luck, that never happened, what about all the money you make dealing in such an enterprise? Don't you think that The Man--in whatever form he might take--might actually catch up to you and ask you to "pay to play"? Shouldn't you be ready for that?

And finally, hanging out with scantily clad coeds is going to lead to sex of one kind or another. Don't you think that some of the women (in conjunction with their angry families) might eventually sue you? You better have the checkbook ready for them, too.

As it stands now, Francis is in jail on a contempt of court violation: he doesn't want to pay the family of one of the girls, whom they claim was underage.

But, in reality, he wants to be there, because there are lots of people after him. Surprise, surprise. He's safer in jail.

I watched an interview that Greta Van Susteren did with him in prison, and he is quite a showman...he managed to choke out some tears and otherwise pretend to be incredulous that all this could be happening to him. Almost made me feel sorry for him...

But he built his own cage and that's where he now lives. Strikes me as another sociopath (see our conversation on OJ).

Just wondering whether anyone has followed this character and knows any more than I do about the drama.

Here's my research question (and I'm sure there's been research on this): what makes people into sociopaths? Nature? Nurture? Both? What makes a person so self-interested that he or she will disregard social norms and conventions to get what they want?

I'm going to check out some of the basics and I'll get back to this.

DDDDDDDDDDD

Tire-to-fuel PR

I'm thinking the tire-to-fuel/energy thing might need a new PR agent. I ran a Google on the concept, and the best thing I could find said something about it "burning cleaner than coal," which doesn't seem like a ringing endorsement. And Erie is by no means the first community with concerns about pollution from these types of facilities, which everyone else also seems to think involves burning tires....I think the first thing we need to do is find out who currently has the largest one of these facilties and send someone to visit it. I mean we seem to visit everywhere else for research...

Manufacturing Pollution

Pat Howard had a great column today questioning critics on this tires-to-energy plant planned for the old IP site. He makes a great point about the double standard of our bemoaning the loss of the manufacuting base of old, but also bemoaning the side effects of new manufacturing proposals. He even brings up the smell from Hammermill, which, of course, was my first thought when people started protesting this tire-burning plant. Dr.D, as both an environmentalist and somebody who grew up in the shadow of the 'Mill, do you have any thoughts on this? Do your parents like the fresh air, or would they rather see economic development in their neck of the woods? Any other Eastsiders out there?

X

Coming Up Big In The Clutch

Congratulations to Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett who is establishing himself as one of the greatest clutch pitchers of all-time. If you, remember, back in 2003, this was the kid that shut down the Yankees in game six at Yankee Stadium to clinch the World Series for the Marlins. This is the first time he's been back in the playoffs since, and after becoming the first 20-game winner in the majors in two years during the regular season, he's been even better in the playoffs. After last night, he's 3-0, with an ERA somewhere south of 1.50, and he has both the Sox wins vs. the Indians.

Which brings us to the age old quesiton, why do some guys perform better in the clutch than others? I mean, why does A-Rod, for example, or even C.C. Sabathia for this year's Indians, seem to choke in big games, while guys like Beckett and the erstwhile Manny Ramirez turn it up a notch. Is this a psychological thing? If so, what charateristics do Beckett and Manny share, and the same for A-Rod and C.C? Has there been any work or study done on this? The other day, Dr. D made a comment about a field of study that looked at gaps between planning and reality, how about something on clutch-performing? I would think this topic could cover a wider spectrum that sports. I mean, are there doctors that seem great in routine procedures, but choke when a real challenge shows up in the OR? Are there lawyers that are better in high-pressure trials than others? And if so, why? and what can we do to help those that can't perform under pressure?

Just wondering...

Cheers.

Ralph

Forward Hall is Back

Apparently, Erie's Froward Hall is back online. That's terrific news.

Donna the Buffalo and Sim Redmond are slated for November 9.

For more information, visit Forward Hall .

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Erie Driving Range

Erie Golf Course is back in the news today, and it's probably a good time for that. Remember, this is the place the city spent $2 million upgrading under the previous administration, and then when the new guys came in, they closed it, despite the $2 million in debt still sitting on the books. Well, despite what it's detractors say, I loved the course, the layout, the bar, the whole place was pretty cool. It was no country club, but for a publinx, it could hold its own.

It now seems the city has offered the golf course to Millcreek in exchange for the land needed to expand the airport runway, which would theoretically run through the current Millcreek Golf Course. Oh, yes, and the City wants the County to take on the $2 million in debt, pay it off with slots/gaming revenue, I guess... Seems like a good plan, but for a couple of details:

1. Millcreek Golf Course is a superfund site, which means its construction was funded because it was built on a toxic waste dump. There is no guarantee that the powers that be will agree to building an airport runway there, although according someone in the know (quoted in the article I linked to), there is a good chance this could be worked around. I'm all in favor of the proposed workaround.
2. Erie Golf Course has been labeled a "money loser." Now, whether you could make money up there or not is open to debate. Yes, it was losing money when the City closed it, but it had also only been open with the redesign for a year and the new holes were still growing in. Millcreek, however, seems to think that if they were to install a $25,000 range, they could make the place profitable. This is interesting, because I've always questioned why a range wasn't included in the original upgrade. I mean if you want to have a first-class course, one that you're investing $2 million in, could you not at least include a range, especially if it only costs $25,000? I'm a bit skeptikal about how realistic the discussed range plan is, but once again it sounds great. The other odd thing is that Millcreek seems reluctant to fund the range, even though they would theoretically be profiting from it.

In conclusion, this plan looks great when discussed on paper; however, this seems to be the case with an inordinate number of other recent failed projects as well.

Cheers.

X

Putting

The key for me putting well today was taking my time and really thinking about putting. Instead of putting all my focus on hitting strong shots, I really thought about making my putts and how each shot was going to set up my putting. Then I found myself actually trying to make my putts for a change, thinking about them and taking my time, instead of just stabbing blindly and hoping they went in. I'm not sure how much damage this did to the rest of my game, as I didn't hit the ball particularly stellar, but that could just be because I haven't played that much this year.

Anyways, it was very satisfying to make some putts, and when I missed, to actually be consistently close for a change. Of course, the greens we played on, at the Stafford Country Club outside Rochester, were wonderful. Smooth and pretty fast, with some interesting hills to them. I'm not sure if the good fast greens actually helped my stroke or not, but maybe that contributed.

Cheers.


X

Monster in Wheelchair

Ran into this video on the local cable access channel of the weekend.

Champions of Faith

This was kind of a cool movie we saw last night. It's like a documentary about Catholic professional baseball players. St. George, our parish, put on a screening of it last night. I was pleasantly suprised at the high quality of the production.

The most intriguing part of the film was a story told by Dodgers third base coach Rich Donnelly. Donnelly is a former Pirates third base coach whose daughter died from a brain turmor a few years back. Before dying, however, she made what turned out to be a very prophetic off-the-cuff comment about the "chicken runs at midnight." If you're in to that kind of paranormal thing, here's a story about it.

Tribe Wins

Beautiful morning, but it's bitchin' cold out. There is a gorgeous blue jay frolicking outside my window Speaking of baseball, in case you didn't see it, as the game ended pretty late, the Indians pulled off a tremendous 11-inning win over the Bosox last night. I must admit, this Indians team has really won me over. There is no quit in them. A real scrappy bunch. (I'll limit myself to two cliches.) They got pummeled in game 1, twice had the Red Sox come back on them last night, but kept fighting until they got to the Red Sox' weakness- poor Eric Gagne (pronounced Gone-yea). By all accounts, this ex-hockey playing Canadian is a great guy, but his three-month tenure with the Red Sox has been a disaster. Only fitting he took their first playoff loss last night... If Sam Adams were still hangin' around Boston and was a Red Sox fan, instead of a revolutionary, you can bet Mr. Gagne would have been at least hanged in effigy and perhaps tarred and feathered... probably sent back to Canada as a Torey, as well.

Cheers.

X

Pumpkin Time

Cool pumpkin carvings...

Kathleen Parker and Samuel Johnson

This Samuel Johnson character was apparently quite a wit. He is the author of one of my favorite quotes: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Today's Kathleen Parker column that appears on the opinion page of the Erie Times-News, does a nice job reflecting on some of the substance behind Johnson's quote. Parker actually never mentions the quote, but her discussion of Barack Obama's refusal to wear a flag lapel pin embodies the concept. She basically says Obama is against showy patriotism vs. "real" patriotism. She then goes on to discuss the importance that trinkets and symbols have come to have in our fear-driven society. It's a very interesting two-side article.

By the way, Johnson also coined the phrase, "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." But we'll leave discussion on that to a drunken night sometime in the future.

Cheers.

