Yankees update

I know everybody hates the Yankees, so it's probably pointless to write any of this, but:

1) The Yankees starting pitching is starting to come around to where it needs to be: Last night Joba Chamberlain threw 7 strong innings, and the night before Phil Hughes threw six two-hit innings. These are two of the young guns that were supposed to carry the Yanks last year, but weren't quite ready. When you add their potential contributions to the already demonstrated capabilities of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett (who were both signed in the offseason), and returning aces Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, you start to come up with a staff that can approach Boston's and Tampa Bay's. The last time the Yankees won the World Series was 2000, and their starting staff included Pettitte, Clemens, El Duque, and David Cone. Strong starters are key to winning in the playoffs, and since 2002, the last time the Yanks made it to the Series, they just haven't had dominant starting pitching. I'm not saying we're there yet, but in another year....

2) Speaking of another year, Joe Girardi is still developing as a manager: Last night he panicked and brought in Mariano Rivera with a five-run lead in the ninth and two runners on base. Granted, the previous guy was getting shellacked, but Rick Sutcliffe, a former ace pitcher, who was commentating on the TV, said, to him, it didn't look like Rivera was ready. Curtis Granderson promptly took him deep to make the score 8-6, before Rivera got a pop up to end the game. The Yankees started the inning with an 8-2 lead, and there is no way, in my opinion, that Rivera should have even warmed up. He's old and needs his rest. Despite having been named Manager of the Year in his one season at Florida before being hired by the Yankees, Girardi has never led a team to the playoffs and stills needs to learn a little bit of patience. That said, I think he's doing a good job and will turn the Yankees around if given enough time - meaning next year is their year.

3) A-Rod continues to be a sideshow/circus, but we miss his bat: Selena Roberts' book about him apparently says he's been juicing since high school and continued to juice after joining the Yankees. This would explain the serious hip injury he suffered after MLB starting testing for that stuff. That said, if he can come back and be effective, it sure will help Mark Teixeira, the Yanks $20 million per year first baseman, who is hitting like .197. All I've seen him do is walk. Apparently, pitchers would rather face Matsui, or Posada, or even Nick Swisher (who is actually red hot), who have all been batting behind Teixeria in the clean-up spot unti A-Rod gets back.

Cheers.
Ralph

Dontrelle Willis

I had the opportunity to watch ex-Tiger pitch in Erie on Sunday. Willis was the 2003 National League Rookie of the year with Florida after winning eight of his first nine starts. He tailed off a bit toward the end of the year, but bounced back with some effective outings in the World Series against the Yankees (as a Yankee fan, I always take special note of great lefties). At 21, Willis was an integral piece of a world champion.

He also has a tremendously high, stylish leg kick that he says he copied from the Yankees great Cuban refugee Orlando, "El Duque" Hernandez. This style, his seemingly gregarious personality and reported friendship with the tennis-playing Williams sisters made him a minor celebrity. When he won 22 games in this third season, Willis was seemingly on top of the world. Of course, peaks can be steep, and Willis was apparently precariously balanced on his.

Personally, I always questioned the fact that he based his pitching motion on something that "looked cool" rather than going with a more utilitarian approach. So, it didn't completely surprise me that Willis' performance started to decline over the next two years with Florida. In 2007, his ERA with Florida was over 5.00, although he did lead the league in starts with 35.

The Tigers thought enough of Willis to trade for him prior to the 2008 season and sign him to a $29 million contract extension over three years. Then things got really bad. In eight games last year, Willis' ERA was 9.38. That means he was giving up more than a run per inning. This was contributed to by Willis' walking 35 batters in 24 innings. To give you an idea of how bad that is, in his big year in 2005, Willis walked only 55 batters in 236 innings.

Willis spent the second half of the last year trying to fix things and in March, the Tigers diagnosed him with some sort of anxiety disorder and have been trying to get him back up to speed. Part of Willis' rehabilitation program involves starting some minor league games, and Sunday was his chance to throw in Erie, vs the Harrisburg Senators. Mind you, the Senators (a farm club of the lowly Nationals, I believe) had lost eight in a row coming in, so Willis wasn't exactly facing the 2004 Red Sox.

I took my son to the game, as he was all stoked to see this ex-MLBer, and while we were standing in line for tickets, he noted that the $10 box seat ticket prices listed on the board seemed expensive. The guy in front of us turned around and said you'd pay 30-40 bucks for major league box seats--at least that 's what he paid to see Willis pitch for the Marlins.

We got two reserved tickets, second-deck, first-base side, for six bucks. (I had a coupon, which are very easy to come by.) For that price, I really felt like I was stealing. Of course, the $10 I spent for a beer, hot dog, and pop lunch added a little to our tab, but still... and we were sitting closer to Willis than you could ever get in a major league park without dropping at least $100.

Willis is a lefty, so our seats gave us prime viewing of his motion. He still has his high leg kick, but he really wasn't throwing that hard. I don't think he topped 90 on the stadium radar. After the game, the Seawolves' manager said he wasn't getting much bite on his breaking ball pitches either.

The results were kind of mixed. Yes, he had a perfect game through four innings, but there were several hard hit balls, including at least three line drives that just happened to be hit right at outfielders and one bouncer back through the middle (to open the game) that Willis made a great play on. Finally, the guy leading off the fifth put a line drive over the fence, and then I think a couple more doubles fell in from there. Willis' last two innings were not that impressive and he left to a mild ovation by the Erie fans, as he made his way back to the club house.

According to Ron Leonardi's story in the ETN, he didn't stick around for post game interviews, so we don't know how Willis felt about his outing. The current news is that he will make his next start Friday at Triple A Toledo (a step up from Erie). It's my estimation that if he doesn't pitch better than he did in Erie, he's not going to be successful again in the major leagues. However, he always was a fairly good hitter, so maybe he can pull a Rick Ankiel and make it back to the majors as an outfielder.

Cheers.

Ralph

Whippy Dip

Very unique place, I think. Something very Erie about it. One of those few places where you get a great cross-section of the city's population. It's on 26th and Chestnut, just west of St. Vincent's, so it's fairly accessible. And the ice cream and selection is killer.

Last night my son said, I don't know what to get. I asked him, "what do you want? chances are they have it." We ended up getting a blue raspberry freeze-floats - like a Mr. Misty with ice cream. You can't imagine how good this was after a two and a half hour little league game in 80 degree weather, with the sun shining in our dugout the whole time and the water spigots not yet turned on.

We ate our treats on a bench facing the Erie Cemetery and watched the steady flow of customers streaming in. You had everything from conservative just-past-middle-aged empty nesters out for a cone to fat chicks with belly piercings toting their brood, and about everything in between.

Everybody loves the Whippy Dip.

Red Sox Sweep Yanks

Here's one reason why the Red Sox swept the Yanks over the weekend. It's a video of Jacoby Ellsbury stealing home last night off Andy Pettite with the bases loaded and the score tied. The reaction of the crowd is great. It's just one run, but if there is such a thing as momentum in baseball, that's the type of play that swings it. You really don't see home stolen that often these days, so whoever made that call for the Red Sox deserves a lot credit.

The Bosox absolutely embarrassed the Yanks over the weekend. On Friday, ex-Pirate Jason Bay homered with two outs off Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera to send the game into extra innings, where the Sox won with a Youkalis blast. On Saturday, the Red Sox came back from an 0-6 deficit to win like 16-11 or something, and last night you had this home stealing thing.

It's a long season, and maybe the Yanks can get it turned around, but things aren't looking too bright in the Bronx right now. Not to mention, the problems the Yanks are having with the new ballpark, because of seats priced too high for the current market and an inordinate number of cheap home runs. I guess there's some kind of irony there.

Ralph

Cal Ripken, Jr. Feature

I never really was that big of a Cal Ripken, Jr. fan, but this article I read yesterday really gave me a new appreciation for him. It appeared in a book my wife picked up for me recently, called The Greatest Baseball Stories ever told, edited by a guy named Jeff Silverman out of Chadds Ford, PA. His primary focus seems to be coming up with stories that great writers have written about baseball. One example is a wonderful John Updike piece about Ted Williams' last game for the Red Sox. Just to show you how random life is, Silverman includes an intro that explains that the only reason Updike made it to the game was because his lady friend at the time was not home. If she had been, he would have missed the game and never written this fairly famous article.

The Ripken piece is written by Richard Ben Cramer, who once won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. Cramer does a great job blowing up a lot of the myths surrounding Ripken. It almost seems like he going to tear the guy down, but then he builds him back up in a more authentic light, and the story ends with an amazing scene that really made me respect and admire baseball's "Iron Man." If you get a chance, it's worth the read.

Cheers.

Ralph

Remembering Mark Fidrych

The 1976 American League Rookie of the Year died yesterday. Fittingly, he was crushed by a truck he was working on. You see, Fidrych, despite being extremely famous, never made a lot of money from baseball. Back in 1976, apparently, it was okay to have 21-year-old rookies throw 24 complete games. Today's top veteran pitchers, who make 100 times what Fidrych did, throw a handful of complete games per year - if that. (Which, of course, reminds me that the Pirates had Zach Duke, who is coming off arm troubles, throw 120 pitches in the cold yesterday. Not sure what they were thinking, but apparently they have a history of promising pitchers coming down with sore arms.) Anyhow, what in hindsight appears very predictable, Fidrych blew out his arm shortly after going 19-9 his rookie year and leading the league in E.R.A. He never pitched a full major league season after that and was out of the league by the time he was 25.

