Don Imus = old news

I guess if there is one person "happy" about the recent shooting massacre at Virginia Tech has to be Don Imus. This absolutely horrible tragedy has taken Imus off the front pages and talk radio.

I am not here to minimalize that tragedy but I always find it funny when there is a big story getting wall to wall coverage that all of the sudden becomes ignored when an even bigger story occurs.

The biggest example of this that I can remember occured around the time of 9/11. Do you remember what the big story in the weeks leading up to that event? The disappearance of Chandra Levy and the investigation that seemed to point to congressman Gary Condit having something to do with it. Interviewed by the police on two seperate occasions, the 53 year old Condit denied having an affair with the 23 year old Levy but he finally admitted to it after Levy's aunt went public with the details.

Condit was never officially charged with her disappearance. In May of the next year, Levy's remains were found but the case remains unsolved. Condit lost his next election and has faded from public view. But once the tragedy of 9/11 took hold in the media, Levy's story became secondary.

The same thing is currently occuring with Imus. CNN is wall to wall about Virginia Tech. Victim's names are being released, details on the shooter and the fall out for all US college campuses are being discussed.

But lets not forget about Imus. If you haven't actually seen the footage and only know about the "nappy headed hos" comment. Take a look. Is he trying to be funny?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui1jPNDWArM

As stated in this blog last week. I don't know where I am on this issue. Obviously those comments are horrible. But what do I care about some 70 year old white guy says on a radio show I don't listen to and a tv show I don't watch.

What about Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson weighing in on the issue. Aren't their bigger issues for us in the black community to worry about? What about these athletes talking about how Imus' comments ruined their season and playing the victim in this? Why are they putting so much weight to what this old codger has to say?

And what about journalist Jason Whitlock who is being interviewed by everyone on this topic. He has a lot of powerful things to say about the issue, the black community and how the hip-hop community is to blame for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CCS7kTLUZM

According to Whitlock about the firing of Imus, "they are sentancing the jaywalker to the death penalty while the real killers are walking free, cashing cheques and writing rap songs." But who is Whitlock? He is a staunch conservative with his own agenda. How can he really be speaking for all African Americans? Before last week, I'd never heard of Jason Whitlock. The irony is that Whitlock is using this event as much to further his career, his agenda just as much as Sharpton and Jackson.

See I write that and I am not sure how strongly I believe it. I heard numerous interviews with Whitlock and I believed a lot of what he said. A lot of what he said really resonated with me. I just think we need to look at all sides. A slo-pitch teammate of mine forwarded Whitlock's now famous article on this topic earlier this week. On first glance, it is a powerful opinion piece. The first paragraph is "Thank you Don Imus. You've given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problems". Fascinating stuff. But read the whole piece a second time with a critical eye, keeping his politics in mind, and then how does it read? Are rap moguls like Russell Simmons really to blame? Or is it society in general?

http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html

Since we are talking about basketball, the top 5 basketball movies.
1. Hoop Dreams
2. Hoosiers
3. He Got Game
4. Blue Chips
5. Celtic Pride

The most wonderful time of the year

March and April of each year always whizzes by for me. There is just so much going on that I can hardly breath. My birthday in early April seems like an afterthought. Last weekend alone I went to the Raptor game on Friday with jayman for our annual birthday night out (our birthdays are a day apart). And then on the Sunday, I attended my yearly baseball fantasy draft at the CBC building in downtown Toronto.


On top of that, I've just discovered the website facebook.com, so I really have no time to breathe.


Top 5 things I love about this time of year.

1. The beginning of baseball season. In general, I love the sport (that picture is Brewer second baseman Rickie Weeks who is poised to have a huge season). I love the statistics (the stats OPS and WHIP are just fascinating to me) and I just love the drama of the sport. My own softball team is getting ready to defend our championship starting on April 24th. As well, this year, I am in three different baseball fantasy leagues. The first being the aforementioned one with some CBC employees, the second one among employees at my office (I won this pool last year) and a third that our network just started online and I am helping test out for them.


2. Basketball season is at its most exciting. March Madness is in full swing. Though I did choose not to go in a March Madness pool this year. As much as i love the do or die action, there is no point for me to be in a pool. I don't know Texas A & M from Texas Tech. I literally am just guessing. And with so many baseball pools to worry about at the same time...I might as well save my money. Plus, as a basketball fan, there is the Raptors to care about as well. If you did not see the highlights from last night, Mo Pete threw up a hail mary of a three pointer with a second left to tie the game and put it to overtime where the Raptors ended up defeating the Wizards 123-118. What's funny about that three pointer is that Wizards star Gilbert Arenas literally threw the ball up in the air like he thought the game was over. Mo Pete grabbed it and shot that three pointer from about 31 feet out. It was his ONLY SHOT OF THE GAME!!! This shot will begin to develop legendary status. I still could not believe it when I saw it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_Y85Mi7Tg