X

Community College

A few quick points today:
1. Got a great night sleep last night. Felt like I was coming down with something with the change of the weather. Baby has been sick for a couple weeks and waking up sometimes at night. After a solid hour-long dose of Rob Hoff's jazz show on WQLN last night, he slept for 11 hours straight. Gave me a chance to stretech my back out and get some solid uninterrupted sleep.
2. If you haven't heard it, Hoff's show is amazing and consistently strong. Soup, if you're out there, check out if you have a copy of the Haitian Fight Song by the Charles Mingus Big Band. Blew me away the other night and based on your personal knowledge of Haiti, I thought you might get a kick out of it.
3. I've followed through with my vow, for a couple days, at least, of not watching any professional sports. I have also cut down my time on the sports pages. Not that there has been much going on. I did read an interesting article on the Pitt loss to Navy last night.
4. Oh yes, and the Bills have managed to piss off JP Losman. Not surprising.
5. Finally, I'm in favor of this local community college idea. I think education is a great business. Look how well LECOM has done, (financially, at least). I guess, we should probably talk to some of the other two-year schools in the area and find out why/if they are struggling, but I think, Mercyhurst North East, for example, is doing great. A state funded conglomerate of trade schools and some JUCO stuff, should do well.
6. One more thing: This guy has some amazing content on his Web site. He's an old-school journalist, with a very intense style. It looks like he's retired in Erie after a long and adventerous career. I think he's on the list of people I'd like to meet.

Cheers.

Ralph

M. Night Shyamalan

It's funny how life works. Since we moved to the Greater Philly area, we've suddenly found ourselves watching the movies of Manoj Night Shyamalan.

Born in India and raised in Philadelphia, Shyamalan has quite an impressive movie resume. In addition to The Sixth Sense, which most people know, he has a slew of other excellent movies.

For example, a few weeks ago, we watched The Lady in the Water, which is basically about a mermaid ("undine," in the pagan lexicon). Very well done.

Then we watched Unbreakable, which stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. It is about comic book super heroes.

My students want to watch Signs for Halloween (I let them pick any movie and that's what they picked). I haven't seen it yet, but it stars Mel Gibson and it's about crop circles.

He also wrote and directed The Village, starring John Hurt. I thought it was very good, as well.

So, if you're at your local Movie Stop and you're not sure what to get, check out one of the films by M. Night Shyamalan. He writes tight scripts and certainly attracts big-name acting talent.

Out.

DDDDDDDDDDDDD

Hot Fuzz

This is one of the best dark comedies I've seen recently. Starts out a little slow-to-medium, but if you stick with it, it will both blow your mind and have you laughing out loud. Check it out if you're in the mood. (Oh yes, and you have to deal with two hours of some pretty heavy English accents.)

Cheers.

Ralph

Solo Home Runs and an end-of-summer poem

There's obviously some serious sorting out to do after the crazy dual-events of last night. First off, the Yankees left 11 men on base, while hitting three solo home runs to account for three of their four runs. Call it what you want: lack of team spirit, no clutch hitting, but the Bronx Bombers didn't deliver the goods. I know I came out in favor of the Wang start, but that was obviously the wrong start, as Mussina, who came on in relief was much sharper. Dr.D made the battle cry last month not to give up on the Moose, and it looks like he was right, while Torre and I were wrong.

As a result, it may be time for Torre to go. Yeah, he's been a great steadying hand for all these veterans over the years, but the new Yankees and the future of the Yankees are the kids: Hughes, Chamerlain, Melky, Cano, Kennedy, etc. We'll keep Jeter around, cuz he's Jeter, but I'm up for a house cleaning on the rest: Giambi, Abreu, A-Rod, even Jorge, Mussina, Clemens, Rivera (sadly). It's time to move on and build a young team that will stick together and not hit solo homers while leaving men on base in other situations. And Joe Girardi is that guy to build that team. I know it's not all as simple as it sounds, but that would be my ultimate vision.

As for the Bills, forget about it. (Check out my prediciton from a couple days ago.) They still have some of the best fans in the league and will be formidable at home as long as their fans turn out and cheer like they did last night. That place can be a scary place for opposing teams, and the Cowboys sure got a scare put into them.

Warning: attempted verse ahead
Finally, as the dark clouds moved in this morning, on the heels of yesterday's very summer-like 85-degree day , I went outside to take the cushions off the swing in the back yard. I could feel the fall chill rolling in with the clouds and thought I saw a green leaf turn to orange right before my eyes. As the breeze pushed me toward the garage, I began to brace myself for another long, cold Erie winter, and I felt my eyes well up, for it hit me that I might not be pulling those cushions out again for another six months.

For me last night marked the end of another glorious summer, the end of the baseball year, and the end of hope... at least until next year!

Cheers

Ralph

Gouge My Eyes Out

Yes, as DrD just posted, it was an amazing confluence of professional sports events/disaters tonight. When my neighbor and I arrived at the Mannechor at about 9 p.m. the night seemed so promising. Yes, the Yanks were down 0-4 or something, but the night was young and there was no reason to think we couldn't hit Paul Byrd after all. And the Bills were beating the Cowboys..

But as the night ran down, around midnight, it was apparent the Yankees were going to lose, undone by a lack of clutch hitting. And the Bills game, yes, it was absolutely amazing. How many chances indeed did they want to give the Cowboys and their old coach Wade Phillips? I was literally screaming at the TV that they should run the ball three times, go for the field goal and make it a two score game. But little did it matter. A head butted on-side kick, two open down and outs, and two 52-yard field goals in a row and it was all over. The Bills made it a one-score game, but the Cowboys scored twice anyhow.

I guess the bottom line is that it's pro sports, and it's all about entertainment. Even though both were tough losses to take, at least I was entertained. I drank my Blue Moons, watched both games simultaneously, and, really, it's all Bread and Circuses, itsn't it?

Cheers.

Ralph

Bills Lose; Yanks Lose

Romo turns the ball over six times and the Bills still can't manage to win?

And why were the Bills throwing the ball late in the game when they were in field goal range? Their offense wasn't doing shit and that three points would have meant the difference in the game, but they put it up and it gets picked. Who is coaching this team?

And, in baseball, when I finally root for the Evil Empire against the Western Hordes, the Yankee bats go silent.

I'm sure Ralph is crying in his beer....it's a tough night to be a Bills fan AND a Yankees fan.

Go Red Sox....I'm going to bed.

DDDDDDDDDDD

The kid comes through

Yankees' rookie right-hander Phil Hughes saved our ass yesterday, throwing three-and-a-third shutout innings after our horse, veteren Roger Clemens, had to leave due to leg/arm/old-age problems. At least Clemens went out with a K, if his career is to end with that outing. Hughes, a 21-year-old kid came off the bench with the Yanks down 0-2, and when Joba came to relieve him, the Yanks were up 8-3. (The run he gave up was a guy Clemens' put on base). They won 8-4.

Hughes, who was kind of hot-and-cold this year for the Yanks, struck out four and walked none, which are the kind of strike-out-to-walk numbers he put up consistently in the minors before his call up. Big clutch performance last night.

It was good to see because Hughes seemed like a class act when he visited Erie a couple years ago. He was pitching for Trenton, the Yankees' double-A team, and threw five scoreless innings against the Seawolves in the first game of a doubleheader. He was pretty well known then as "a phenom," and to accomadate the fans, between games, he stood against the wall next to the Thunder dugout and made himself available for autographs. He must have signed at least 50, but was polite and took his time with each one. We were near the end of the line, and he signed my son's mitt for him and made the usual small talk. My son used the mitt all year, we used to joke that is was a Philip Hughes autograph model. We also used to joke, that Joey had a better year pitching than Hughes, well, until now.

Tonight the Yanks are coming back with Wang, on three-days rest, going against Paul Byrd, the veteran journeyman right-hander for the Tribe. I'll go on record as saying I'm in favor of the Wang move. He usually pitches on four days rest and got shelled in the opener Thursday. However, he's a sinkerball specialist, so he doesn't necessarily have to throw hard to be effective. Sometimes, they say overthrowing, like when you're pumped up for the playoffs, can harm a sinkerballer. Plus, he's been a much better pitcher at home this year than on the road and tonight is our final home game of the series either way. Byrd, with his old school wind-up is fun to watch, but tonight I'll be cheering for the Yanks to hit him.

A final note: The heart of the Yankes line-up Jeter, A-Rod, and Posada, primarily, have very much struggled, but, as I've said all year, the bottom of our line-up with Cano and Melkey, and Matsu last night, has to be the strongest bottom-third in the league. Of course, Damon's strong game at the top of the order dovetailed into a good performance by the bottom third and helped us produce 8 runs. Eight runs is good, and I'd like to see a total like that again tonight.