My grandfather, who was old enough to have seen Babe Ruth play at the old League Park in Cleveland, I remember being a huge Fidrych fan. He was impressed with the way he'd sprint on and off the field to and from the dugout and, of course, talk to the ball. My grandfather who was a dentist and apparently a pretty fair ballplayer in this time, also loved that Fidrych said that if he wasn't pitching he'd probably be back in his hometown pumping gas.

Anyhow, for some reason I have always been a Yankee fan and kind of resented Fidrych and the success he always had vs. the Yanks, something, which in retrospect (like Fidrych's throwing 20-plus complete games) I also realize was stupid. Oh well, here's to ya' bird. Let's hope at least one major leaguer over the next couple days, gets down on his hands and knees to smooth at the dirt around the mound!

cheers.

Ralph

Jesus Christ Superstar

Much worse things you could do to celebrate Easter than watch the 1973 movie version of this rock opera (it's on Hulu). I'm still kind of baffled that the musical score doesn't get more acclaim. I'm still fascinated by it, and I've heard it like 20 times at least. I think it does a great job humanizing Jesus - almost better than anything else I've ever seen. Of course, it does this by also humanizing Judas, which makes for a great counterbalance. And yes, the movie was made in 1973, so maybe that's why I connect with it so much.

cheers.

Ralph

Aleister Crowley

Prompted by a recent meeting I had with a man named "Crowley," I decided to do a bit of research this morning on the infamous Aleister Crowley-the renowned English occultist. About the only thing I knew of him was that Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page had bought his house at some point. Man, is there a lot more to him than that!

Raised by Puritanical parents, he totally rebelled against all that after his Dad (who he was apparently very close to) died when he was 11. At one point, the papers billed Crowley as "The Most Wicked Man Alive" or something akin to that. Apparently he was fairly wealthy, very hedonistic, charismatic, and perhaps even a genius. All these qualities led him to some big trouble.

In one documentary, he was credited as being a forerunner of the hippie movement. Of course, he really did practice several forms of black magic - to what end, I'm not certain. But, he was also a fairly prolific writer, so I guess I could figure it out if I really wanted to.

Anyhow, if you want to see something spooky, check this thing out. It's The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (Translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1900), which is the ancient text that Crowley used to reportedly summon evil spirits into the mansion that Page later bought. Legend has it that this book proscribes some sort of six-month ritual that Crowley abandoned half-way through, resulting in the house being haunted by these evil spirits, who were supposed to be made to cow-tow to his guardian angel - if Crowley had reached that part of the ritual. Let me know if you have the guts to read something like this, because it started to freak me out.

Cheers.

Ralph

Schilling HOF?

So, Kurt Schilling announced his retirement on Monday, and a lot of people have been debating whether or not he is a valid Hall of Fame candidate. He has been compared favorably to Catfish Hunter who is in the Hall of Fame and has about the same amount of wins and losses - and also was on multiple World Series championship teams. Schilling, of course, has even better postseason numbers than Catfish, who went 9-6 in the playoffs over his career, while Schilling was 11-2. Coincidentally, both pitchers’ teams turned in incredible 10-2 postseason series records.

Schilling has also been compared to former Tigers great Jack Morris as well as Orel Hershiser, both of whom also had some legendary postseason success. Morris actually has almost 40 more wins than Schilling, and I'm not really sure why he isn't in the Hall of Fame, except for the fact that he was notably cantankerous and has a fairly high lifetime ERA of 3.90. However, Morris did pitch the majority of his career in the hitter friendly old Tiger Stadium. Hershiser only has 204 career wins, and although he had a phenomenal postseason in 1988 and a very good one for the Indians in 1995, you could argue that he cost the Indians the 1997 title with his terrible performance against the Marlins. But, I wouldn't object to him making the HOF - and he has had a nice poker career following his retirement from baseball. This has contributed to making him a fairly famous guy....

And this brings us around to my argument about who the Hall of Fame is for. I contend it's for the most famous ballplayers of their eras. Schilling, with the "Bloody Sock Game" alone, certainly qualifies based on that criteria. I mean it's not called the Hall of Great Players, although being a great players certainly can contribute to one's fame.

I think the growing army of stat-heads out there gets too caught up in the numbers and forgets what the Hall of Fame is all about. It's not a shrine aimed solely at the elite and knowledgeable fans of the game. I think it's supposed to be accessible to everyone - including the casual fan. And I really think that casual fan has more appreciation for what Curt Schilling has done than what Burt Blyleven did, for example.

If you follow these things, you know that Blyleven is the current darling of the numbers crowd. I'm not saying that Blyleven wasn't a great pitcher, but he's really not that famous. I even remember Pirates fans dissing him as "Cryleven" because of the way he acted back in the day. He is never recounted as a major factor in the Pirates winning the 1979 World Series and most people probably don't even know he was on that team. Schilling, on the other hand, everyone knows he was part of the Phillies in '94, the Diamondbacks that beat the Yankees, and of course, the Red Sox in 2004. He's famous and thus belongs in the Hall of Fame.

That's about all there is to it.

Ralph

Pirates Spring Training Report

Most reports coming out of spring training about a team's top prospects have to do with how well they are hitting or the progress they are making toward the Big Leagues. Not our Pittsburgh Pirates. Yesterday's news out of their Bradenton camp has the 43-year-old wife of up-and-coming outfielder Jose Tabata being arrested for kidnapping a baby while posing as a customs official. Fortuntately, Tatata does not seem to be involved in the scam, but still.... Apparently, Tabata came over last year in a trade from the Yankees, so that may help explain it.

Ralph

Signs of Spring

I was digging through my drawer this morning looking for a pair of sweats when I came across my shorts laying wrinkled on the bottom. I thought of warm days of summer and how I rotate about three or four pair - sometimes it gets so hot I need to change into a clean pair in the middle of the day. (Maybe I need to by some new shorts for this year.) I am now looking forward to those days, although last summer sure seems like a long time ago.

Oh yes, and I have been listening to baseball the last couple of nights - the World Baseball Classic - this tournament in which players, including a lot of major leaguers, play for their home countries. The U.S. got knocked out by Japan on Sunday and then last night South Korea and Japan played a wonderful championship game. Aside from the Korean pitcher's name being pronounced "Bong," which was very amusing in a Beavis and Butthead sort of way (what if someone gets a "hit" one of my friends suggested), it really was good baseball.

To defend the disgraced Americans a bit - both Korea and Japan have apparently been practicing for this thing since January, while the Americans had just started spring training in the middle of Feb, and next thing you knew the torney was underway. Our pitchers were in no way ready to throw at full-speed and our position players suffered all sorts of injuries - pulled muscles and the like. Anyhow, at least the Far Easterners showed up to play and put on a very entertaining show.

Cheers.

Ralph

New Cringely Site

For those of you that are fans of one of the greatest technology journalist/columnists of all time, he has a new site - have broken away from PBS. I've added it to the links on the right. Having worked at a start-up the matured into a mid-sized organization, I really enjoyed this post on Bowling for Dollars.

Quote of the day

So I just got done reading the ETN's cover story on this local political activist and his alleged arson case. Apparently the guy torched his house to get the insurance money, but the insurer has refused to pay, alleging arson - with good reason. For example, there was a gas can found on the front porch. The activist guy is trying to blame other people... Anyhow, the Erie District Attorney is also apparently really bad at closing out arson cases. In 2007, for example, it received 44 reports on arson and cleared four of the cases. That's like the one-third of the PA statewide clearance rate.

Well, the D.A.'s lead detective on arson cases, identified in the story as "Detective Gray," when talking about his overwhelming workload, is quoted as saying, he had to put some cases, "on the back burner." Talk about a misplaced metaphor.

Cheers.

Ralph

Incredible Local Sports News

Today may be the greatest single day for local sports news that I ever remember. No, it's not one big story that makes it so great, but the sheer volume of good news related to local sports athletes. First off, you've got the Villa girls basketball team winning the state title. Then you've got two Edinboro wrestlers making it to the finals at the national championships. (Okay, I linked you to the story about the one-legged wrestling losing to the Edinboro guy in the national semi-finals, but that's a pretty incredible story in itself - not to mention the fact that the Edinboro kid is a former national champ from Nebraska who got kicked off his former team for, among other things, posing for a porn site. Anyhow,) the Mercyhurst women's hockey team has also made the national championship game, upsetting Minnesota in the national semi-finals. Also, the Gannon basketball team is preparing for its trip to the Elite Eight. The state junior wrestling championships are taking place at the Civic Center. Oh yeah, and for good measure, the Pitt Panthers are a number one seed in the NCAA tournament - although they just barely survived an upset bid yesterday.

Jacques Plante

With hockey playoffs upcoming, I thought we should give a shout out to Jacques Plante, the inventor of hockey's goalie mask. Yes, thanks to Jason, goalie masks have become a cultural icon in America, but Plante himself was a bit of an icon. He is considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders of all-time, and his hobbies were apparently knitting and reading. This, of course, didn't endear him to his redneck coach, Toe Blake, who eventually demanded the Canadians trade Plante - even after he helped the team win five Stanley Cups. Granted, Plante, who had asthma, was starting to miss a lot of games and actually retired just a couple years later. But, much like Jason, he wasn't through. After the league expanded, he came out after three years on the sidelines to become an all-star goalie again-after the age of 40.