3. Hockey is almost over. Yeah, whatever, I said it. In general, the sport is boring and silly and this year was no different. Plus, if the Leafs make the playoffs, it is impossible to get into sports bars at night. And if they win a game or god forbid a series...than there is an impromptu parade in various parts of the city. My highlight of the season had to have been the Wade Belak-Cam Janssen fight from March. As hockey fans will remember, New Jersey Devil Cam Janssen put a late hit on Tom Kaberle earlier in the season and the Leafs were looking for revenge. So Belak going after Janssen the next time the two teams met was as pre-destined as the fact that there will be a fourth Final Destination film. It's a good thing I already knew that Dancing With The Stars was on FOX because after watching this fight...it is hard to tell the difference. Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlxEvNaLv-M

Having said that, I am playing in a road hockey tournament today. I am not even sure why.

4. The weather is getting better. This goes without saying. The toques and gloves get put away, you start wearing a "windbreaker" instead of a jacket. I never did understand that term windbreaker.

5. J-Mac and I always end up travelling somewhere at this time of year. Last year it was Florida for a family reunion. The year before that was Chicago. And, through much happenstance, we are going to Chicago again this year. She is going on business at the end of April. I am joining her on the Thursday of that week. Looking forward to it.

Cory, Brad and Christina

As many baseball fans remember, Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle was killed in October of 2006 when he slammed his plane into a 40 story New York apartment building. There was a big debate in the airline industry as Lidle was an avid pilot but had just got his licence in February of the same year.

That debate has been long since forgotten but the accident which rained debris on the New York City sidewalk reminding many of 9/11 is still in the news. Why? Because New York City dentist Larry Rosenthal is suing...wait for it...Cory Lidle's grieving wife and family for $7 million because it was Lidle's careless flying that caused the accident. An accident that ruined his apartment.

"There's no excuse for smacking a plane into an apartment building in the middle of Manhattan," says Rosenthal's lawyer David Jaroslawicz. Apparantly, the Rosenthals' are "still homeless". Though I find it difficult to believe that they are actually sleeping on the streets.

But here is the rest of the story, Rosenthal is renowned for his lack of class. So much so that there is a website called www.baddentist.com that is all about his history. According to the website, "BadDentist.Com is a 100% free public service, created specifically to warn patients of the numerous complaints about Dr. Rosenthal, and to collect complaints about Dr. Rosenthal from patients." This paragraph explains all that you need to know about Rosenthal.

"Celebrity" dentist Dr. Larry Rosenthal has been sued at least five times for malpractice. Dr. Rosenthal has had his professional license suspended after he admitted to illegally purchasing and distributing hundreds of grams of cocaine and many other illegal drugs. Dr. Rosenthal got caught lying about all of this under oath, thereby committing perjury, a felony punishable by five years imprisonment. Dr. Rosenthal has been sued by a competitor for stealing client records. Right now, Dr. Rosenthal is being sued by his own associate dentist. In the filings of that case, Dr. Rosenthal's associate claims that Dr. Rosenthal is both a liar and a criminal. Additionally, a receptionist where Dr. Rosenthal used to work claims under oath that Dr. Rosenthal sexually harassed her and other co-workers. Dr. Rosenthal has also lied to the press many times in order to promote himself. Additionally, Dr. Rosenthal has now admitted that providing a list of patients who traded sex for free dental work would violate doctor-patient confidentiality. "

Speaking of death, Boston lead singer Brad Delp died on the weekend. He was home alone and only 55 years old. For some reason, I am beginning to think it may end up being ruled a suicide. Boston never came close to the heights of their debut, self titled album. It was the fastest selling debut album for any American group; and still has the most total sales for a debut album with over 17 million units sold to date.

Their second album, two years later called Don't Look Back just sounds like a collection of songs not good enough for their debut. Their third album Third Stage did not come out until 1986. It was a #1 album for four weeks but as a while it was pretty week in comparison to their debut. A fourth album called Walk On was released in 1994 and received little support from its record company and was done without Delp. According to wikipedia, there was a 5th album in 2002 called Corporate America but it went largely unnoticed. The last two albums did have one interesting feature, the booklet inside was dedicated to helping preserve the environment. It included links for website related to this topic.

Delp and Boston had been in the midst of recording a new album and a small summer tour had been planned at the time of his death.

Top 5 Boston songs off that amazing debut album

1. Rock And Roll Band

2. More Than A Feeling

3. Foreplay/Long Time

4. Hitch A Ride

5. Peace Of Mind

To make this blog entry a little cheerier, here is a link to the new video from Christina Aguilera. Why do I add it? Besides the obvious, it is one of the most bizarre songs I have ever heard on pop radio. It sounds like a remake of the 1941 Andrews Sisters' song Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkBWQzuu6XA

And now...the second best part of the Super Bowl

For once, the Super Bowl commercials were not the best part of the game. That was the aforementioned half time show with Prince. The second best part, in my opinion, was the game itself. Coming a distant third was the commercials. Living in Canada, we missed most of the good ones. However, living in the internet age, we in Canada can see all of these commercials on-line after the fact. Having scanned through most of them on youtube, nothing really stood out to me.