Cheers.
Ralph

Jewel

Just finished watching a PBS Sound Stage episode on Jewel. Wow, what an artist. She kind of looks like just some normal blonde chick singer, but then she opens her mouth, and the shit, wonderful shit I mean, that comes out. She's a great singer, but aside from her voice, the words she throws out and the phrasing she uses really captivate me. She doesn't seem to mess around too much, really tries to hit you with what's on her mind and seems like a pretty serious person.

I dug her first CD back in the day, but I can't really listen to it anymore. However, tonight it was kind of nice hearing her do a couple songs from it. She has really matured and grown as an artist and her voice has grown up as well. She can make those old songs sound even more soulful. She also mixed in some pretty solid new stuff. I would almost say she delivered about 70% of her material (at least until she brought out the orchestra) in a very similar manner, but the subtle changes that she would make had such intensity that she was able to pull it off beautifully. I'll have to say I liked the acoustic stuff better than the orchestra, but the whole thing was worth watching.

Anyone else have any opinions on Jewel. Is she as underrated as I think?

Sidenote: I guess it's back to the Yanks tomorrow at home, and the joint will be rocking. We really need A-Rod to get some hits!

Cheers.

Ralph

Drats, gnats

The Indians turned to their secret weapon last night: insects. It's hard to believe that gnats are still active in October, but that's global warming, I guess.

Joba should have taken a time out and called for a towel. Either that, or Joe Torre or Ron Guidry (or Posada) should have called time out and taken a towel out to Joba. It was clear that he was being attacked by bugs, and he kept trying to wipe his face on his sleeve, and his sleeve was covered with bug spray. It was a freakin' mess.

With the man on third, I kept saying, "Call time out and wipe your face and hands with a towel." But he never did. Then he threw several pitches in the dirt, allowing the runner to score.

Joba's face and neck were covered with bugs. It looked like he was in hell.

So, my little venture into rooting for the Yankees has been met with misery. Who knows? Maybe they can win three in a row...

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDd

Super Bowl Trivia

Aside from being the only NFL coaches ever to lose four Super Bowls, what do Bud Grant (Vikings) and Marv Levy (Bills) have in common?


Answer: They each won Grey Cup championships in the CFL. Must be some kind of a jinx. After the Hugh Campbell disaser in Houston, I don' t know that another CFL coach will ever get a shot.

Cheers.

Ralph

Travis Henry

I know we just had a Ricky Williams post and now Travis Herny, what do you know? Anyhow, it's kind of fashionable for people in the media, and some Bills fans I guess, to bemoan the fact that the Bills basically wrote Henry's ticket out-of-town when they drafted Willis McGahee after Henry had just given them a 1,400-yard, 14-TD season. While McGahee was busy rehabbing his knee in 2003, Henry followed up with a 1,300-yard, 11-TD season that he played half of with a broken leg. The Bills then gave McGahee the starting job a few games into the next season and I believe Travis walked for nothing (the Bills got nothing for him) at the end of the year.

But, you see, it turns out the Bills knew things. The next season, when he tried to come back with Tennessee, he was suspened for four games for smoking pot and never got untracked. Then, last season, he kicked ass, including a big game against the Bills to kill our playoff hopes near the end of the year. And, this offseason, he signed huge contract with Denver and burst out of the gates, leading the league in rushing after four games. Now, it looks like he's going to be suspended for a whole year for failing a drug test.

Talk about a conumdrum. The Bills were truly damned if they did and damned if they didn't regarding Henry. But, trying to replace him with McGahee? Well, that was Donahoe, and he's gone now. At least Marshawn Lynch looks like a good back, even if the rest of the team has deteriorated to the point where it doesn't matter much.

Anyways, I thought about Henry after reading this great blurb on him in Sports Guy Bill Simmons' column: "I thought pot killed sperm cells? How many kids would this guy have sired if he wasn't a fan of the Mary Jane? 20? 30? And did you ever think the same person could potentially shatter Shawn Kemp's fertility records and Ricky Williams' drug test records? Put it this way: You are making a STRONG statement when you purchase a Henry jersey right now. You're basically saying, "I love pot, I love sex, and your dad would have a heart attack if he knew I was dating you.")

That's it for now.

Ralph

Yanks walloped

The Yanks didn't perform in the clutch last night, and the Indians did. Bottom line. The key to winning in the playoffs is getting hits with two outs. Last night 40-year-old Kenny Lofton, who I figured was way over-the-hill, pulled out some magic and drove in five runs. The first two came on a bases loaded single with two outs that put the Indians up 4-1. After pulling within 4-3 and loading the bases with one out a couple innings later, Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia delivered, Yankees hitters Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui did not. Indians held the lead, then exploded for five runs in the next inning. Game over.

Playoff baseball is wierd. Sabathia, who was a phenominal control pitcher all years, like a 10-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, walked six in five innings. But, he rose to the occasion and managed to pitch his way out of jams. The Indians won. Yankees starter Chien Ming Wang failed to deliver in a big start for the second time in a row. A couple weeks ago, coming off a big comeback win that pulled the Yankees a game or two away from Boston for first place, Wang was scheduled to go against Josh Beckett, the Red Sox ace, in a match-up that was billed as the "Battle for the Cy Young," of course, leaving Sabathia out of the picture. Wang got shelled. The guy just might not have the make-up to be an ace, a number one starter. He might be better cast as a number two guy that can hide behind the ace who deflects all the attention. Unfortunately, all the other potential Yankees aces are too old or too young right now. We're going to need a strong game from Pettite tonight to keep from going down 0-2. Going into the series, I liked our chances better last night that this one, but we'll see. Fausto Carmona, Indians 19-game winning sinkerballer goes tonght.

Cheers.

Ralph

1973 Vikings

DrD:

Check this out. How about them licks they're puttin' on Staubach? And you're right about Fran looking like one of the greatest of all-time in this video. I'm not sure they make 'um like they used to.

Cheers.

Ralph

49ers, Montana, Walsh

I don't know why I feel compelled to write this... but a couple days ago, we were trying to figure out greatest NFL quarterbacks, and of course, Joe Montana came up. I don't know if everyone remembers this, but when Montana led the 49ers to their improbable Super Bowl victory in 1981, no one had ever heard of the West Coast offense before. We've certainly heard a lot about it since.... I mean those things just didn't happen in those days. Throughout the '70s, the NFL was basically controlled by a handful of teams, the Steelers, Dolphins, Cowboys, Rams, Vikings, Raiders, and Rams. The Broncos and Redskins I think each snuck into the Super Bowl once, but they were always solid, good playoff contending teams. The 49ers and Montana, well, they came out of nowhere. They went from back-to-back 2-14 seasons (one of which they didn't even have a first-round pick after because they traded it to the Bills for O.J.) to 6-10, to Super Bowl champions. After that, they were pretty much a power for the next 20 years. When you come from such humble beginnings to achieve such great heights, people take notice, which is what they did of 49ers coach Bill Walsh and his West Coast offense. Some form of this offense is now probably used by at least half the teams in the league. But at that time...

Well, at that time, it was all about establishing the run, then throwing deep off the play action. All the aforementioned power teams of the '70s had great power running games. The West Coast offense turned the accepted offensive theory of the day on its head. It established the short passing game first and used that to open up the run. And, Montana, who was a third-round pick because he didn't have the classic big arm needed to throw the long ball, acceled in the accuracy-driven West Coast system.

In three years, he went from rookie back-up, to being a starter halfway through his second year, to a Super Bowl champion. And the 'Niners never looked back. In fact, it was the rest of the league that was looking ahead and them and saw the future.

Obviously, Montana excelled in the West Coast offense, but he was also kind of the right guy, in the right place, at the right time. Suppose Tampa Bay had taken him two picks earlier, instead of the erstwhile Rick Berns, a halfback from Nebraska, who I don't remember if he ever played a single down in the NFL? Would San Francisco have taken hometown kid Steve Dils from Stanford, who ended up going to the Vikes in the 4th round, and tried to run the West Coast offense through him? And as Montana settled into the kind of mediocrity that plagued Archie Manning with the Saints, would Dils have emerged as a superstar? These are the kind of questions that kill me.

Anyways, suffice to say that Walsh and Montana were certainly a breath of fresh air in 1981 and that the NFL has not been the same since. The only thing I can compare it to is when the Bears unveiled the Wing-T in the 1940 NFL Championship game and whupped the Redskins, a team they had lost to only a couple weeks earlier, 73-0. Reportedly, soon after that, everyone else in the league had their own version of the Wing-T.

That's about it. Long live the 49ers and the glorious days of Joe Montana.

Ralph

Ricky Williams

Part of me is hoping that Ricky Williams can make a comeback in the NFL. At the same time, he seems to like the ganja too much to gain reinstatement.

It makes me wonder---is he the only guy in the NFL that smokes weed? That seems absurd. Why isn't anyone else in trouble over marijuana?