During his first his first retirement Plante worked as a sales rep for Molson. Here's tippin' one to ya' Jacques.

Ralph

Life on Mars Update

Wow! A truly mind-blowing episode. Great music, great guest starts, great plot, surprise ending - working toward the resolution of the why is Sam in 1973 mystery - all the stuff that makes this show great - coming on the heels of last week's stinker. Anyhow, I'm now getting really bummed out that I think I am going to be out of town (and scheduled to be at a meeting) the night of the final episode.

I was considering getting a VGA cable to hook my computer to my TV to watch MLB.TV. I guess can try that and see what kind of picture/sound I get. I'm really wishing I had some sort of TiVo way to record high-def programming at this point. Now that I think of it, I think I can get a high-def i-tunes download. I'll have to check it out.

Anyhow, if you have an hour to kill, check out this week's episode and let me know what you think. (Warning: Ignore Jason O'Mara's in-and-out brogue.)

Cheers.

Ralph

Michael Lewis Iceland article

This is a wonderful article by the renowned Moneyball author that appears in this month's Vanity Fair. It's all about this insane banking boondoggle that has pratically bankrupted a highly educated nation of 300,000 people, who have traditionally made their money through fishing. A couple years ago at a trade show, I had the opportunity to hang out with a couple guys from the Icelandic post office, and I must say they were a bit unique - and this article beautifully (and sometimes very comically) reflects the uniqueness of these Nordic people. (Warning: It's a bit long and the ending isn't really a zinger, but it's still a pleasure to read.)

Top seed graduation rates

Interesting piece today on the graduation rates for basketball players at the top four seeds in the upcoming NCAA, Division I hoops tourney. The study gives freshmen six years to earn diplomas. Pitt did fairly well with a 69% graduation rate, with North Carolina over year. I thought it was interesting the UConn, whose coached recently blasted some left-wing journalist who was pestering him about his outrageous $1.5 million salary when the state of Connecticut is practically bankrupt, graudates like 30% of its players. Great job coach. The article cited several schools in the torney with 100% graduation rates: Binghamton, Florida State, Marquette, Robert Morris, Utah State, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky. Florida State??? I guess the basketball program is kept away from the footballers.

Also, while we're on the topic of college basketball, congratulations to Gannon and their excellent coach John Riley, for a strong season. They host Kutztown tonight for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight of Division II. Gannon has already beaten Kutztown twice, and the home crowd will definitely be loud- but of course nothing is a given.

Ralph

Life on Mars Countdown

Disappointing episode last night. It was a show about pilots and swingers, with Sam (Jason O'Mara) and No Nuts (Gretechen Mol) going undercover, so there was some potential for some fun. But, the whole thing kind of lacked an edge. There was a cool "pilots lounge" scene with the flyboys liquering up '70s style be-ore jumping into the cockpit. But the swingers part ended up being very hackneyed and stuff that has been done before - you know, the old car keys in a basket gig. There were a couple laughs, and at the end they finally made a small attempt to work toward resolving the series storyline, which is always cool, but overall the thing was a disappointment. We only have like three episodes to go, and I sure hope they're better than last night's.

Buffalo Welcomes T.O. video

I don't know about you, and I already heard Chico Borman on 1260 trying to steer away from T.O. conversation, but I can't get enough. Finally, I think I've found the definitive video that sums up my feelings as a Bills fan about getting T.O. It's an ESPN piece in which the host interviews three Buffalo media types - Tim Russert's son, an AM radio talk show host, and some writer from Buffalo. They sum it up beautifully: Owens' signing has increased interest in the team, he seems to have given ticket sales a boost, and what, the hell, it can't hurt, we haven't made the playoffs in 10 years anyway. Yes, and then two of them go off about what a great town Buffalo is because the bars don't close until 4 a.m. As Bill Simmons would put it, "Ladies and gentleman, the 2010 Buffalo Bills."

T.O. Why?

Of course, the big question I've already gotten is why the Bills would sign Terrell Owens? The guy's attitute has pretty much gotten him shipped out of the only three pro teams he's ever played for, as well as one team he never even suited up for for (If you remember S.F. tried to trade him to Baltimore before shipping him to Philly, but he made a big stink.) I mean why would the Bills, who have enough problems already, want this guy on their team?

Okay, as a qualifier, I haven't read any other analysis of this trade yet, so here's my take as a long-time, and recently suffering, Bills fan.
1. T.O. brings us some offense. The last couple years, the Bills have bemoaned the fact that they have to little offense to win ballgames. While this is true, some of the blame can also be layed on a defense that can't stop the run, which keeps the offense off the field. But, regardless, we need to score more points and T.O. has scored 58 touchdowns in his last 68 games. That's like .85 touchdowns a game, which is a pretty good number. On the flip side, he did score those TDs as part of two pretty good offenses, the Eagles and Cowboys, which both certainly have more firepower than the Bills have. Also, he's getting older and only scored 10 TDs last year - however, the decrepit Brad Johnson was his QB for three games or so, but nonetheless, at 35, although he apparently keeps himself in great shape, age may be starting to catch up with T.O. as well. Bottom line: he does bring us more offense.
2. He's a great short to medium range receiver: That's always been my opinion of him at least. I remember a few years back when they paired him with Bledsoe, I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen, because Bledsoe throws a great rainbow deep ball, but Owens is great a catching short passes and breaking tackles. I'm not saying he can't get deep, but he sets it up with his short game. Now, the Bills have a great long-ball threat in Evans, and need someone to tear it up underneath to open it up deep, and Owens should be that guy. Then again, I thought that was the Cowboys theory when they picked up Roy Williams from the Lions last year, and it didn't seem to work out for them. That said, our QB, Trent Edwards, has an arm and game a lot more similar to Romo, McNabb, and Garcia - three QBs that Owens clicked with (despite what he might say) - rather then Bledsoe. Bottom line: Owens should fit into our offense.
3. Owens is a marquee name: I'm not saying he's going to help sell more tickets by himself, but if he does help us win, people will buy tickets. Also, he gives the TV people a reason to put us on the tube. Finally, and this is my hope, his signing may help attract other free agents to Buffalo, because we certainly need some linemen. Bottom line: he'll help put the Bills back on the map.

Another great thing about this is that it's a one year deal, for not a ton of money, so if it doesn't work, oh well, we took a shot.

Now, there's a lot of negatives and I really don't want to get into all those, as I'm sure other people already have. One thing a I will say is that at least he is going to force Coach Dick Jauron to earn his money.

Cheers.

Ralph

Life on Mars being cancelled

I read on-line today that the only TV show I watch regularly is being cancelled after this season. Apparently it's going to run through the 17th episode, which gives it like four more to go. As I've said several times on this blog, I really enjoyed the show. It seemed like it was going downhill a bit after two flat episodes last month, but then came back with a really strong show last night. You can catch most of the shows on the ABC Web site I've linked to above.

I loved the 1973 premise of course, because I've always had a fascination with that very year. I was six turning seven, and it's the first year I have a clear memory of things. On top of that, the story line was wierd enough with enough twists to keep it interesting and there often seemed to be one momemt in each show that I could particularly relate to. Last night, it was a son talking about his dad, the week before it was Harvey Kietel's character talking about his daughter. Really, in many ways, with the whole 1973 thing - well, and then you had points in the show where wierd shit would happen to Jason O'Mara lead character-when the TV would talk directly to him - well, it kind of freaked me out at times, but it was definitely a good trip.

Unfortunately, as much as I talked the show up, I only found two people that shared my passion for it. One was my brother in Florida and the other was a friend I grew up with. I guess this is why it's going off the air - not enough people were excited about it.

That all said, the show is based on a British show by the same name that was a success, but only ran 16 episodes because the story line ran out. And, apparently, the 17th U.S. show is going to bring some sort of closure to the lead character's journey back in time. So maybe, it has run its course anyhow. I also read that there is DVD version of the British version of the show due to come out this spring, which could be interesting.

One thing we likely won't be seeing, however, is a sequel, such as the one that is debuting on the BBC this month. It's called Ashes and Ashes (another Bowie song) and apparently centers on a woman detective who has studied Sam Tyler's (O'Mara's character) case and gets knocked back to the 1980s and put on the same force with all the guys he hung out with in the 70s. Sounds like another trip.

cheers

Ralph

Flat Tires

Loved the quote in today's paper along the lines of "first the snow, then the winds, when are the locusts coming?" It was included in some article about how bad the potholes are around town - and they're bad. I've been enveloped by a few craters already, and I think the roads have only started to show them in the past week. I can't say for sure of the potholes had anything to do with it, but yesterday, I got two flat tires on two cars, almost simultaneously. Here's how it went down:

I've been working out of Starbucks, Borders, etc. for almost a week now, as the wind storms knocked out my phone lines last week and they have yet to be restored, so I have no DSL - and an Internet connection is pretty vital to my business (technology newsletter publisher). Before I left yesterday morning, I noticed the perhaps the pressure in the drivers' side rear tire was low, but let it go and figured I'd check it later. I ended driving farther than I usually do, as I wanted to try out the coffee/art shop on Presque Isle. Great atmosphere and Internet connection, but no cell phone service, I drove up to Borders. Leaving Borders around five, I noticed again that the tire looked low. But then I also noticed I was parked in a hole, so I dismissed it. I'm driving down Peach Street when my phone rings. My wife says she has a flat in a parking lot at 11th and French, down by my daughter's dance studio. As soon as I hang up, I woman behind me at a light starts honking her horn and sticks her head out the window to yell that my tire is going flat. I'm about two blocks from home. I thank her (she really was a big help) and drive home to drop off the car. I grab my mother-in-law's van, who is at the house watching the baby, and head down to change the tire on the van.