There are lots of lists about the best Super Bowl commercials of all time. There is that Apple computer one from 1984 that ripped off George Orwell's novel and that coke commercial featuring the Osbornes and the Osmonds. However, my choice would be the series of Whassup ads for Budweiser. Look, I know saying "whassup" to people is now passe. It is in some pop culture purgatory due to overexposure like the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody because of overexposure due to the Wayne's World film.

The original Budweiser whassup ads still make me laugh. They were based on a short film by director Charles Stone III entitled True which featured him and his friends talking on the phone and saying "whassup" to each other. Stone has since gone on to direct films such as Drumline (pretty good) and Mr. 3000 (very bad). The whassup ads have developed a life on their own, being spoofed in films such as Scary Movie, computer geeks have created their own whassup ads featuring the same audio but using characters from Super Friends and Star Wars among others and there have been Scottish versions, New Jersey versions and senior citizen versions. People are now just sick of the concept. Please, here are the original five. Sit back and enjoy what was a very funny original concept that ended up being basterdized later.

5 Best Wassup Ads
1. The original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru_QNxHhlf8

2. The Preppy version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Y7ukK2Cog

3. The pizza guy version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LQeiBeTzY

4. With the girlfriend watching figure skating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcVfKWxtM0M

5. At the Japanese restaurant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZk7-1uGmc4

Hope you didn't miss Prince's reign!

The most entertaining part of Super Bowl (other than Rex Grossman performance in the third quarter) was the half time show by Prince.

His show had been hyped for weeks. Here is a copy of a commercial for his appearance that is rather amusing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIAMN7JuICE

During media day, Prince took the podium but instead of answering idiotic journalist's questions, he did three songs and left the stage. He started with a cover of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Good. Then launched into the obscure anotherloverholenyohead off 1986's Parade than a song I didn't recognize which may mean it is off his upcoming album. Please, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj7X5CwP0yo

But that did nothing to prepare the public for what he did Sunday night. It's not enough to say it was entertaining. It's not enough to say it was the Greatest Performance in the history of Super Bowl half time shows. It was one of the greatest short concerts I have ever seen in my life. It was proof that the musical genius named Prince is back!!!

There was a little hint of Queen's We Will Rock You and then he launched into the first of three songs from his landmark album Purple Rain. Let's Go Crazy started off the festivities. A marching band stomped onto the field to the strains of 1999 and Prince started singing Baby I'm A Star which led to Proud Mary which led into a Jimi Hendrix-ized version of All Along The Watchtower. Then came a cover song I never would have guessed in a million years, the Foo Fighters' The Best Of You. For the finale, he played the appropriate closer Purple Rain. After that I couldn't talk the rest of the night. I was speechless. Please, I implore you, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H97y459pOis

Top 5 Prince songs

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Sexy MF

3. Raspberry Beret

4. Little Red Corvette

5. Dirty Mind

Of course, the elephant in the room when it comes to Super Bowl half time shows is the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake debacle from two years ago. This performance should finally make people stop talking about it and will now be the standard that all Super Bowl performances should be judged by.

Rock and The Police (and other ramblings)

First off, J-Mac and I spent our Saturday night at a Toronto Rock game. My company had a box for the night and I was able to scam us two of the tickets. It was actually the first time I was able to enjoy a game from a box in my life.

The funny thing was that most of us spent the time watching the Penguins/Leafs game on a tv inside the box. It was so confusing at times, we would hear the roar of the crowd inside the ACC we would look up to the tv as if something happened in the game that was taking place in Pittsburgh.

NLL-type lacrosse is quite an event to watch. The goalies have so much padding and the nets are so small, the only way to score is to fake a shot than fling it in the hole that is opened up by the goalies movement. Also there is this cool shot that players attempt where they put the lacrosse stick behind their head and literally shoot it from above their opposite shoulder. The ball then comes from a different angle than the goalie expects.

The hockey influence is pretty obvious in this style of lacrosse. Their is fighting, body checking, on-the-fly line changes and plenty of hitting along the boards. You do seem to be able to use your stick as a weapon more as when defending, you can clearly hit the offensive player with your stick in order to get the ball. The final score was 19-15 for the Rochester Knighthawks so offense is clearly not a problem in this league.

The game was aired on Rogers Sportsnet. There were 16 882 people at the ACC for the game. I have a feeling that number will be higher than the amount of viewers that broadcast will get on Sportsnet.

A funny segment from Sportsnet occured during last Thursday's Leafs/Panthers game. During the second period intermission, the hockeycentral panel featuring Bill Watters, Daren Millard and Nick Kypreos were discussing the game's action. Suddenly, his nose started bleeding. The funny part was watching Kypreos' face as he was looking off camera trying to figure out what to do. As well, he kept subtly looking into his pockets looking for a kleenex for his bleeding comrade. The segment is still not on youtube but I assume it will shortly.