And don't some of these guys take steroids? What's the deal with that? Suspend a guy for smoking joints, but injection with a needle is okay? How does that work?

Then there is the NBA. From what I've heard, NBA players are notorious for smoking pot. I believe my hero, Robert Parish, sampled it once or twice (among many others).

Does the NBA look away from this problem? I don't know, but it seems like the NFL is singling out Ricky Williams for some reason. Maybe he's too public about it.

Pundits think he might go to Tampa Bay, if reinstated.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Bill-Cowboys

Opening line is Cowboys by 10. This seems like an awful lot for a Monday home game and the Bills have covered both their previous home dates. Granted, it is Wade Philip's chance to gain some revenge on a team that fired him - very unjustly it appears in retrospect, seven years ago. Heck, he made the playoffs two out of three years, and the Bills haven't made the playoff since! Anyhow, I think 10 is a bit much, and I expect the Bills to give the Cowboys a battle before collapsing in the fourth quarter and losing by 7-8.


Ralph

"Editor"

I read recently that the sponsors of Roman gladiators were called "editors." I'm not sure I buy that, but it might be true. I haven't been able to confirm it through a second source.

This is from Oxford English Dictionary:

Editor
1 a person who is in charge of a newspaper, magazine, or multi-author book.
2 a person who commissions written texts for publication.
3 a person who prepares texts or recorded material for publication or broadcasting.
— DERIVATIVES editorship noun.
— ORIGIN Latin, from "edere" meaning to ‘put out’.

Then, I found this NY Times Article from 1915 that discusses the use of the term in various publications. Interesting.

I want to learn where this word originally comes from.

DDDDD

Great Plays (and Players) in the NFL

I didn't watch a lot of football yesterday, but--based on the plays that I did see--I am happy to report that the quality of the game seems to be sky-high. There were some amazing plays!

First, to Ralph's obvious pleasure, Terrence McGee continues to amaze. I watched him knock down a pass that appeared to be 15 feet in the air; his timing was perfect. Then he picked a pass to win the game. Good work.

I didn't see the Vikings loss to the Packers, but I did see a highlight of a Vikes receiver catching a ball over a defender...it was all hands. Really nice.

Then there were some amazing passes: Big Ben threw a couple of nice TD passes yesterday; one was a bomb and the other was a dart. Both very strong. Too bad Whisenhunt has the Steelers' number...

And Brett Favre, what can you say? I love that guy. Even though he slices and dices my Vikings, I still root for him. He is definitely in my top five QBs of all time.

Speaking of top QBs, Caesar Contraras has posted a useful Top Ten List. Check it out and see if you agree.

My top five would be:

1. Montana
2. Favre
3. Marino
4. Manning
5. Elway

Sorry, Fran Tarkenton...

I'm sure there were other great plays on Sunday, I can't account for all of them. I'm just happy to see the athletes excelling at this point in the season.

It's only going to get better.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

French Creek State Park

We went camping this weekend at French Creek State Park. Nice place: 7,500 overall acres, 30 miles of hiking trails, and two lakes.

We slept, hiked, ate sloppy joes, meditated, and watched the faces in the fire. The park is only 42 miles from our apartment, so it is easy for us.

We plan to visit Philly and NYC in the near future. We are also supposed to visit Shimmons in DC sometime soon.

That's the big benefit of living here on the East Coast: everything it relatively close. Philly is less than an hour, NYC is about an hour and a half, DC is about three hours, the ocean is 80 miles, and the Poconos are an hour away. Now we just need the time to check it all out.

I'll keep you posted.

DDDDDD

More Yankees

Rick Sayers, the executive editor over at the Times-News has an interesting perspective on what it's like to be a Yankees fan, especially in an office full of Indians' lovers. Sayers does come off a bit high-handed with comments like "Yankees fans are a special breed." "Winning isn't the first thing, it's the only thing for the Yankees." "When they win, we celebrate their greatness." There's nothing better than being a Yankees fan."

In fact, the first time I read through this column, I almost felt like cheering for the Indians in the upcoming playoff series. Then, I rationalized that I might be being a bit hard on Mr. Sayers. I assume at least part of this is tongue-in-cheek, just to get the goat of the Tribe fans down at the paper. Isn't it?

After all, it's kind of a beautiful metaphor if you think about it: all these proletariat Tribe fans being forced to cowtow to their boss, this monstrously arrogant Yankee fan. And even if the Indians should knock off the Yankees this year in the playoffs, in the long-run they don't stand a chance, because George Steinbrenner will stop at nothing then to get 6-foot-seven lefty C.C. Sabathia in pinstripes. And when the Indians return to the bottom of the heap, due to having fewer resources than a monstrousity like the corporate Yankees, C.C. will be parading down Wall Street after the Yankees win their 40th World Series.... or something like that.

Anyhow, it appears the playoff series will actually start on Thursday, not Wed. as I originally stated in my blog. They implemented a new rule this year than enables the team with the best record in the league to pick the playoff schedule they want to follow. Instead of picking the Thursday start, like most people thought they would, the Red Sox went with the Wed. start. Starting times are not determined yet, however, as the N.L. still has to complete its Wild Card playoff.

Two other stories from today's GoErie site that really sucked:
This woman dying becuase she was late for a plane and US Air wouldn't let her on. I've been there before, but forutnately, my temper didn't escalate far enough to get be arrested, although I can easily see how that could happen.
This hit and run driver really messed two people up at 26th and Hazel last night around 10 p.m.

That's about it for now.

Ralph

Bill-Jets

Well, it's early (and we're playing the Jets), but the Bills are at least moving the ball against the Jets, making first downs, and keeping the defense off the field a little bit. The sustained drive is something we have failed miserably at through the first three games. Maybe Trent Edwards is going to be the Man in Buffalo at QB.

Midway through the 3Q, Bills just scored on a run by rookie Marshawn Lynch, the tough kid from Cal (funny, Edwards is a rookie from Stanford, and our coach is from Yale, and GM from Harvard). Bills up 7-0 and actually have more first downs than the Jets, after running up a 35-74 deficit in this categorey over the past three weeks.

Jets came down and scored to tie it up, Pennington (Jets QB from Marshall) is clutch like that. (He's no Morelli.) But Bills answered with a solid drive and a field goal 10-7. Plus, we're still leading in first downs. Whoopie. We might have a chance hear without having to rely totally on luck, as we were hoping for in the opener vs. the Broncos.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Bills get stuffed on the one on third down, after an interception and facemask call on the Jets give the Bills the ball deep in New York territory. Bills are going for the field goal. As a fan, I was going to say I was agains this, but the Bills changed up, as I'm typing this (following a timeout)- and end up going for it, and scored on a play action fake - Edwards to Gaines, this new tight-end we picked up who has made a few plays. Bills lead 17-7. I guess fans can be right sometimes!

Jets, of course, march right down in score in about three minutes. Even with the time-of-possession and first d0wn advantage (which has now disappeared) our defense is gassed in the fourth quarter - again! Now we've got to see if we can get a couple more first downs to close it out. Should be interesting.

Well, that sucks, Bills went three-and-out. Had a third-and-three after two decent runs, and then threw it. Pass was broken up. No first down, clock stops. Double-sucky-whammy. We have a great punter who got it down field to the 25. Jets have to go like 50 yards to kick and tie it.
-Jets completion for 11 yards
- Jets completion for 4 yards (clock running)
-Jets completion for 2 yards (clock running :52 seconds, tick, tick)
-Third-and-five, swing pass, for gain of one (27 seconds left, Jets call final TO)
-Fourth and three at Jets 44-yard-line. First down near mid-field (21 second left, clock stops top move the chains... must have gone out of bounds)
- Incomplete pass on first down (17 seconds left)
- Second and 10 at the 50, caought and out-of-bounds at Bills 40. That sucks. We let them complete the out. Jets do have a big leg kicker (11 seconds left)
- from shotgun, INTERCEPTION - Terrance Magee - he's a player.

BILLS FINALLY WIN ONE!

Wade Philips and Cowboys coming in next Monday.

Yankees-Indians

Let the Yankee-hating begin. The Bronx Bombers will be opening their 2007 playoffs against none other than the Cleveland Indians, down the road at Jacobs Field. First game match-up looks like a good one, with Yankees 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang (yeah, he last name is Wang, but pronounced Waung) going against Indians Cy Young-candidate C.C. Sabathia. Interestingly enough, Sabathia, a 6-foot-seven, hefty left-hander, has barely pitched against the Yankees in his career. Obviously, he's a helluva pitcher, having thrown 241 innings this year, striking out 209 and walking only 37. A two-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio is usually considered good. The Indians have also won his last six starts, with C.C. picking up wins in five of them.