Now, several things worked out well in this scenario, if you can believe it. That woman (who really was a big help) telling me about the flat caused me to stop home, which enabled me to change my clothes. This was important because changing the van tire really was a bitch. I practically needed to stand on the wrench to loosen the lugnuts, and the spare was practically corroded onto its placeholder. Anyhow, it took me at least and hour to execute the change and then put air in the spare, but we managed to get home safely. Where, of course, my other flat was waiting. Had a much easier time with that change, part of the reason being no doubt that I was in my driveway and could work at my liesure.

So, I'm currently driving around with two mini-tires on my vehicles just waiting to shipwreck in another pothole.

Cheers.

Ralph

A-Fraud and Torre

As I Yankees fan, I feel obliged to comment on these two way overplayed topics:
1. A-Fraud has slipped into the O.J. sphere-psychotic athlete who is tremendous on the field, but a complete louse off of it. If you get a chance, and last I saw it was available on ESPN.com, watch A-Rod's interview with Peter Gammons. It was fascinating. He really came across as having some serious psychological issues. Of course, there were the wildly exaggerated accusations he apparently threw at the writer of the story - including stalking. Also, his PR people, clearly gave him an agenda, which he bungled. He was obviously told to admit he fucked up, which he did, but then he kept qualifying it. It reminded me of the Happy Days episode, in which the Fonz couldn't utter the word "sorry." He kept stuttering on the "soorrr...." A-Rod transparently declared that he expected to be treated like Andy Pettite while acting more like Barry Bonds..
2. Torre is a baseball manager - not a Nobel Laureate. That's about all I have to say about that. People criticizing him set their expectations way too high...

Cheers.

Ralph

Urine Therapy

Has anyone ever heard of this or tried it? Apparently it involves drinking about a cup of urine every morning and is supposed to be wonderful for healing various ailments, including ulcerative colitis, which I have been diagnosed with. I can't seem to find any sound medical treatises on it posted on-line, and would like to consult with someone locally who might be knowledgable on this. Apparently, it's fairly widely used in some Eastern countries (or maybe this is a myth), and starting to catch on somewhat in Europe. From what I understand, a friend of mine, whose opinion I respect very much, has a friend that has used it very successfully to treat colitis.

Yes, it seems off the wall, but I'm not necessarily against off-the-wall ideas, as long as they produce sound results. Any insights on why this will or will not work, are appreciated. And I would also love to here a medical practioners' scientific opinion.

Cheers.

Ralph

Beer in Brussels

Yes, I was buying beer from a man Brussels, but he certainly wasn't six-foot-four... Anyhow, they have an intesting way of serving their suds. Like other European countries I've been to, the draught beer is extremely fresh, so most people drink it, unlike the U.S., where bottles seem to be the preferred medium. Between me and the guy I was drinking with, we tried about five different beers, and each of them was served to us in a different shaped glass - with the logo of the bier on it. And this wasn't in some hoyty-toytee tourist trap, it was a local pub that my friend took me to. Reminded me of a bigger city/European version of the Greengarten Tavern.

I just thought that it was interesting that apparently to help you fully enjoy your beir, they serve different kinds in different style glasses... Yeah, I guess they take their beir seriously over there. However, I'm not quite sure about their entertainment industry. I was there for a conference, and some ex-New York City kid actually attempted to entertain us on stage by doing a serious imitation of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean dance. Yeah, he was good, but it's really not 1989 anymore and Michael Jackson is known child-molester. I felt like I was watching O.J. highlights or something.

Great Author Dies

I heard earlier this afternoon that the great writer John Updike has died. Updike is probably best well-known for his Rabbit series of books, which is a wonderful series of four books that follows former high school basketball star Harry Angstrom from his days as a young man trying to make it as a door to door salesman, all the way through to his death, some 30 years later.

The series offers a fascinating look into American history over the four decades. The first book, Rabbit Run was published in 1960, and the final one, Rabbit at Rest, in 1990. Updike does a great job capturing the values and culture of each decade. The first book is marked by a wild idealism, which characterized the 60s', the second book captures that giant hangover that was the 70s. The third book gets the extravegance the was the '80s, and the fourth book gets the bitter conservatism that was much of the '90s. The thing is, he wrote each book at the beginning of the decade. He had a true sense of what was going on.

Of course, I can't say anything else I ever read of his was all too memorable, but, the Rabbit series rocks. If you have some serious time to waste, I recommend checking it out.

Ralph

Inauguration

The Inauguration in HD with stereo was really cool. Barack is a great talker and he was followed by a couple good poets. The last guy actually used the line, "for the red man to get ahead man."

Good stuff.

Congrats to Steelers

For the second time in four years, the Stillers are headed to the Super Bowl, which is pretty impressive, especially considering my Buffalo Bills haven't even been to the playoffs in 10 years - since the halcyon days of Wade Phillips... Anyhow, this post is about the Stillers... I was watching the game with a lifelong Stiller fan friend of mine who made the comment, "I didn't expect it to be this ugly." I'm not sure what he was expecting but after seeing the Ravens and Stillers play a handful of times this year - including once against each other- I was certainly expecting ugly.

I love this comment blogger Adrew Perloff made in regards to the Ravens past two games(against the Stillers and Titans): "Everyone says they love watching smashmouth football. Really? All the head-hunting and injury timeouts made the Ravens' three-game postseason nunwatchable. By the end of the Titans and Steelers games, the trainers had spent as much time on the field as some of the players. There was no flow and very few memorable plays." (Here's a link to the rest of Perloff's excellent column.)

From my standpoint, here were the memorable plays:
1. Ray Lewis' excellent tackle that forced the Willie Parker fumble in the first half
2. The Stillers fourth-down stop that immediatley followed that fumble.
3. Holmes' great TD catch and run.
4. Sweed's drop
5. Polaumalu's interception

That's five memorable plays, not too bad. But, there sure were a lot of ugly-looking plays.

Anyhow, congrats to the 'Stillers. The game against 'Zona should be played in better weather in Tampa, so maybe we'll see some offense, or at least a few sacks of Warner.

Wii fun

Whatever anyone says about the Wii and how cool it is and how much fun... is likely right. I generally don't like video games, because you're pretty much just using your hands and eyes, but you can really get a good workout with the Wii. And it's very easy to do. Not a lot of buttons to learn and press. My son got one for his birthday with the sports package, and we've been having great fun with it. And, I'll admit I'm a little sore today.

Cheers.

Ralph

Newspaper Demise

No, this is not another post ripping on the Erie-Times... although, from what I've seen lately, the Times, like most other print newspapers is probably hurting. I think I read something a month ago about some layoff/early retirement packages being offered to a certain percentage of the staff. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I came across an article on the more general state of the newspaper industry, which detailed how much newspaper advertisting, in particular, classified advertising, was down, and how this was putting print papers across the country in jeopardy. The article did say, however, that smaller town papers were doing better than large metropolitan dailies.

Having worked for a few small town papers back in the day, I have always maintained an interest in the "community newspaper." Even back in the early '90s, we realized our main competition was national/international news outlets - and this was before the Internet. So, at the time, we countered by covering as much local as possible. After all, when I worked in Greenville, PA, papers were about the only source of local news, as the closest TV station was across the stateline in Youngstown... So, you can imagine my shock, when I happened to be passing through Greenville on Saturday, picked up a copy of the Record-Argus, and found the whole thing filled with AP articles. I mean the whole thing. Did they fire the editorial staff because it was too expensive? Were they all just on XMas vacation? I couldn't even find a name on the masthead to contact.

I have no idea what the purpose is of a rag filled with AP copy - maybe just a wrapper for some local advertising - but I was truly dismayed by this development. A piece of my past had suddenly disappeared. Unless I find out that issue was an anamoly, I can never again dream about going back to the simpler days of covering high school wrestling matches, or sitting in the sun enjoying a spring afternoon track meet, taking in the local gossip, and preparing my evening copy in my head....

I wonder if the people of Greenville feel the same way. Do they feel they've lost a piece of their identity? Yes, I'll admit (gulp) that the Sharon Herald did a pretty good job of covering Greenville even when I was there and maybe there was only room for one paper in Mercer County. But still, the Record-Argus is gone? Say it ain't so. My clips, two years of my life, headed for oblivion.

Anyway, we made it to the wrestling tournament we were taking my son to. I saw some people from my past newspaper work there, but didn't have the heart to approach any of them. We then had a wonderful lunch down the road in Sharon at the original (and best) Quaker Steak & Lube, and drove back to Erie. I must admit, however, that I feel like a small piece of me is missing...