In the title of this blog, I mentioned The Police. The reason is that the rumour du jour regarding their reunion (the worst kept secret in music) is that they will open the Grammy Awards show on February 11th with their first performance together in years. They have only played together twice since they broke up, an impromptu set at Sting's wedding in 1992 and when they were inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Top 5 Police CDs (they only had 5)

1. Zenyetta Mondetta

2. Synchronicity

3. Outlandos D'Amour

4. Regetta de Blanc

5. Ghost In The Machine

And speaking of award shows, The Razzie Award nominations came out today. If you don't know what that The Razzie Awards are, they are the opposite of the Academy Awards. They are given out the day before the Academy Awards. At first they were an anti-establishment type thing but they have taken steps towards legitimacy as both Tom Green (Freddie Got Fingered) and Halle Berry (Catwoman) are the only actors to ever actually show up to accept the awards. Bill Cosby (Leonard Part 6), Tom Selleck (Christopher Columbus: The Discovery), Paul Verhoeven (director of Showgirls), Brian Helgeland (writer of The Postman) and Ben Affleck (Gigli, Daredevil and Paycheque) have all accepted the awards after the fact.

This year, the films Basic Instinct 2 and Little Man led the way with 7 nominations each.

Tomorrow, the Academy Award nominations will be released and I will have a full analysis. Why? Not because you asked me...but because I want to. I find the history of the Academy Awards fascinating.

Gwynn is IN!!!

So the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown announced who are going to be inducted this year. The big news is that one of the two is Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn.

Top 5 reasons Tony Gwynn should be in the Hall of Fame
1. Gwynn's lifetime batting average was .338. His career average is the highest among players whose careers began after World War II. He hit below .300 only once in his career. His rookie year of 1982 when he hit .289.
2. He led the National League in batting average 8 times. Only Honus Wagner has won as many NL batting titles.
3. He struck out a total of 434 times in his career. That equates to once every 21 at bats. Putting this into perspective, in 2006 Adam Dunn struck out once every 3 at bats.
4. Gwynn was a 15 time All Star. He started 11 of those All-Star Games.
5. Gwynn won 5 straight gold gloves from 1986 to 1991.

Oh yeah, Cal Ripken was also elected into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. I like Cal Ripken. I get that he has revolutionized the short stop position and he has the record of playing in 2, 632 consecutive games. Though there are some who would argue that his pursuit of that streak actually hindered his team. Had he rested more throughout the season, he may have been able to lead his team to more post season success.

Similar type arguments could be made against Gwynn. Apparently, there were times when his team, the San Diego Padres wanted to deal Gwynn in order to improve. Gwynn refused to be traded. He went to school in San Diego, was a college baseball star in San Diego, played his entire career in San Diego and now that he has retired, is actually coaching at the University of San Diego. It is really difficult to trash someone with that kind of dedication.

Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame has a lot of distinctions. Only baseball writers can vote. They can vote for as many people who are eligible up to 10. Eligible candidates must be on 75% of the ballots in order to be elected into the Hall. If an eligible candidate gets less than 5% of the vote, he is kicked off the ballot in future seasons. If you do get more than 5% but not enough to be inducted, you can remain on the ballot for 15 years. Despite all this, only one or two players get elected each year.

Here is the breakdown of the ballots this year:

Cal Ripken 537 (98.5%), Tony Gwynn 532 (97.6%), Rich “Goose” Gossage 388 (71.2%), Jim Rice 346 (63.5%), Andre Dawson 309 (56.7%), Bert Blyleven 260 (47.7%), Lee Smith 217 (39.8%), Jack Morris 202 (37.1%), Mark McGwire 128 (23.5%), Tommy John 125 (22.9%), Steve Garvey 115 (21.1%), Dave Concepcion 74 (13.6%), Alan Trammell 73 (13.4%), Dave Parker 62 (11.4%), Don Mattingly 54 (9.9%), Dale Murphy 50 (9.2%), Harold Baines 29 (5.3%), Orel Hershiser 24 (4.4%), Albert Belle 19 (3.5%), Paul O’Neill 12 (2.2%), Bret Saberhagen 7 (1.3%), Jose Canseco 6 (1.1%), Tony Fernandez 4 (0.7%), Dante Bichette 3 (0.6%), Eric Davis 3 (0.6%), Bobby Bonilla 2 (0.4%), Ken Caminiti 2 (0.4%), Jay Buhner 1 (0.2%), Scott Brosius 0, Wally Joyner 0, Devon White 0, Bobby Witt 0.

Here is what I find interesting. 8 of these baseball writers believed that Cal Ripken should NOT be elected into the hall of fame and 13 of them believed that Tony Gwynn should NOT be elected into the hall of fame. If those two aren't good enough...who is good enough for these idiot writers.