The Yankees hitters are famously patient, but it doesn't appear that will do them much good vs. C.C. And, of course, having a heavily left-handed team designed to accel at Yankee Stadium won't help much either. Lefties have hit only .203 vs. Sabathia this year. In the Yankees favor, however, is the fact that A-Rod is right-handed.

Other Yankee positives, I think, are that Jacobs field is a power hitters' park and the Yankees led the league in home runs. Also, Wang is a sinker-baller, and if he keeps it down, the Tribe will be pressed to generate offense.

The weather report looks promising with temperatures in the '70s all week, so this should enable the teams to play mid-season-form ball, instead of the much colder, pitching-heavy version of the game that I call Fall Ball. Anyhow, I look for the Yanks and Wang to pull an upset in game one and come away with a 4-3 win.

Check back with me on Thursday.

Ralph

Koehler Landmark

I've pretty much held off saying anything about this Koehler site development stuff because I have a friend that's involved with it. The the letter to the editor that appeared in today's Erie-Times regarding it was kind of amusing. I guess the thing that gets me is the bemoaning of that fact that an "Erie landmark" was destroyed. If old, crumbling, deserted buildings pass for landmarks in this town (and remember the developers reportedly tried to save the building until is was found to be structureally unsound), well let's just say, we are desparetely in need of some re-development. Does anyone realize that the Niagra has been rebuilt like three times and that the current version doesn't contain any of the original materials. Yeah, it's kind of cool to be nostalgic, but stuff gets old and broken down, and sometimes we need to move on.

Speaking of which, the Yankees 20-year-old pitcher Philip Hughes threw six strong innings last night, albiet against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Torre has already announced that Wang and Pettite will start the first two games of the playoffs, and Clemens, assuming he's healthy will likely go the third game. The fourth game will then likely fall to either Hughes or Mussina, who starts tonight. Should be fun.

Ralph

Foust Plan

I think City leaders have to be crapping their pants over this recent proposal by Erie County Councilman Kyle Foust to give the city some $23 million basically for control of the aiport, EMTA, the Zoo, and Erie Golf Course. Clearly, Erie needs the money, but they would be asked to give up control of some of their biggest assets. It would quite a transition of power, but one, in my opinion that needs to get done.

We've been discussing the benefits of a regional government for some years now, and I don't see anything bad about pooling more resources, the region, toward one common goal of a healhy economic community. More people and more resources simply get more things done when working together, than several splinter groups.

Yeah, the city has held a position of power for many years, but (as Dylan says) "Times, they are achangin'." The tax base is moving out to the County, so the County needs to seize control. I know it will be painful for people on City Council (and probably the mayor's office too) to deal with, giving up some of the power they've worked so hard to obtain (you can see some of this in Jenkins' quote in the artcle), but like Nietzsche says, the most honorable thing you can do is give yourself up for the Overman and the greater good, and it's time for the City to capitulate to the County.

I'm not saying Foust is offering the perfect deal, as with all deals there is probably some negotiating that needs to be done to get the City a bigger piece of the pie than what is now on the table. But Foust's concept is sound. Didn't I say yesterday we need to focus on the Airport and Golf Course is we want to attract tourists? EMTA and the Zoo also follow under the same categorey (I think EMTA does at least).

I say we need to move forward with Foust's plan as a step toward a regional government. Let's see what happens.

Cheers.

Ralph

Yankees apologist

I always feel I am defending the Yankees, maybe because I have a guilty consious, or maybe just because people around here seem to hate them. At least the Indians have a better record than the New York-based Evil Empire this year, so that has kept their fans mostly quiet. Although with a New York-Cleveland first-round playoff series looming, it could get ugly if the Yankees win. (I might want to take down that flag I put up last week.) Anyhow, I still here it from Pirate fans how the Yankees are ruining baseball by buying their way into the playoffs every year.

However, this theory would seem to be in contrast with this article that appeared in today's paper, saying that the game is healthier than ever, and in fact, there is more parity than ever.

My basic Yankees aplogogist tenent has been that the Yankees have always bought their way to the top, so they're not ruining anything, rather they are just continuing the tradition of how the professional version of the National Pastime has always been played out. Granted, making the playoffs 13 years in a row is a team records, but it's not that far of a cry from the period of 1949-1964 when the Yankees made the playoffs 14 out of 16 years, and finished second and third the other two years... mearning under today's expanded playoff structure, they likely would have made the playoffs 16 years in a row, and maybe 18 or 19 if you go back to 1947 and/or 1946, because they finished third in 1948, first in '47 and third in '46. If you're really liberal and let a fourth place finish in 1945 slide in, you could say, that if the top four teams in each league always make the playoffs (as conceivably they could today), the Yankees could have conceivably made the playoffs everty year from 1926 to 1964, which is almost 40 straight years.

Just something to think about.

Regards,

Ralph

Yankees clinch?

Sounds like the Yanks area about to clinch a playoff spot tonight for I think the 11th straight year, does that sound right? Since 1995, the year before Torre started, which was also Don Mattingly's last year. The Big Unit, an old nemisis (unfortunately, he remained a nemisis even after we signed him) and his Mariners knocked us out of the playoffs that year. Been in every year since. I guess that's a pretty incredible string, even if you have the highest payroll this side of the Itatian Premier League. However, I might add that the Cowboys, Raiders, Vikings, and Rams all seemed like they had similar streaks in the NFL back when I was a kid. Sooner or later that Yankees will falter won't they. I mean the Bills made four straight Super Bowls and look at them now.

Anyhow, I'm trying to catch the game on WCBS, but because of the rain, the reception blows. I heard the end of a Cano home run that "broke it open." I think their up like 12-1.

Read an intersting column today, don't remember where, the suggested a wild-card play-in round be added to give teams some incentive for winning the division. However, I really don't think we need an extra round of playoffs, seeing how the World Series is already bumping up near the beginning of November. I love baseball and all, but as I said before, we're really starting to get into football season.

Cheers.

Ralph

Airport runway

Slow night in sports, so I'll turn to some local news. You know, you read stories about millions of dollars in government funding being spent on projects that don't make any sense. For example, there is this piece about $2 million being spent to beef up marketing and research associated with PA wines. I don't know about you, but I've tried many and really haven't been able to cultivate a tatse for PA wines. So, maybe the money will be well spent, but I don't know, can't we just leave the wine industry to Napa Valley, where they already know what they're doing?

Anyhow, I just wanted to point out that of all the government funded projects, the expansion of the runway at the Erie Airport seems to make the most sense, yet we seem to having a helluva time getting it done. My most basic logic goes like this: If you are going to invest 100s of millions of dollars in maknig this place a tourism center - and there is still lots of work to be done in that area - you could at least make sure you're airport is capable of getting people here.

It looks like the plans for this runway expansion continue, but that fact that there is still questions about whether or not this gets done really irks me. In my opinion, this should be like priority number one (that and re-opening Erie Golf Course) is we really want to execute on our vaunted tourism strategy.

I'm not sure who this R. Kingen is, but he put together a great letter to the editor that appears in today's paper, asking for an investigation into some of the delays associated with the runway expansion. He seems to blame the failed German cargo airfield deal as acting as a roadblock because it called for a longer runway than would have been otherwise needed and through some extra kinks in the planning. Anyhow, we need to continue to push to get thing done, no matter what the cost, unless someone has a better vision than the tourism thing....

Cheers.

Ralph

Hound of Heaven

The Blood, Sweat and Tears song reminded me of the Francis Thompson poem "Hound of Heaven." You might want to check it out.

I have also written a poem about being relentlessly pursued (I was in grad school at the time, so it fits). I'll dig it out and post it. You'll get a kick out of it. I modeled it after Poe's "The Raven."

In other news, it's good to see the Steelers go to 3-0 (although rooting for the Vikings is a lot like rooting for the Bills these days, I imagine; seems like they find a way to lose more often than not).

DDDDD

Dyin' and such

Been dealin with some issues lately that have tested my courage. At one point last week, somebody asked me if I wasn't afraid I would get shot. Since then, I've had this ole' Blood, Sweat & Tears tune runnin' through my head. Here's the lyrics:

I'm not scared of dying,
And I don't really care.
If it's peace you find in dying,
Well then let the time be near.
If it's peace you find in dying,
And if dying time is here,
Just bundle up my coffin
'Cause it's cold way down there.
I hear that its cold way down their.
Yeah, crazy cold way down their.

Chorus: And when I die, and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on.

Now troubles are many,
they're as deep as a well.
I can swear there ain't no heaven
but I pray there ain't no hell.
Swear there ain't no heaven
and I pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by living,
only my dying will tell.
Yes only my dying will tell.
Yeah, only my dying will tell.

Chorus Give me my freedom for as long as I be.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally.
Oh I want to go naturally.