Ralph

WSEE Thanks

As a lifelong Bills fan, I just want to thank the kind folks at WSEE for not showing today's game vs. the Patriots. I just listened to about 10 minutes on the radio-a drive that ended in a missed field goal, and was thankful I was heading into Starbucks to do some work.

Ralph

Hot NFL Action

What a day for football yesterday. I'll admit, when I heard the radio pundits (actually Red, Jim LeCorchick, and Mike Ruzzi broadcasting from the casino) talking about what a great day of NFL action it was going to be, I was questioning their credibility. After all, the Tennessee/Pittsburgh and Carolina/Giants games were only really playing for home field advantage and not for playoff spots, as all four teams had clinched. And the Bills, well...

But, what do you know, the Tennessee-'burghers game sucked me in and I went from there.

Although I generally root for the Stillers cuz I like their style of play, I was glad to see the Titans win yesterday, just because they have a running game. The four teams I mentioned have pretty much clinched the top four seeds in their conferences, and they all play good defense. But only three of them, the Stillers being the exception, have strong running games. This is unusual for a 'Burgher squad, but it's the unfortunate reality of this season. Big Ben had no more miracles to pull out of his ass and the 'Stillers went down. I'd say this bodes poorly for their chances in the playoffs.

The Giants, on the other hand, what a show last night. They rang up more than 300 yards rushing and totally steamrolled the Panthers in the second half after being down 21-10. It was a clinic in how you play late season football: wear the other boys out and then slam it down their throats. Good stuff. The Giants might have this late season football thing down. Madden kept saying how the Giants' coaches said they were going to get back to the run, no matter what the other team's defense did- even if they were keying on it and tempting the Giants to pass. Well, they did, and it certainly worked. Curious thing is that the Giants O-coordinator is Kevin Gilbride, who was always noted as a passing guru - and spent some time with Bledsoe in Buffalo. He was the guy Buddy Ryan once took a swing at when Ryan was coahing the Oilers defense way back when. Ryan accused Gibride of running a "chuck-'n-duck" offense that was putting too much pressure on Ryan's D. Now, Gibride's orchestrating a power running game? I guess it's never too late to learn.

As for the Bills, they won a wonderful game against the Broncos, who like the Bills started fast and have been an extreme disappointment since. Go Bills! Edwards looked marvelous yesterday, shades of the early season, after a rough start. If we can beat New England at home next week, and knock the Pats out of the playoffs, I think I'll be happy with the season.

Anyways, I went into yesterday with low expectations because I didn't think there was too much to play for in many of the top games. But, the NFL showed me that it's made up of true professionals that really know how to put on a show and take pride in their work.

January should be fun as usual.

Ralph

High Class Scams

Does anyone cover a high-class scam as well as Vanity Fair? This (or is it next) month's issue features Tina Fey on the cover - more droll Hollywood stuff - but buried on page 100 is this wonderful story of how this German immigrant cut a swath through the country posing as a high-class blueblood. His final scam, which he rode for several years and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars (plus he got a daughter of it) was posing as Clark Rockefeller, a relation to one of America's weathiest and most well-known families. Unforutnately for him, he is now in jail, but man, he really pulled it off for awhile. Vanity Fair should win some sort of award for its journalism on these types of stories. It really gets the dirt on the guy, but at the same time manages to glamorize him somewhat and lay fault on the people that willingly fell for his ruse... Plus, the last line (in the rather lengthy story) is really a zinger.

Cheers.

Ralph

What makes a great athlete?

This is an interesting article by some guy who thinks about these things from time to time. It questions whether Michael Phelps, who won seven swimming gold medals in the Olympics, is even close to being "the world's greatest athlete," as many have billed him. The article makes interesting points like:
a. Penn State's starting safety actually beat Phelps in races several times when they were young, but quit swimming to pursue football, because, well, football is football and swimming is, well, unless you're in the Olympics...
b. Lance Armstrong admits he sucks at football
c. Most swimmers admit to being like fish out of water in other sports
d. Aside from the gymnastics, swimming is like the only sport in which you have an opportunity to win eight medals...

None of this is to deny that Phelps is a great swimmer, but it gets down to the definition of athlete. Should a truly great athlete be able to accel in multiple sports or just be super great at one? I'm predisposed to the multiple-sport view, which is what I think helped Jim Thorpe gain such fame as the "world's greatest athlete" in the first half of the century-even though he had a pretty mediocre career as a major league baseball player.

Just some chowder to swish around in your head.

Ralph

Trainspotting-Dark Humor

I was looking for a good dark comedy to read over the recent holiday, and I came across a Yahoo! thread on this topic. After some investigation, part of which involved checking what was in stock at our library, I settled on Irving Welsh's Trainspotting. I had heard this is a good movie, and it was actually recommended by a friend of mine whose wife hails from Scotland, but I have never seen it. The book is a hoot, although it's written in phonetic Scottish dialogue, so it's like reading something written in another language. In some ways this adds to the enjoyment, as it really makes you feel like you're reading about something from a different land.

It takes place in the 1980s (I think that' s the timeframe) in Scotland. Coincidentally, this was also the time I was coming of age in Erie. And even though the lads in the book reside across the Atlantic, it seems they had a lot of the same goals my friends and I did. I mean, we weren't shootin' smack, but sex, drugs, drinking, partying, (not necessarily in that order) is what we were all about for a few years there. It's always good to find kindred spirits.

Here's a link to marvelous short (Trainspotting- Sunday Breakfast) from the book. It certainly reminded me (with some literary exaggeration) of something that might have happened to me back in the day.

Cheers.

Ralph

Whistleblower - lipstick on a pig

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. Did you see the story in today's ETN about St. V's agreeing to pay $1.9 million to the federal government for what amounts to Medicare fraud. By no means am I saying what St. V's did was right. Apparently, from 2001-2003, Vincent was jacking up the prices of certain procedures so they'd fall under this "outlier" category and then getting Medicare to reimburse them. (More details are in the print version of the story than the online one I've linked to, unless it's been updated). So, St. V's was basically ripping off the federal government, although they won't admit to it. (The $1.9 million payout just to "put something behind them" - I'm paraphrasing, admits enough.)

It was action brought by New Jersey-based "independent hospital consultant" Anthony Kite that brought on the payment. In press coverage, Kite is classified as a whistleblower- yeah, right. I'll agree, he blew the whistle on St. Vincent's and about eight other hospitals performing similar fraud, but Kite wasn't even employed by St. Vincent. No, Mr. Kite could be more accurately described as an extortionist.

First of all, Kite is from New Jersey, so that should tell you something (and I felt this way about NJ people long before the Sopranos made it fashionable). Second, when I Googled his name, I didn't find any listing for a hospital consulting business. I did find several stories about extortion schemes similar to the one he pulled on Vincent, including some published by his apparent employer - the law firm of Phillips and Cohen.

Here's how it works: Kite is the front man, who likely has connections and knows how to discover which hospitals have been pulling this scam on Medicare (lots of scamming going on here). So, he threatens to sue and expose the hospital, which settles with Phillips and Cohen, which pulls a nice commission from the deal. The rest goes to the federal government, and everybody is happy, except for the taxpayers, who have overpaid this hospital first and are now contributing to the ever-accumulating wealth of this law firm. Then again, if it wasn't for the meddling law firm (shades of Scooby Doo here. "They would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for.....'), the federal government probably would have recouped nothing. So, I guess we can give them some due, but to call Kite a "whistleblower" is to put him in the same class with people who have taken serious personal risks and in some cases paid a hefty price to expose wrongdoings.

Maybe "extortionist"' is too strong of a term. Let's just call him a mercenary and leave it at that.

Ralph

Prep Guidance Department Takes Hit

A know that SI columnist Peter King meant well in yesterday's MMQB column, when we awarded Bob Sanders the "Good Guy of the Week." However, he seems to slam Prep's guidance department with his comments about Sanders not even knowing what the SAT was. I went to Prep, albeit a few years before Sanders, and while the guidance department wasn't world class, it did take an interest in students' futures. I don't know if there were budget cuts in the years after I left, but I fiind it hard to believe that no one tried to help a talented guy like Sanders lay out his future plans.



Anyhow, congrats to Sanders for starting his Chasing Dreams foundation. Sounds like a good thing. I just feel bad for Prep's guidance dept, as King makes it sound like they were sleeping on the job.



Ralph

Last week for Zoo

Just as a heads up, the Erie Zoo closes for the season after this coming Sunday, Nov. 30. According to the Web site, it's open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day until then. I don't know if this includes T-Giving, but it doesn't say it doesn't.

Now, granted, a lot of the animals are away for the winter. But the orangutans are still up and about and worth the visit. I don't know how long Layla, pictured above, will be with us over there, as word has it, her father is starting to make advances on her and they may have to move her. I recently did see a wrestling match between the two of them that definitely raised my eyebrows.

Those of you who have seen the orangutan family know what I'm talking about when I say how entertaining they can be. They are very active and definitely respond to visitors. Leyla climbs all over the place and puts on quite a show playing with her blanket. The mother will swing from the ceiling and threw a couple punches at my youngest son yesterday. And Joseph, the father, he's a big lug who will put his lips up to the glass and try and kiss you. Really good stuff to watch, especially for the kids who get a chance to interact (closeup, especially this time of year when there is barely anyone else around) with some really intelligent and fascinating animals.