Even worse. 3 of these writers believe Dante Bichette SHOULD go in the Hall of Fame. Bichette who hit less than 300 home runs in his career and had a lifetime batting average less than .300. And even those numbers are inflated as he played 7 seasons in the best hitting park in Major League Baseball, Colorado's Mile High Stadium.

So with the news of Gwynn's induction, I have informed J-Mac that we are to be heading down to Cooperstown this fall. We aren't going for the induction ceremony, I just want to head down later to play some golf, check out the scenery and check out the new plaque for the greatest hitter of our generation, Tony Gwynn.

She is already on board by figuring out our route down to Cooperstown, picking out some good hotels and trying to determine whether we will drive back to Canada up through the Adirondacks up past Plattsburg and meet up with Coglero in Ottawa or not.

We did this same trip in September 2000. My favourite memory of being in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown was standing outside the Negro Leagues section of the Hall. I was waiting for J-Mac who was admiring the Babe Ruth memoribilia when I hear this guy in front of us pointing out the Negro Leagues section and saying to his wife, "We don't need to go in there." I love Americans.

Are you ready for more football?

Former football great and current football analyst Michael Irvin is about to join the ranks of the unemployed after comments he made on ESPN radio earlier this week.

His comments may be on the back burner during this, the week of Michael Richards comments, but they are just as offensive.

ESPN host Dan Patrick was asking him about the play of current Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo. Keep in mind, as you read these quotes, Romo is white. Irvin believes that Romo's stellar play has nothing to do with hard work or talent but that he may have some black heritage in him. Said Irvin about Romo, he may have "some brother down in that line somewhere."

When Patrick pressed him on the topic of black heritage and talent for sports, Irvin said, "That's not the only way, but it's certainly one way. If great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn ... `Come on in here for a second,' you know ... "

As the Toronto Star's Chris Zelkovich said, "Joke or not, by my count, that's offensive to blacks, whites, grandmothers and humanity in general."

ESPN has said nothing on the topic but will probably be addressed during Sunday's NFL pregame show. I would be shocked if Irvin was still part of the broadcast team...wasn't Rush Limbaugh fired by ESPN in 2003 for much less of an offensive statement?

This isn't the first time Irvin has been in trouble. In 2001 he was arrested for felony cocaine possession charges. And then in 2005, he was arrested for having drug paraphanalia in his car. Those charges were dropped after Irvin said that the stuff was actually his brothers. He had forgotten to throw it out. A mistake I am sure most of us have been prone to make. Despite this, ESPN did suspend him for two days.

Speaking of mug shots, you can find ones for famous people on The Smoking Gun. Here are my top 5 ones, I have added hyperlinks directly to their picture.

1. Nick Nolte
2. Glen Campbell
3. Michael Jackson
4. James Brown
5. Lief Garrett

Are you ready for some football?

So it is the American Thanksgiving, this means football all afternoon. Does any league know how to promote itself better than the NFL? The football games really seem to overshadow the actual meaning of Thanksgiving.

I know J-Mac, a big football fan, normally takes this day off but can't this year due to some meetings. She is certainly a bigger fan than I am. My interest in the NFL goes as far as going to a Bills game once a year and entering a "pick-em" pool at work.

This is my third year being in a football pool and I still do not understand why I bother. I normally do well in the early part. My first two times, I actually won the first week. This year, I actually got all 15 games right in week #4 but lost out on the money as three other people also got all 15 right and one person picked the correct amount of total points for the Monday night game.

Anyway, as we are now in the second half of the season, I no longer have a strategy to win. I was working on the "picking the home team unless it is blatently obvious that the visitors will win" kind of theory. I gave up on that as no matter what theory I use, I end up with 8 or 9 correct. Not horrible, but never enough to win.

In recognition of the American Civil War (a subject I know embarrassingly little about), my fellow poolie Jayman and I are splitting our two ballots. I am picking the team that is most south while he is taking the team that is most north. Part of me was thinking I should take the north, you know, since the north won the civil war. But decided to go with the south..."THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN". If either of us win, we will split the monies. Though I am thinking we will both end up winning 8 of the games.

As I write this, John Fogerty is playing during the half time of the Lions/Dolphins game. If you missed it, be glad, the mix is horrible. All you can hear is his voice and his guitar. The mics are not picking up the rest of the band. He is going to be pissed when he watches this after.

Top 5 Creedance Clearwater Revival songs
1. Fortunate Son
2. Down On The Corner
3. Travelin' Band
4. Hey Tonight
5. Up Around The Bend

Though, considering Fogerty's career, he has every right to be bitter about things. Fantasy Records, the company that originally signed CCR still owns the distribution and publishing rights for all of their songs. Fantasy Records frontman Saul Zaentz had a lengthy legal battle with Fogerty since the 80s. Zaentz sued Forgerty for defamation of character for the songs from Forgerty's 1985 album centrefield that featured songs "Zanz Kant Danz", "The Old Man Down The Road" and "Mr. Greed". Zaentz felt these were shots at his personal character. The lawsuit went even further as Zaentz claimed that Fogerty's song "The Old Man Down The Road" lifted its music from Fogerty's CCR song "Run Through The Jungle". In other words, Zaentz was claiming that Fogerty was ripping off himself!!!!