Here I go,
Hey Hey!
Here comes the devil,
Right Behind.
Look out children,
Here he comes!
Here he comes!
Hey...

Don't want to go by the devil.
Don't want to go by demon.
Don't want to go by Satan,
Don't want to die uneasy.
Just let me go naturally.
and when I die,
When I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born in our world to carry on,
To carry on. Yeah, yeah...
(End)

Yeah, I kinda guezz I got three chitlens in this world to carry on for me. But, my ole' friend Beane, that one goes out to you. We used to listen to Blood, Sweat, and Tears Greatest Hits on the 8-track player in his parents ole' Impala back in the mid-'80s. And we sure the hell weren't scared of dyin then either.

Anyhow, carry on.

Ralph

Steelers' coach

Dr. Dee: Thought you'd get a kick out of this quote from new Steelers' coach Mike Tomlin:

"Wednesday's a big day for us. Thursday's a big day for us. It's not just Sunday,'' he said after a 37-16 win over the 49ers made the Steelers (and Tomlin) 3-0. "The journey's what's important, not the destination.'' (lifted it from Peter's King's column on cnnsi.com)

Tomlin was the Vikings D-coordinator before taking the Stillers job.

X

Football weekend

Just on a quick, cursory glance, looks like I'm 14-5 heading into tonight and Joey is 11-8, so that's a good start for dear ole' Dad... Maybe it has something to due with the official arrival of fall, but it sure started to feel like football this weekend up here in Western PA. Despite the fact the, as Dr.D said, baseball is heading down the stretch run (and the Yanks maintained their 1.5 game deficit behind Bosox and 5.5 game lead over Tiggers for wild card), it's hard to resist the strong call of the pigskin in these parts. I missed both Yankees wins this weekend because of football commitments.

On Friday, at least I was able to resist heading over the Gus Anderson field for the annual Prep-McDowell spat, but that was mainly because Gus is a "field" and not a stadium, and it's pretty hard to get a decent seat unless you show up really early. I just don't have that much invested in that game.

But, for some reason, the Penn State-Michigan game was really calling me Saturday afternoon. I tuned in a few minutes after kickoff and saw some solid, hard-hitting Big 10 football for about an hour and a half. Finally, though, I had to turn it off right at halftime, because both quarterbacks were bad. At least the Michigan kid, a 6 foot-seven, 250-pound freshman, has some potential. This Morelli kid from Penn State, despite JoePa's constant defense of him, looked bad. He is pretty innacurate and missed a sure touchdown by throwing a ball three-feet over a kid's head on a third-down crossing route. You can forgive a lot of things in a quarterback if he's clutch....

Our neighbor had us over yesterday. He, like I, is a Bills' fan, which is rapidly turning into some sort of disease I'd like to get rid of. The Bills got squashed again, but Matt had a great setup with the TV in the backyard, and BBQ going, and the kids all running around playing football and other games around us.

Of course, we were hooting and hollering when the Bills rookie back-up QB came off the bench and led the Bills on a marvelous TD drive to take a 7-3 lead. However, Tom Brady, and our old friend Mr. Moss, as well some other familiar faces like Sammy Morris (another ex-Bill come back to haunt us) and Wes Welker, the former Dolphin scrapper, did us in.

Next week, Bills are at home vs. the Jets, so it could mean a win. That's also the last day of the MLB regular season... On a somewhat related note, we are continuing to enjoy wonderful weather up here. Next two days, they're calling for highs in the mid-'80s, but with this breeze blowing through and the cool nights, as I said last week, you really couldn't ask for more.

Anyhow, hope everyone else had a good weekend, as well.

Cheers.

X

Football picks

My son Joey, 8, and I did our football picks for this week's Money Mania contest (no point spread, just pick winners).

Joey's picks: College: Mercyhurst, Edinboro, Penn State, Uconn, PRO: Baltimore, Jets, San Diego, Kansas City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Indy, New England, Detroit, Cincy, Denver, Cleveland, Carolina, Washington, New Orleans (42 points)

My picks: College: Mercyhurst, 'Boro, Michigan, Pitt, Arizona, Jets, San Diego, KC, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Indy, New England, Philly, Cincy, Jacksonville, Oakland, Carolina, Washington, New Orleans (also, 42 points)

We'll check back on this next week.

The Yankees All-Star Team

I watched a few innings of the Yankees/Blue Jays game yesterday. The Yankees tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth but went on to lose in 14 innings.

I only watch baseball in the fall, which means, more or less, after September 21, so I don't know a lot about the game. But the point I want to make is that watching the Yankees, for me, is like watching an all-star team. Alex Rodriguez is a giant man who has 143 RBI and a shitload of home runs. In fact, the entire lineup is filled with great names: Damon, Jeter, Giambi, Rodriguez, Abreu, Matsui, Posada.

Wow. I wonder how they ever lose. Then I watch the Blue Jays, and the lineup is filled with players I've never heard of. I don't know how other teams manage to beat the Yankees at all, because, as they showed last night in the ninth inning, when the game is on the line, they can send up batter after batter who will make you tremble in your cleats.

Funny thing is, they probably won't win the World Series this year. I say this because they typically have the best team on paper and yet they don't win the World Series year after year. In fact, if I were a betting man, I would bet against them, despite what I've said in this column.

Maybe it's the magic of baseball that keeps one team from winning every year. The bounces are funny and the coaching is crucial. And maybe there is so much talent in the league that the Yankees can't dominate like they once did, even if I haven't heard of the players from the other teams.

DDDDDDDDDDDDD

Belichick genius?

For all this talk about what a genius Bill Belichick is, let's remember, his record with the Patriots before Tom Brady took over as the starting quarterback was 5-13. And is record with the Browns in five years prior to getting fired was 36-44. So, his cumlative record without Tom Brady is 41-57, for a winning percentage of 42%. His record with Brady at the helm, including playoffs, is 85-25, for a winning percentage of 77%. So, who's the genious here?

Also, remember, if Bledsoe never got hurt, who's to say Brady is starting even today? Yes, Belichick had enough wisdom to elevate Brady in his second year to second string, past two incumbent back-ups, but still if Bledsoe doesn't get hurt vs, the Jets in 2001, is Belichick even still coaching the Pats today? So, you wonder why he is insecure and has to cheat.

THE Yaaankeeeeees Win!

Well, if you haven't noticed the Yankees have won 12 out of 14 and pulled within 1 1/2 of the Red Sox, who are apparently waiting to turn Manny loose until they really have to. I suspect that Sox may be a better team than the Yanks with Manny in the line-up, but if he's not there, they are definitely not. Plus, for the second year in a row, their bullpen seems to be coming undone at the end of the season. I'm not saying Papelbon isn't a great pitcher, but he sat out the last month last year with arm trouble, and he seems to be struggling a bit now. Gagne, of course, has been a total disaster, and the Japanese set-up man has apparently "hit a wall," after pitching shorter seasons in Japan. Dice-K may be hitting this same wall. Of course, come the playoffs, if these guys bounce back, the Sox potentialy have a very deep bullpen. Add that with two and a half great clutch hitters (Lowell, Ortiz, and Ramirez - I've only giving Lowell half credit, which may come back to haunt me), and some potentially strong starting pitching and you've got a potentially dangerous playoff team.

The Yankees are a little more ragged. They've been winning lately, but I'm not sure their players have the postseason pedigree to succeed. Joba Chamberlain has really been the key to this final resurgence, but I know the Yankees don't want to push him too far. So, we'll see. If he leads us to the World Series, great, but you have to remember he is a true rookie who appeared in 14 games for Nebraska last year and 18 the year before that. This year, he had 15 starts before he even came to the Yankees, and now he has appeared in over a dozen games in the bigs as a reliever. The rest of the staff is fairly uninspiring as far as I'm concerned-either over the hell or too young. We do have some bats, but pitching is paramount when it comes to the playoffs.

Last night, the Yanks apparently got a great performance out of Andy Pettite, who's been pretty hot lately, excepting a disastrous start vs. the Bosox last Friday. I was busy with some work, and didn't turn the game on until about 9:30, when there were two outs, and two on in the top of the ninth at Yankee Stadium, will the Rivera on the hill. He loaded the bases with a walk before striking out a batter to close things out. I was struggling with the position of my radio to get a signal from 880 AM WCBS in New York. After losing it a couple times, I was rewarded by John Sterling's signature call at the end of the game. This is not from last night's game, but here's a taste of Mr. Sterling, which should give you an idea of what you're missing if you're not tuning in.

Over the top, yeah. But at least he's got his thing. Not to mention a female color commentator. These are just some of the things that make the Yankees great.

X

King George Inn in Allentown

I found a great pub in Allentown last Friday. It's called the King George Inn. It's been located at an important local crossroads since 1756. Lots of beautiful wood inside, particularly the bar itself. I had a pint of Guinness and oysters on the half shell. Really good.