Ralph

Maybe not...

Maybe I was being a bit too easy on ole' Judge Joyce. Perhaps he did strong arm Erie Insurance into forking over the cash....

Joyce Innocent

No, this isn't a scoop.

I have no insights into how the jury is voting, but the more I think about it, I don't see how they can justly convict this guy. Did he take over $400,000 from Erie Insurance based on trumped up claims? Almost certainly. Did Erie Insurance care? No. So, how is this a crime? Who is the victim? Granted, you could probably look at this as some type of bribery, but that's not what Joyce is charged with. And if it is bribery, Erie Insurance should be charged too.

I think someone from Erie Insurance testified to the effect that they wanted to settle with Joyce quickly because of his track record ruling in favor of insurance companies. Now, $400,000-plus seems like a pretty expensive settlement for this reason. I mean what kind of cases was Joyce hearing that involved Erie Insurance? And how often did these cases occur that Erie Insurance couldn't wait the time it would have taken to follow-up on Joyce's claim with more care.

Certainly, something sounds fishy, but is this sort of deal illegal? To me, it sounds like Erie Insurance felt it was making a business investment, much like lobbyists invest in our governmental representatives.

When Joyce is found innocent, the question I'd like to see answered is "how did this thing get brought to trial?" In other words, "who's responsible?" And when we figure that out, the responsible party should be made to reimburse the taxpayers for the court costs. The same holds true for the Fillippi trial, which was also seemed a bit frivilous for my taste.

Of course, that all said, both trials have been highly entertaining to follow. Maybe, there's some value to taxpayers in a bread and circuses sort of way.

Ralph

Wide Right

The horror. The horror.

Can you imagine? It certainly reminded me eerily of Super Bowl XXV. During that game, I knew the kick was too long. Just like tonight. Couldn't we have thrown it one more time? Tried to get just 10 yards closer. A 45-yard kick into the wind in Buffalo is no gimme. We ran it three times up the middle and settled for the long kick. I remember feeling the same way at the end of Super Bowl XXV. I thought, if we could just get it a little closer, I'd feel better about the kick.

But in both cases, it was not to be. Same result. Painfully close, but wide right. And now, we will miss the playoffs again.

At least the game was entertaining. I'd like to say, congrats to Cleveland, you played a good game. But, we kind of gave that one to ya'. Merry Christmas I guess.

Cheers.

Ralph

Cringely leaving PBS

It seems one of my favorite columnists is wrapping things up at PBS.com at the end of the year. If you've never read his work before, do yourself a favor and read this week's post. He's truly an original with unparalleled insights into and contacts in the high-tech industry. He jokes (I think) that Barak Obama should consider him for the position of CTO for the federal government. Then again, with Bill James holding a front office position with the Red Sox, I guess anything is possible.

Joyce Trial

This trial of the former Judge Joyce is truly a classic. You've got all sorts of high-drama elements coming together:

• a high-profile former district judge, who was also known as a man about town
• a spurned ex-girlfriend with a vendetta
• an insurance company that admittedly paid him off quickly so as not to lose access to his mostly favorable rulings
• is Greg Rubino involved in this as well?

Anyhow, things are coming to ahead, and based on today's article in the paper, if I as on the jury, I think Mike Joyce would be cooked. Here's the testimony I found most damning: (It comes from Dr. William Welch, the chief neurosurgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, who was testifying for the prosecution.)

From the Times article:

"Joyce’s activities, especially the long hours he spent piloting a personal
plane, do not support Joyce’s claim to the insurers that he suffered
life-changing pain and cognitive problems after the crash, he said. Joyce’s
'actions suggest this is not a highly disabled person,' Welch said.

Joyce’s multiple flights in 2002, the 95 score he received on his pilot’s
test and his clean Federal Aviation Administration physical all indicate he was
'highly functioning,' Welch said. 'If you are saying you are having arm
weakness, numbness, and shaking, you would have trouble operating the controls.
Anyone having significant neurological difficulties would not pilot anything. It
is unconscionable.'"

That makes sense. Really, if someone was as worried as Joyce says he was about physical problems, and stuff, like his back, suddenly stopping working, what the hell was he doing flying a plane? It makes no sense. Of course, maybe he's just psychotic, which I guess in itself isn't criminal...

Oh well, there was a lot more evidence presented than what I have just written, but, based on that alone, I'd say something is fishy.

Ralph

Weekend-Monday update

Well, we got our first snow of the season. The rest of the week looks a little questionable, with more snow perhaps next week. Could we possibly be in for a big snowy winter?

Looks like it will at least be pretty nasty for the Prep-Vincent rematch on Saturday. I've seen the Ramblers play twice this year, and, from my perspective, they got killed both times, vs. Vincent and McDowell. I sure hope they have some sort of a different game plan for this one. Prep seems to do pretty well in the games I haven't gone to, so maybe I should stay home.

Prep runs this spread offense and they do have a new quarterback from the one they had in the beginning of the year. As the QB is definitely the key to this type of offense, perhaps they really have turned a page, but I'm not overly confident. Vincent has been really, really solid all year.

On a professional football note, the Bills have really shit the bed after their fast start. I've had a link to this guy's page for a couple years now. He is absolutely brutal on the Bills, and it turns out justifiably so. Basically, he's insisted that for the past four years - at least, any winning they have done is through smoke and mirrors and that they just don't block, tackle, and execute well enough to win consistently in the NFL. Maybe if Mr. Phillips would spend a little more time on his day job with Cowboys and less time writing under his alias, his team in Dallas would have more success. Seriously, when Wade was in Buffalo, the Bills sure could tackle and hit you at least. I don't know what's happend to his D in Dallas.

Oh well, that's about it. All sorts of fun on several fronts here.

Ralph

Gotta Love Denny Green

Was listening to the Browns-Broncos game last night. Former Vikings (and regrettably Cardinals) head coach Denny Green was doing the color commentary. To give you an idea of what he sounds like, I thought it was Jerry Glanville. Anyhow, he made this call, "the Broncos still need a whole half-yard for the first down."

Oh yes, another great episode of Life on Mars. I absolutely think this is the best network TV show ever made through five episodes. Unforuntely, I haven't found anyone else who shares my opinion. Are you out there?

Ralph

Democratic night

Last night was very democratic both with a capital and a small "D." First and foremost, there didn't seem to be any voting problems or controversies, which was a big relief. So the democratic process, with a small "d" worked.

Then, of course, we had the big wins by both Barak Obama and Kathy Dahlkemper. Congrats to both of them, because I think both were signficant underdogs a year ago that pulled off pretty remarkable victories. Yes, they were buoyed by the failures of the Republicans (who elected those guys anyway?) But, neither one just stood there and let the votes come to them. They both did some serious campaigning.

It's no secret that a lot of Bush's success was driven by the grass-roots-level campaigning led by Karl Rove. Unfortuntately, (or justly, depending on how you want to look at it) Rove was disgraced because of some underhanded intimindation-type stuff. However, his path to success was not lost on the Obama and Dahlkemper campaigns. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, totally missed the message.

I knew Dahlkemper was serious during the primaries when both my wife and I received several polite calls, and even an apology that a rep couldn't stop by our house because of bad weather. And, these were not recorded messages. Dahlkemper also made a point to campaign hard in Crawford and Mercer counties, even though she was at a serious disavantage vs. Repulicans in those areas. Having lived in Mercer County for a couple years, I know, those people don't want to be ignored and the area is not completely devoid of Democrats. I think one of Ron DiNicola's biggest failures was his inability to connect with people outside of Erie.

Obama, of course, has been lauded for his use of Internet communication, something which was really pioneered by Howard Dean four years ago. I still think it's a shame Dean couldn't knock off Kerry, but he was a bit of a loose cannon and quite frankly scared some people. I think Dean's head of the Democratic party now. I don't know how much be helped Obama, but the Obama campaign difinitely followed his lead and took advantage of Internet communication.

This reverberated with young people, and probably high-tech people in general. I thought it was interesting that, according to ABC's exit polls, the majority of people earning more than $200,000 per year, which are the people being targeted for higher taxes by Obama, voted for him. I credit this to the fact that a lot of these high-wage earners are likely technologically savvy, and, in Obama, they likely see one of their own. When you add this elitist base to the traditional Democratic working/union base, and the minority vote that Obama carried...well, that's why he won by so much.

Here's my Republican thought for the day: Obama Joe Biden sounds a little like... well, you know that guy in Pakinstan. Whatever happend to him anyhow? I'm still not convinced that the Bush family connections with him didn't get him off the hook.

Cheers.

Ralph

1973 tunes

This is kind of wierd, but has been thoroughly enjoyable for the past 45 minutes...

Is Kathy D a millionaire?

Yesterday, I posted a comment on Erie Blogs, in which I probably, unjustifiably, took at least one crack at Phat Phil's weight. And Heavy D (presumably not realted to Kathy) rightfully called me out for it, but still, for a guy his size to be preaching against walking and riding bikes, seems a bit, I don't know, ironic.