The story finally ended when Zaentz sold his interest in Fantasy Records and Fogerty once again signed up with the record company soon after.

The Rusty Trombone

One of the most famous plays in the history of football occured during a college football game between the University of California Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982.

With the Golden Bears losing 20-19 with 4 seconds left, upon receiving a kick-off, they used five lateral passes to score a touchdown to make the final score 25-20.

What is most memorable is that the play looks to be almost dead so the Stanford University band runs on the field for the celebrations. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears are rushing down field trying to score a touchdown. The final lateral occured on the Stanford 26 yard line as Mariet Ford blindly threw behind him to Kevin Moen. Moen then charged through the entire Stanford band finally ending with a touchdown as he crashed into trombone player Gary Tyrell knocking him flying.

Here is the play, my favourite part is when the announcer Joe Starkey who is doing the play-by-play on TV first realizes that as the play is going on, that the band is on the field and he hoarsely screams, "the BAND is on the field!".



The quarterback for the losing squad was future hall-of-famer John Elway. The following quotes have been attributed to him regarding that game.

• "I don't think that a touchdown can be scored when you've got a whole band on the field. Now if he runs through three trombone guys, a tuba player, and two drum players, and dodges... and then runs right over a trombone player at the goal line and they call it a touchdown then, yeah, I think that that probably shouldn't have been called."

• "This was an insult to college football... it was just a farce. They [the officials] didn't have control of the whole game. They ruined my last game as a college football player. I don't believe they can take something away like that. I don't believe they can take something like that away from this program. Something has to be done about the referees.. There's no doubt in my mind. It's all right to make a mistake, but somebody should be man enough to stand up and admit it. It was a very bittersweet ending. I did not want it to end this way. It's something I'll have to live with the rest of my life."

This game probably cost Elway the Heisman trophy as it ended up going to Georgia running back Herschel Walker.

The trombone player that Moen knocked into to score the touchdown has also been using his noteriety to stay in the news. Gary Tyrell, has his own microbrewery called Trombone Guy Pale Ale. He was recently interviewed in the LA Times as the 24 year anniversay of "The Play" is next week. In the interview he talks about his "fame", the fact that he no longer plays the trombone and that he still remains a Stanford football season-ticket holder.

Top 5 Football Movies

1. Remember The Titans

2. Any Given Sunday

3. North Dallas Forty

4. The Longest Yard (1972)

5. Jerry Maguire

Diamond in the rough

We all have a secret. You know, a musical act that is kind of cheesy, you know they are cheesy, yet you still like their music. I know people who have an affinity for bands like April Wine, Celine Dion and the Headpins. For me, my secret shame is Neil Diamond.





Top 5 Neil Diamond Songs
1. Cracklin' Rosie
2. Sweet Caroline
3. Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show
4. Forever In Blue Jeans
5. Dry Your Eyes (the version from The Band's The Last Waltz)

To make things worse, I actually own three of his CDs, the soundtrack to his 1980 film The Jazz Singer, one of his greatest hits albums and his latest, the Rick Rubin produced 12 Songs.

12 Songs is brilliant on many levels. It is the first album that Diamond played guitar on since the early 70s, it was the first one where he wrote all the songs and it was the first one that didn't just seem like a bunch of crap thrown together in order for him to tour.

If you were a fan of the Rick Rubin-produced Johnny Cash albums, I highly recommend this. It doesn't have the cheese factor that a lot of his albums have since the mid-80s (i still can not recognize the song inspired by the movie ET: The Extra Terrestrial called "Heartlight".

The good news is that 12 Songs is about to be re-released as a double disc with the second disc including the bonus tracks "Men Are So Easy" and the version of "Delirious Love" with former Beach Boy Brian Wilson. There will also be unreleased demos and alternate takes of songs from the original album.

I think the problem with Neil Diamond is that he gave up being an actual artist (he was originally a songwriter for the Brill Building along with Carole King) to be a concert star. Plus, the aforementioned film he starred in The Jazz Singer was not great. Leonard Maltin, a movie critic I have zero respect for, called the film a turkey. I don't think it was quite that bad but I still can't get the image of an aging Laurence Olivier dancing in the crowd along with everyone else to Neil Diamond singing "America".

The good thing about Neil Diamond is that he still continues to be a pop icon. His song Sweet Caroline continues to be played during sporting events (as shown in the American film Fever Pitch), Urge Overkill covered his song "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" for the film Pulp Fiction, in the film Saving Silverman-the main characters perform in a Neil Diamond cover band and Diamond himself had a cameo in that film.

There is even a scene in the film What About Bob? where Bob Wiley (played by Bill Murray) talking about his divorce says, "There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. My ex-wife loves him."