They had the Yankees/Red Sox game on the TV, and nobody in the whole joint was smoking.

They have fine dining as well, inside or outside. Apparently their head chef has been named Chef of the Year in Allentown.

Definitely my kind of place.

DDDDD

The Prophet

We've had some pretty insightful posts here over the past week. First, I'd like to offer some kudos to Dr.D for his setiments on Mike Mussina. It indeed appears as if it was too early to give up on the Moose as he threw seven innings of three-hit shutout ball tonight in what looks like will be an easy win for the Yanks. Their up 12-0 after eight. Meanwhile, the Manny-less Bosox lost. Gagne blew the game in the bottom of the eighth, giving up three runs, after two were out and none were on. Wow, has he been a bust for the Bosox so far. Lester, the kid who came back from cancer pitched almost seven strong innings, giving up only one run, before giving way to the suddently ineffective Boston pen. Their lead is down to 2.5 over the Yanks, who are now 4.5 ahead of Detroit. Anyways, looks like the Bombers might get their chance this fall after all. I want to say they're like 15-3 over the past couple weeks.

Back to the prophet stuff, I ran a post about O.J.'s great 1973 season first thing Friday morning last week. This kicked off a dialogue between myself and Dr.D about whether or not he was insane and if this insanity helped him achieve greatness on the gridiron. Little did we know that the night before this post, O.J. had invaded a hotel room in an armed robbery that would by Friday afternoon catapult him back into the center of the media storm. I'd like to say we had it hear first, and in some respects we did. We actually broke the discussion of O.J.'s insanity several hours before any other media outlets began discussing basically the same thing. See, you are smarter if you stop by Ralph's Place.

Cheers.

X

Yanks win again

Not the prettiest of wins. Farnsworth blew up in the ninth, which is a bad sign, but we pulled it out. We're within 3.5 of the Bosox, and now an equal number in front of the Tiggers-who blew one against the Tribe last night. Mussina on the hill tonight vs. his old team-the O's. Bosox have to deal with A.J. Burnett. I wonder when Manny is coming back.

Cheers.

Ralph

Ricky Henderson

One of my all-time favorites. Jeff Passan, who does a solid column for Yahoo!, interviews him here and discusses (what else?) base stealing. The column points out that as home run numbers have dropped (more juice testing) base stealing numbers are picking back up. And what's interesting, is that stealers are succeeding at a higher percentage than in the past. I find it fascinating, for example, that A-Rod, in additional to his 50 HRs and 150 RBIs, is approaching 30 steals, and almost never gets caught. The stolen base as a weapon is very much back in vogue, but managers/players are being more cautious about when they go.

Hendeson, for example, stole 130 bases (a record) one year, but he also get caught 40 times. Tim Raines stole a zillion bases at the same time, and there were guys like Vince Coleman and Willie Wilson running around as well. In fact, the stolen base really characterized early '80s baseball very well. That was at the height of articial turf, cocaine use (instead of steroids, which characterized the power days of the late 1990s), and everything was fast, even the junk bond trading and Miami Vice. Then, of course, it all collapsed, and we've only began to rebuild that art of the stolen base. Artificial turf is also making a comeback on football fields as least. Can concaine and junk bonds be far behind? I think they already tried to bring back Miami Vice, but mercifully failed. Then again, with YouTube arguably becoming new version of MTV, who knows what could appear next.

Carry on.

Ralph

Great Sports Weekend

Well, we made it down to the Bills-'Stillers game in the 'Burg yesterday. It was a beautiful day for football, but as I heard someone in the crowd on the way out say, "What day isn't?" Anyhow, it about the low '60s and sunny and at about 10:30 a.m. I was standing by the grill, with a freshly charcoaled Bratworst in my hand, laid on top of a pepper stuffed with priscuto and parmesan, drinking a cold Labbat's -and well, I've been to some really nice restaurants in my time, but in my book, it just doesn't get much better than that.

Anyhow, it was a great day for football, but not for the Bills, as they got shellacked 23-3. Really, couldn't move the ball in the first half, couldn't really stop the Steelers from moving up and down the field all game, and then couldn't punch it in the end zone when they did move it in the second half. Things ended badly when our best player, Lee Evans, got two unsportsmanlike penalty calls on our last drive.

Dick Jauron, a Yale man, is our coach, and I've seen one of stars on his teams, a defensive lineman on Lions a couple years ago, have a similar meltdown. As an educated guy, I think Jauron is giving his players a bit too much credit and may be a bit lax with them, which is why you have these outbursts. Hopefully, it doesn't lead to the team losing respect for the coach, because we have a enough problems already. Jauron seemed to have some sort of conservative game plan, in which the Bills didn't take too many chances yesterday. You hope this is designed to build confidence, which will manifest itself later in the season, as the squad gradually improves and finally starts to win ballgames. But, if the team quits on the coach before this master plan can come to fruition, (as they say in New York) Forget about it!

What do I know about football, now that Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss looks like the hottest combo in the league?

At least the baseball was good yesterday, with Jeter hitting a game-winning home run on Curt Schilling in the eighth, and then Mariano Rivera holding on for dear life in the ninth and getting David Ortiz to pop out with the bases loaded and the Yankees up 4-3. Yankees are really making a push for the postseason, with the Tigers and Red Sox hangin' tough, however.

Cheers.

Ralph

More OJ

An audio tape of the recent OJ incident has now been released. You can hear OJ yelling and calling the guys in the hotel room "motherfuckers." OJ's a scary guy. You can hear it in his voice. I wouldn't want him to come busting into my hotel room, calling me a motherfucker. I'd be scared shitless.

Anyway, back to our OJ insanity discussion. He is either organically insane, which means he has some problems with his hard-wiring, or he's been conditioned by the people and circumstances around him to be anti-social. It's probably both. I know that he has faced adversity in his life, but so have lots of other people, and they don't make the terrible decisions that OJ makes.

Plus, despite his rough early years, OJ was treated like royalty for much of his professional life. Certainly at USC, with the Buffalo Bills, and then into into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, OJ has been treated like a god. He was also a movie star. But gods, if you look to Greek mythology, often behave in ways that are petulant and antisocial---because they can get away with it. Not a good situation for someone with latent schizoid or antisocial tendencies.

So, anyway, OJ would never even think of calling the local police and telling them, "I have reason to believe that there are men in a local hotel who are attempting to sell stolen merchandise that belongs to me. I want it back. Can you help?"

Instead, he takes matters into his own hands. He gets a few of his thug buddies and crashes the party. I mean, is that stupid or insane? I can't tell. If it can be proven that there were guns involved, OJ is in big trouble. Armed robbery is a felony. It doesn't matter if some of the memorabilia once belonged to OJ. That's for the courts to sort out. Any way you slice it, it is a serious crime to walk into a hotel room with an armed posse.

But OJ thinks he's above the law and he has good reason for that opinion. He got away with double homicide once, so he problably doesn't consider this latest escapade as any kind of offense at all, after all, nobody was killed. This makes him all the more dangerous.

He is in jail right now without bond (because, of course, he is a flight risk). I won't be surprised if local law enforcement doesn't use this recent incident as an excuse to lock him up for as long as they can. And Johnny Cochran is dead, isn't he?

OJ should have stayed out of Vegas and kept playing golf in Florida. That's what any sane person would do.

Any sane person would say, "Thank you, God, for letting me beat that double-murder rap. I'm going to lay low for the rest of my life, get laid, play golf and eat good food."

Instead, he felt the need to write a book called If I Did It (insane or stupid?) and go venturing for his sports memorabilia.

I wonder what his family history is like. That would tell us a lot about why he makes such terrible choices on such a regular basis.

DDDD

Giambi (tries to) Throws Game

Mark my words. I have no proof of this, but Jason Giambi is quite possibly throwing the game tonight for the Yanks vs. the Sox. He has two critical errors, and after walking the first two times up, his third time up, with the bases loaded, the normally patient Giambi swings at three pitches and goes down on strikes. I know he just had some sort of secret meeting with George Mitchell a couple weeks go about his steroids use. I wonder if that has anything to do with it....

No shit, right after I wrote that last paragraph, the strangest turn of events ocurred. The Yankees are down 7-2 going into the top of the eighth, with, who else, but Giambi leading off. The announcer starts to say what a nice guy he is and how bad he must feel, and I'm thinking this is all B.S. and Giambi hits a home run. (Okay, so maybe he figured the game was out of reach and was trying to save face.) But then Cano hits a titanic home run. And then Cabrera walks, and Damon doubles... and so on, until the Yankees are suddenly winning 8-7. With A-Rod on second, the Yankees having a chance to extend their lead, Giambi comes up again and this time reverts to form and strikes out. He then gets pulled for a defensive replacement. All in all, still a curious turn of events. Still the Yankees might win, which means perhaps Mr. Giambi will turn up missing tomorrow.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers.