Anyhow, Heavy D did bring up the point about Dahlkemper not revealing her tax returns, which I've let pass by because I think her husband owns a business and lettng people pour through the returns may be a competitive disadvantage. Heavy D also says she has 12 acres with a lake view? Is this true? Not that it should matter, but for some reason, perhaps her work with Frontier Park, I was under the impression she lived in the Frontier area. Anyhow, if all this money was earned through valid landscaping work, god bless big Chuck and Dan and whoever made this thing roll. But, if there are some questionable contracts and potential political favors going on... let's hear about it.

Ralph

Sore throat

Seems to be some sort of sore throat virus going around. My wife has had it, and now I feel a it coming on me. My son stayed home from school because of a bad cough this morning. Of course, it's supposed to be warm out the next few days, so I guess we'll just open up the windows and try and chase the bad stuff out.

As always, any theories on colds and what causes them and how to get rid of them are appreciated.

Cheers.

Ralph

Happy Halloween

Apologize for the poor quality, but it's a low-grade camera phone.

Cheers.

Ralph

Oh yes, another great episode of Life on Mars Last night. The ending really tied it together. With about 10 minutes left, I was thinking that the show was starting to slip, than, crash, bang, boom, we got three or four quick scenes that tied everything together. Two of them were great Kietel scenes. And they even managed to tie in the cheezy acid trip scene from earlier.

Also, we had this exchange.

Cop sent back in time: Look it's Jim Croce.

Cop: Jim, I love Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown. It was my favorite song when I was a kid.

Croce: I just released that album this year.

Cop: Right, I forgot. Anyhow, stay away from small planes.

Croce: Stay away from the hallucinigenics.

There's an old screen writing addage about always closing with a bang. Leaves them wanting for more or something. The writers of Life on Mars seem to get this.

Ralph

Phillies: Part Two

WikiAnswers:

From 1883-1889, the current "Phillies" team was known as the Quakers.

In 1890, the name was changed to the "Philadelphias," after the custom of the time. It was shortly thereafter changed to "Phillies."

It stayed that way until 1944 when the team went by the nickname of Blue Jays.

That lasted two years and in 1946 the name was changed back to Phillies.

From BleacherReport.com:

Pittsburgh Pirates: "Though baseball was first played in Pittsburgh in 1876, the team that evolved into the Pirates, the Pittsburgh Alleghenies, joined the American Association in 1882, and the NL in 1887. Then known as the Innocents, they became the Pirates by 'pirating' second baseman Lou Bierbauer from Philadelphia."

Feel free to comment.

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Things I've Learned about the Phillies Since They Won the World Series

First, growing up in Western PA, I always thought the "phillies" were somehow related to horses (fillys), so I was always confused by their mascot (the green monster dude...he doesn't really look like a horse, not too much, anyway).

But, after living in SW PA for more than a year, I've come to understand that "phillies" are not related to horses at all. It just means "people from Philly".

That's it!?!?!?! What's the history here, Ralph? Couldn't they come up with something more creative than the Phillies? At least the Brooklyn Dodgers meant "trolley dodgers" (before they moved to LA).

Geez, I feel deflated now. It's like I always say: It would be better if animals were involved.

Really, it has to be one of the weakest nicknames in sports, no wonder World Series Championships are so few and far between. God is punishing them for being so uncreative.

Second, what are the real Phillies team colors? I always thought the colors were read and white (with red and gray travel uniforms), but I've seen blue Phillie hats and green Phillie hats, in addition to red, here on the KU campus. It was explained to me that the blue is legit, as the Phillies have always had some blue in their uniforms; however, the green hats are designed exclusively to encourage people to buy their favorite team's hat in a different color (that's just corrupt).

Now remember, I lived in Pittsburgh for 13 years and all of their sports teams have the same colors (black and gold). Makes it real simple, which suits me just fine.

Anyway, I'm learning about this Phillies team, little by little. It's been fun to watch all of the local fans having so much vacarious fun, just like I did when the Celtics won the NBA World Championship in June 2008. Woooohooooo!!!!

Still, I want to learn more about how the Phillies were named. I know the Pirates got their nickname when they allegedly stole some players from another team (was it the Phils?), and the Steelers has obvious origins.

I won't even comment on the 76ers, who are now just the Sixers...that's another lame name.

I need access to a sports editor, pronto!

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Bully girls

So, my wife and I had a conversation this morning regarding bullying. Apparently, one of the girls in my daughter's class pushed her the other day and then said something along the lines of "I did it on purpose." My daughter has also told us this girl made fun of her for wearing colored underwear on a gym day a few weeks back. My wife and I have termed this girl and her friends as the "mean girls," and are having a debate over how are daughter should handle the situation.

According to my daughter there are a couple times when she's said something like, "you shouldn't have done that," when one of these girls made her friend move at the lunch table or something. My daughter is not exactly a wilting violet.

But, after this girl pushed her, she didn't do anything. I said she should have shoved her back even harder. (Note: my daughter is pretty sturdy; she has an older brother that likes to use her for wrestling practice. I'v'e seen her fight back and know she packs a wallop.) My wife said she should have told the teacher and is thinking that maybe she should go in herself and tell the teacher.

This brought about conversations about the value of kids learning to deal with their own problems, and the value of a little violence against a bully. I think we agree that parent interference should be kept to a miminum. Of course, some of my wife's more overbearing friends (and just to cover myself, I use "overbearing" as a term of endearment) don't feel that way. In regards to fighting back with a little violence, my wife seems to think this will reflect negatively on my daughter. I, of course, having just finished reading a 450-page biography of John Adams, am certainly in favor of a little bit of justified violence. That's how revolutions happen, baby!

Any opinions or advice on this topic are appreciated.

Ralph

Ralph

Ken Holtzman

I was watching the Philles-Rays game last night when Phils pitcher Joe Blanton went deep for I believe the first home run of his career. Not a good sign for the Rays, who ended up losing like 13-2. The announcers revealed that Ken Holtzman was the last pitcher to homer in the World Series, in 1974 against the Dodgers. That was the second World Series I ever remember watching, and I recall Holtzman's blast. Of course, a year earlier, Holtzman hit two doubles against the Mets. The guy was a .163 lifetime hitter with a .203 slugging percentage. In three Word Series' with the A's, he hit .333 with an .833 slugging percentage. He also had a 4-1 pitching record in the October Classic.

Here's what Ken Holtzman looked like in the mid-1970s. White shoes, green hats, yellow uniforms, great mustaches- the A's were the epitome of style to a wide-eyed youngster like myself. Ahh, the 1970s...

OJ's final game in 1973

Another solid episode of Life on Mars, yesterday. Sure, it has its cheesy moments, but then it hits you with these bizarre philsophical questions on reality, and fate, and destiny. You can definitely sense its English roots. Also, the show had a really strong ending last night, so I'm looking forward to next week.

As part of my continuing connection to 1973, I came across this wonderful video of O.J. Simpson's last game that year, when he both broke Jim Brown's single season rushing record and the 2,000-yard barrier - the first time a professional running back ever did that and the only time in 14 games. A few things are remarkable about this video:
1. For some reason, it's recorded in black-and-white.
2. The announcers never mention the score of the game, even though the Bills were 8-5 going in and battling the Bengals for a playoff spot. (Both teams finished 9-5, with the Bengals gaining the tiebreaker.)
3. The Bills running attack is incredible. They've got people pulling and sweeping all over the place, with O.J. cutting and shifting beautifully behind them. This is on a snow-covered field, and the Jets knew the Bills weren't throwing. (Rookie QB Joe Ferguson had like 4 TD passes all year.) You might see this type of running attack in college, but never do you see anything like it in a pro game anymore.
4. Look how tight the I-formation is. O.J. is practially up fullback Jim Braxton's ass.

This is condensed version of the game, so you get the gist of what went on in like 10 minutes. It's truly a beautiful thing to watch if you have the chance.

Ralph

Electronic Voting Machines and Fraud

Here's what I do on my day job, if you're interested.

Ralph

World Series

I'm looking forward to the World Series. I think the Rays and the Phillies is a good match-up. Do you realize in like 100 years of existence, the Phillies have won one World Series title? In 1983, I think. The Rays, meanwhile, have pretty much finished in last place every year of their existence, until now. Both teams have some great talent this year. I have to think the Rays will take it in six or seven, based on the fact that they beat out both the Yankees and Red Sox for their regular season division title, and then vanquished the Red Sox again in the playoffs. Those are some great teams they beat to get here. Meanwhile, the Phils had to deal with the self-imploding Mets and a questionable Brewers team, before deposing of a pretty weak Dodgers squad (Manny excluded) in the NL Championship.

Things open Wed. and Thurs. in the dome - which from what I understand is an abomination of a place. Personally, I've never watched more than an inning of ball there. I listened to the AL Championship Series on the radio. But, at least the weather will be good. And things don't look all too bad in Philly for the next 10 days. So, let's play some ball and get it done. The NFL is about to kick into its stretch drive and the Bills are 5-1. (And DrD's Vikings have the immortal Gus Frerotte at the helm.)

Cheers.