Most notably, Will Farrell did terrific Neil Diamond impressions on Saturday Night Live. Here is a Gap commercial Farrell did as Neil Diamond.




PS. I said I would never talk about a certainTV show again. So I won't. However, here is an on-line petition to help save it.

http://www.savestudio60.com/2006/10/sign_the_petition.html

An anniversary they will not be celebrating in Boston

Coming up is the 20 year anniversary of the Bill Buckner error that cost the Boston Red Sox the World Series in 1986. It is easily one of the Top 5 worst moments in the history of that franchise.

Top 5 Worst Moments for the Red Sox
1. The sale of Babe Ruth by Red Sox owner Harry Frazee in 1920 so he could finance the play No, No, Nanette.

2. Bill Buckner muffs Mookie Wilson's ground ball in 1986 allowing the Mets to tie and eventually win Game 6 of the World Series.

3. New York Yankee Bucky Dent hits a three run home run off Mike Torrez in the 1978 AL East Division Championship to win the game for the Yanks and the division. What makes this worse is that Dent only ever hit 40 home runs in his 12 year career.

4. Aaron Boone hits a three run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning of game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship series that allows the Yankees to win that series.

5. In the mid-to-late 1940s, the Red Sox decided against signing any players who were black. Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays even tried out for the team, however as detailed in Howard Bryant's book Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball In Boston, these were token tryouts and Red Sox management had no intention of signing them.

As important as #5 is there, really to me, the Red Sox curse was not The Curse of the Bambino, it was The Curse of The Brother as the Red Sox were the last Major League team to sign a black player.

But for the point of this blog entry, it's #2 that interests me. As I said, it is the 20 year anniversary of this event. Buckner continues to be one of the most hated men in the city of Boston. In this interview with Buckner from ESPN, he details exactly how this error has effected his life to this date.

Here is the video of this error. Yes, it goes through his legs, but the fact is, with Wilson running, Buckner playing deep behind first base with those fragile and aging knees and the fact that Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley does not run over to cover first. Even if Buckner catches the grounder, Wilson still is safe at first.



What has helped give this story legs, other than it being further proof for Boston fans of the Curse of the Bambino, is the type of batting glove Buckner is wearing. As this picture shows, aside from his Red Sox uniform, he is wearing a Chicago Cubs batting glove. The Chicago Cubs, the only team in Major League Baseball even more cursed than the Red Sox! Some people doubt the authenticity of this picture but Buckner was a former Cub from 1977 till 1984 and even won a batting championship for them in 1981.

One has to feel sorry for Buckner. He was one of the greatest contact hitters of his generation. He had a lifetime batting average of .289 and he had over 2700 hits while striking out only 453 times. But for the rest of his life, he will only be known by this one single play.

The last link to the Negro Leagues

Buck O'Neil, ex-Negro league baseball player and ambassador to those times has passed away at the age of 94.

Buck always said he became an overnight sensation in his 80s. This is certainly around the time I became aware of him as he was a large part of the Ken Burns documentary about the sport of Baseball.

O'Neil was one of the great baseball historians. He talked of seeing Babe Ruth hit home runs and Roger Clemens throw strikes. People would often ask him if he was bitter about the fact that the segregation of the Major Leagues prevented him from playing with white players. His response was always that it didn't matter to him anymore. He got to see all the great players play. From Josh Gibson to Ted Williams, Satchel Paige to Ichiro Suzuki.

By the time the Major Leagues was fully integrated, O'Neil was too old to play. He did however become a scout for the Chicago Cubs and, later, the Kansas City Royals.

He wrote a great book of his life in baseball called I Was Right On Time: My Journey From Negro Leagues to the Majors.

In the early 90s, he helped establish the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. THis place is a not-for-profit building set up solely to help keep the memory alive of the great history of that time in baseball. With O`Neil`s passing, I am seriously thinking of becoming a member. Just so my money can help keep the building going.

O`Neil even made the news earlier this summer when he signed a contract with the Kansas CIty T-Bones of the Northern League. He stepped up to the plate at the top of the first inning of the Northern League All-Star game and drew an intentional walk. He was then traded to the other team and drew an intentional walk in the bottom half of the inning. Yes it was all a marketing stunt...but still it was a nice moment and a great tribute.

Major League Baseball could have done the right thing as O`Neil was becoming more and more frail in the last couple of years. They could have elected him to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, the arguments against it were that his numbers in the Negro Leagues were not that great. His lifetime batting average was only .288. In 2006, he literally fell ONE VOTE SHORT of being elected in by the Veterans Committe. When he found out that he had not been elected in this year, he said the following:

God's been good to me. They didn't think Buck was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. That's the way they thought about it and that's the way it is, so we're going to live with that. Now, if I'm a Hall of Famer for you, that's all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck. Don't weep for Buck. No, man, be happy, be thankful.

Now, it can only be done posthumously. It will probably occur next year, unfortunately, a little too late.