Ralph

Kutztown University's New Professional Writing Blog

Ralph,

Next week, I'm going to make the announcement that the KU Professional Writing program has a new blog. It's at: http://kutztownprowriting.blogspot.com/ I am the moderator. Feel free to stop by and comment. I'm trying to get the Professional Writing students to dial-in. As a professional writer yourself, you might enjoy the discussion.

Independent Study student Brian Robinson is also making revisions to the Kutztown University Professional Writing Group Website. The blog will actually link directly into the website, once Brian is finished with the changes. Pretty cool.

One last point: I'm officially literate in HTML. I'm not a wizard by any means; however, I can edit a document and clean up junk in HTML. It's pretty cool to get that "coded" look into the world of software. Helps you understand how it really works.

DDDDD

Justice Wears Many Clothes

The remainder of the article bout OJ was well-written. More AP:

"On Thursday, the Goldman family published a book about the killings that Simpson had written under the title, "If I Did It," about how he would have committed the crime had he actually done it. After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family, who retitled it "If I Did It: The Confessions of a Killer.""

I'm glad the Goldman Family are gaining some justice in all of this. They actually got to take over OJ's perspective on the matter, and tell it through his experience. Amazing. I'll bet the book does well. Maybe I should write a paper on this. It would all depend on whether or not I could see early drafts and compare them against final drafts. I guess it would all depend on what the family tells the publisher: confidential or not.

It would be a compelling comparison.

DDDD

OJ in Trouble Again

From the Associated Press on Friday, September 14, 2007:

"LAS VEGAS - Investigators questioned O.J. Simpson and named him a suspect Friday in a confrontation at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia, but the actor and former football star denied breaking into the room. "

Full Story

Yanks, Juice

Well, the Yanks lost last night, after winning seven in a row. Got beat by A.J. Burnett, who at least the couple times I've paid attention has pitched pretty well against the Yanks. He throwing like 98 MPH to the corners of the plate last night. Ian Kennedy, the rookie who the Yankees called upon to replace Mussina in the rotation, actually pitched brilliantly, giving up one hit over eight innings. Unfortunately, the Jays rallied for a run in the ninth off a reliever to pull the game out. Two-out-of-three at Toronto is not bad. Now come the Red Sox, with some great pitching match-ups:
1. Tonight: Dice K vs. Pettitie
2. Saturday: Wang vs. Beckett (in what could be a battle for top dawg in the A.L.)
3. Sunday: Clemens vs. Schilling (old-timers day).

Anyhow, getting back to that great year 1973, when I was in kindergarten and apparently learend everything I needed to know. That was the year O.J. gained 2,000 yards (in 14 games), averaged six yards per carry, and played on a team where the quarterback, I'm not kidding, threw like five TD passes all year. That has to be one of the greatest years by an individual in any sport. However, for some reason, on YouTube, for instance, you can barely find a clip of O.J. running the ball that year. Finally, yesterday, I found this 12-second clip, which shows how incredible he was. Now, I realize O.J. joins Michael Vick in the all-NFL criminal backfield, but man, in the day, that fucker was a hell of a running back. I'm guessing as time goes by less and less people will remember him for this. The same will probably hold true for Vick, who also made some unbelievable, eye-popping runs in his career. I guess, like the Boss says, "Glory Days, well they'll pass you by...."

Cheers.

Ralph

Need to post a photo

Yankees win again

Another big win for the Yanks. I think it's seven in a row now, including two over Toronto. Good stuff, especially because Mussina pitched last night and went almost six scoreless innings. He was not great, he gave up like five hits, while the Yankees only had three of their own, but left the game with a 4-0 lead. How does that happen? Good fielding and clutch hitting mainly.

I love the Yanks' current line-up from top-to-bottom. The weakest hitter is probably Giambi at number seven, and even he has some pop. After him, you ramp it back up with Cano and Melky, and then the deadly top of the order.

A-Rod, of course, has been having a great season, but last night didn't really have a big hit and had a potentially costly error that enabled the Jays' only run to score. However, in true team fashion, the Yanks picked him up and made a couple plays to get out of a potentially dangerous inning. Yeah, I think, these Yankees are finally coming together as a team.

Teamwork is definitely a big plus in the pressure-filled playoffs and is some of what the Yankees have been lacking in recent years. However, if the Bosox don't start losing a few games, the Yanks are still going to be stuck with the Angels and the first round, and they kill us. I know I said the Bosox were punchless a couple nights ago after losing 1-0 to Tampa Bay. But, since then, they've had two come back wins vs. the Devil Rays, including a 5-4 win last night on a two-run Ortiz blast in the 9th. No, they're definintely not as strong without Manny, but they can still be formidable at home-which is where the Yankees have to go this weekend. We'll see. If Ramirez is still out, and I need to check on this, it could be very interesting. The Yanks could have a real shot at closing the gap. (Unfortunately, it looks like Ramirez will play.)

I'll get to something on the Yankees pitching later. Pennant races can be fun.

Cheers.

Ralph

Larry Bird

The Tiny Archibald highlights got me thinking about Larry Bird. Tiny may have great moves, but when it comes to winning and heart, it's Larry Bird. Check out the video.

That particular video is a little blurry, so if you want more Bird, just search YouTube for Larry Bird Highlights.

Out,

DDDDDD

Tiny Archibald

One more note, following up on my obsession with 1973, the year I was in kindergarten, and apparently learned everything I needed to know. I remember at the time seeing some sort of NBA pre-game/halftime special on Tiny Archibald, then of the Kansas City Kings. In 1972-73, Tiny Nate, who is listed at 6-1, 150, (and hails from the Bronx), averaged a league-high 34 points and 11.4 assists per game, leading the league in both categories-and no one else was even close. (Jabbar averaged 30 per game, and Lenny Wilkins dished out 8.4 assists per game.) Oh yeah, there was no three-point shots either to help the little man. Bob Cousy was the Kings coach and they somehow finished 36-46. Tiny never had another year like that.

Check out this video compilation of Tiny Nate highlights. How about those moves? Especially when he was with the Kings.

Cheers.

Ralph

Godless Yankees

Sometimes I really do feel like I'm rooting for the Evil Empire - it's a good thing I have memories of Thurman Munson to keep me going. (By the way, the Bronx is Burning version of Thurm is exactly how I imagined him to be when I was a kid. )Anyhow, tonight the souless one, Jason Giambi, hits a grand slam to put the Yankees up 8-2 against the hapless Blue Jays. The Blue Jays absolutely outplayed the Yankees and should have been up like 5-0 (well maybe not that bad) after two innings, but for a great diving catch by Johnny Damon, a stupid baserunning mistake, and some poor fielding on their part. Instead, the Yankees were up 3-2. Not only are they good, they're catching breaks, and then Giambi of course goes yard, and I assume it's over. In Boston, Red Sox were down 8-4 but rallying. Nonetheless, without Manny, the Red Sox are a hell of a whole lot less scary, and almost punchless, dare I say. Next weekend is showdown time in Fenway.

Yankees update

Not that anyone case, but the (hated) Yankees have a three-game series at Toronto, starting on Tuesday, and the pitchers scheduled to go are Philip Hughes, Mike Mussina, and Ian Kennedy, in that order. Two rookies sandwiching a struggling veteran who has been pulled from the regular rotation, but gets a start because of an injury to a guy (Clemens) even older than he is. Anyhow, with a four-game lead with 20 to play, you'd think the Yankees would have this wild-card thing locked up-with the way A-Rod is hitting and all. But, at Toronto, with three pitchers who are by no means locks to give you strong games, could set us back a little. This series bears close watching - by and for those who care, of course.

That's all.

Ralph

NFL Week 1

Okay, so it appears I may be wrong about this whole Brady-Moss thing. I can only hold out hope that it is a 16-game season, and that week 1 was a fluke....

The Bills loss, however, appears to have been no fluke. Very typical. The Bills get outgained like three-to-one, but manage to hold the opposition out of the end zone for the most part and get a special teams touchdown. But, because they are so badly overmatched, they just can't stop the opposition down the stretch and end up losing a close game. Saw this a half-dozen times last year and already now in Week 1 this year.

Funny thing, watching ex-Bills coach Wade Philips make his debut with the Cowboys, who won. When Wade was with the Bills, they were the polar opposite of the team now - great defense, ball control offense, and terrible special teams. Now, our special teams are our only bright spot, although it seems that Marshawn Lynch, our new RB had a good game yesterday. Anyhow, Wade is wearing a headset now, one thing he was criticized for not doing in Buffalo. I hope he wins the Super Bowl...

That's about it for now. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Cheers.

Ralph