Ralph

Life on Mars

I few years ago, I realized had a bit of an obsession with the year 1973. I would have turned six that year, and my first real sports memories come from that time. For example, I remember the 1973 Super Bowl, which took place in January, between the Redskins and Dophins, but I don't remember the 1972 World Series, between the A's and Reds, which took place a few months previous. I do remember the 1973 Series, between the Mets and A's, however, as well as O.J. rushing for 2,000 yards, and even Secretariat winning the Triple Crown.

So, they launch this TV show on ABC last week and it's about this 41-year old guy who is transported back to 1973 after getting hit by a car. But, he's not a a six-year-old kid, but an adult, who is a police detective, just like he is in 2008. But then, although most everything seems real, as real as 1973 can be, he gets these not-so-subtle messages from time-to-time that he's really in a coma or something and this world has been constructed just for him. And then I start thinking about my obsession with 1973 and start thinking that perhaps this show, and my world, are constructed just for me... and it gets really strange.

On top of that, I read a review of this show, and it asks, "do they really expect us to feel nostalgic for the year 1973?" and my answer is yes, of course, I love 1973. But, my wife, for instance, who is also my age, seems to be indifferent towards it. So, I'm baffled. Does anyone else appreciate this show or is it on just for me?

Thanks

Ralph

GeoEye Satellite Image of Kutztown University

Click the link for an ariel view of Kutztown University campus.

The road running through the center of the photo is Main Street Kutztown. The land on the right is South Campus; the land on the left is North Campus.

I teach all of my classes in the giant building in the center of the photo (directly on Main Street, south side).

Pretty cool pic.

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Phillies-Dodgers

There's a crazy big blue jay just landed on a chair back just outside my door. He croaked a couple times at me and then flew off. Once upon a time, Matt Stairs was a crazy big Blue Jay. So, that game last night was whacky. Matt Stairs has always been a crazy good hitter, and man he tatooed that ball to put the Phils ahead for good.

I'm cheering for the Phils because my two-year-old son has a Phillies hat he wore all summer, and people were always asking me quesitons about it. Now, it's all beat up and broken in, and the Phillies are one-game a away from the World Series. Makes him look like he's knows what he's doing. I can't say I saw more than five Phillies hats in Erie all summer, if that... but you can bet they'll all be popping up now. But, Fudgie, he was there when it started. He's in on the ground floor man.

Anyhow, did you realize that Stairs finally made it to the big leagues to stay with the 1997 A's, at 28 years old. He hadn't hit more than 13 home runs in a minor league season and had even spent some time in Japan. His A's teammates now included Mark MaGuire, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, and Miguel Tejada. And, in a couple years, Stairs was a 40 HR, 100 RBI guy. Anyway, he's a hero now, and he did hit 21 homers in limited playing time with the Blue Jays last year, when they were testing, weren't they?

Oh well, that Manny Ramirez can really hit can't he? But, it looks like we might not get to see a Dodgers-Bosox World Series after all. Would have been fun.

Ralph

Donna the Buffalo: Silverlined

Donna the Buffalo has released a new CD: Silverlined.

It is very good. A must-have for fans and a strong purchase for anyone.

Sim Redmond has also released a new CD. I've listened to it a couple of times, and it is pretty good. Fans will certainly want to add it to their collection.

Both CDs are available at Funkyside.

By the way, Funkyside is a great website if you are looking for new music in general. It's based in Ithaca, NY (Finger Lakes) and supports the local artists in that area (many of whom make the trip to Erie on a regular basis).

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Texas-Oklahoma

They call it the Red River Shootout, and in this day-and-age of the overuse of terms like "shootout" and "classic" as part of media hype - this one actually lives up to the hype. I think they've been playin' it for 110 years, which is clearly long enough to establish a "classic" rivalry.

I remember a few years back reading a list of the 10 greatest college football rivalries, and at the time, to me, the Nebraska-Oklahoma game always seemed like one of the biggest. But, this list, which obviously had a broader perspective than I did, listed Texas-Oklahoma. It said something like, these two states just don't like each other. If you want to insult someone from Texas, just say they're from Oklahoma, or some such jazz. Anyhow, when a rivalry goes back 110 years, as I said, and you typically have two good football programs, it's going to get pretty heated.

Saturday's game was fantastic. Oklahoma jumped out early and help on until the 4th quarter when the Longhorns came rolling like an orange tidal wave that the Sooners couldn't hold back. Something about Brent Mussburger calling Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops by his nickname "Stoopy" I think doomed them.

Mussburger did have one great line when his color man said something about them potentially riding together the largest Ferris Wheel in the world, which is installed at the Texas State Fair. "Do they serve cold ones up there?" Mussburger asked. I think he may have a been a bit uncomfortable with the propsition.

Anyhow, great game, fun time, lot of patentry, good quarterbacking - that Colt McCoy of Texas can play - college football the way it should be. As a sidenote, I was in Austin last week, and even though the Cowboys played on Sunday, the big story in the paper was the upcoming Saturday's game with Oklahoma. That's what it's all about.

Ralph

400 Posts

Ralph,

I see where you wrote the 400th post.

Nice work and congratulations. You and I have written approximately 200 articles, each, in just under three years (the numbers start tallying as of January 2006). That's about 70 articles per year...six articles per month, if my math is right).

I think that's strong production.

So, what's our next step? Do we want to see where it goes, or are we prepared to try to connect our work to the cash flow in the mainstream? I think we've got a pretty solid, consistent product. Maybe we need to promote it more.

At the same time, the masses love the drama of polarity...I love it, too, but I like the balance of it more than life at the poles. I wouldn't want to lose any of our character if we go in this direction (although I think we're pretty good at grabbing a topic and being brutally honest, and we can do that because we aren't connected to money[see Noam Chomsky]).

We have also built up an archive of writings. Maybe we'll have enough for each of us to write a book someday, a collection of essays.

Sorry to see the Bills lose. I don't know whether I've mentioned this or not, but the Bills are my third favorite team. I like the cold weather, the colors on the uniforms, and a lot of Erie friends and family are Bills fans.

I'm rooting for a Philly/Boston World Series, but there is a long way to go. The Red Sox haven't even won he DS yet.

Well, there it is...

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Blockbuster Dream

One of my friends has been trying to convince me to join Netflix. As I'm in the midst of building out my home theatre system, I've probably put way too much thought into this. But here's the dream I had last night:

I went down to the Blockbuster store at the Liberty Plaza to return a DVD. After I dropped the movie in the slot, I went inside to get a new one. However, the store hda been transformed into some sort of Bed, Bath & Beyond-like boutique. There were towels, and lamps, and glassware, and all sorts of fufu-stuff all around.

I was baffled, wandering around looking for the movies but couldn't find any. Then I saw a reformed older hippie-type with a Price Valient-haircut looking around with the same bewilderment as I was. Our eyes met, and I realized what a dinosaur I was.

I ran out of the store and started asking people what had happened to Blockbuster. “Oh, it’s been closed for weeks,” was the answer I finally got, after a few “I don’t knows.”

Distraught, I caught my breath and found a place where I could shoot some pool and reminisce about the good ole' days with other old fogies. Instead of being sad, I found the dream strangely satisfying. (I think that last line makes it sound like a clinical report in a Freud book.)

Cheers.

Ralph

Bizzaro-World Playoff Play

I'm listening to the Dodgers-Cubs game last night when this happens: Dodgers are leading 5-1 at the time. With a man, on Dodgers outfielder Jim Edmonds comes to the plate. Before he became a great hitter with St. Louis, Edmonds was primarily known for his spectacular outfield play with the Angels, often, in fact, injuring himself by running into walls and such. In other words, he's known for playing the game hard.

Well, Edmonds, a lefty, hits a slicing fly ball down the left field line. Assuming it's foul, he doesn't bother to run it out. (Note: running out hits until you're absolutely sure they're called foul is something we stressed to 8-9 year-old players on our Little League team this year.) Well, the wind being what it is Chicago this time of year, the ball's slice is held up and it nearly drops fair. Manny Ramirez, yes, that Manny Ramirez who was traded by the Red Sox this year pretty much for loafing, hustles over, makes a nice play on the ball off the wall and gets it back into the infield quickly.

Now, the ball was foul so it really didn't matter, but my point is, that on this play, in a hugely important playoff contest for both teams, Manny was huslting, and Edmonds, who was quite willing to break his butt for fifth-place Angels teams back in the day, was not. Oh yes, the Dodgers won 7-2, with Manny getting two hits, scoring twice, and taking one out of the park.

No matter what you want to say negative about Manny, and most of it is probably true, he's a pro. No doubt about it. When the chips are down, he's not scared to step it up. (an alternative cliche: He really knows how to take the bull by the horns.) This is one of the things that makes him so great. He may eschew responsibility for many things, but when it comes to baseball, Manny's not afraid of the big moment. (Maybe we should put him in charge of Congress until we get this bailout thing passed.)

On a related note: Jason Bay, who has always been one of my favorite players because of the way he played and handled himself when he was with that awful Pirates franchise, had a homer to push the Red Sox past the Angels last night. Bay, whose personality is practically a polar opposite of Manny's, was the main piece the Red Sox got in return when they traded Manny. He's been solid. And his personality fits in much more with what the new Red Sox management (since the team was sold in 2003) is trying to achieve. Could this be one of those trades in which both teams benefit? It sure will be interesting if the Dodgers and Red Sox meet in the World Series.

Ralph