Derek Jeter for MVP (and trust me, that hurts to say)

I am not a Yankee fan, never have been. Too arrogant, too successful, too much money etc etc. To play for this team, you need to have nerves of steel. Playing in Yankee Stadium, with those crowds has killed careers. Players like Jeff Weaver, Kenny Rogers, Kevin Brown...the road is strewn with solid players who simply could not play in New York. The latest casualty could be Alex Rodriguez but that is material for another blog.

Derek Jeter has always exemplified everything I hate about the Yankees. He is a solid shortstop but his success is partially due to luck having started with the Yankees when they started their run of success in the mid-to-late 90s. I once had an argument with someone who tried to tell me that Derek Jeter is one of the top 5 shortstops in the history of baseball. I replied that he is not even the best shortstop on his team! (Rodriguez was originally a shortstop). In the end, this was a dumb argument. This is a guy whose dog is named Jeter, so he was a little biased.

This season, I have become a believer on Derek Jeter. Unfortunaly, since I only work in public relations for a sports network, I do not have a vote for American League MVP. However, if I did, I would vote for Jeter. Currently he is second in the AL batting race hitting .344 with 12 home runs, 85 RBI, 97 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. He has had three seperate hitting streaks over 10 games this season. All the while, leading a Yankee team to first place despite injuried to other Yanks like Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Robinson Cano. The only other American Leaguer I could think to vote for MVP would be David Ortiz but with his current injury issues and the fact that he is only a DH negates that for me.

There have been some magical moments in Jeter's history. There was the time he dove in to the stands during an extra inning game versus the Red Sox to snag a Trot Nixon foul ball in 2004. Then there was the the play in the American League Divisional Series vs. the Oakland A's in 2001. With Jeremy Giambi on first base, Terrence Long lashed a double to right field. The throw by Yankee outfielder Shane Spencer was way off line and Giambi raced home. Jeter came out of nowhere to pick up the errant ball, he then backhanded the ball to Yankee catcher Jorge Posada who was able to tag Giambi out. Admittedly, had Giambi slid, he would have been safe. But still, it was a hell of a play. At that point, the Yanks were done 2-0 in the series but ended up winning that series.

Here is one of those magical Derek Jeter moments from the 2001 World Series. The end of the season was delayed due to the tragic events of 9/11 and this game ended up being played in November. Despite all that, Jeter takes a frisbee of a slider off Byun-Hung Kim and takes it the other way to right field for a walk-off home run.



The Yankees would end up losing the series to the Diamondbacks. I remember that final inning where the D-backs fought back against super star closer Mariano Rivera to win the game and the series. J-Mac, a Yankee fan from way back, could no longer bare to watch and took a bath. I took that opportunity to wear her Yankee jersey as I cheered those bronx bombers to lose. Ahhh, good times.

Top 5 Baseball Movies
1. Bull Durham
2. The Natural
3. Soul Of The Game
4. The Bad News Bears
5. Eight Men Out

(with apologies to Bingo Long & The Travelling All Stars)

Most memorable boner

Been thinking a lot about baseball history this week. It started at the CNE when one of our volunteers (remember he is choosing to volunteer FOR A SPORTS NETWORK!) was shocked to find out that Babe Ruth was a pitcher. Based on this, I told him maybe he should look into getting into other medias other than sports. Yes, this may have been harsh, but to be honest, he is a bit of a dick anyway. I just think anyone with an interest in sports should be aware that the game's greatest player was originally a pitcher. I am sorry, just as no one can be considered a movie fan unless they have seen Godfather Part 1 and 2 (Coglero's theory, not mine), no one can be considered a sports fan who does not know Babe Ruth was originally a pitcher.

Top 5 Reasons why Babe Ruth is the greatest player in the history of Baseball.

1. He has the third most home runs in the history of the game with 714.
2. As a pitcher he has the fourth lowest career World Series ERA with 0.87 AND has pitched 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series.
3. In the 1920 season, he personally hit more home runs (54) than any other TEAM in the Majors other than the Philadelphia Phillies (64).
4. When he was sold to the Yankees from the Red Sox 1918, the Red Sox would not win another World Series until 2004. It was called the Curse of The Bambino.
5. Ruth singlehandedly saved the sport of baseball after the The Black Sox scandal. After the White Sox almost ruined baseball by agreeing to throw the 1919 World Series. Attendance and interest in the sport went downhill. Ruth reaching legendary status as a home run hitter for the Yankees brought attendance and interest back to the Majors.

So J-Mac has recently been trolling on E-Bay for old baseball pictures. The one she recently tried to purchase was a picture of the umpire's debating on the field after the famed Merkle's Boner. One of the biggest mistakes made by a player in the history of the game.

If you are not aware of this, it occured in 1908. He is best remembered for a baserunning error, which led to one of baseball's greatest controversies, while playing for the Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs at New York's Polo Grounds.

With the score tied in the bottom of the 9th inning, with two outs, and Moose McCormick on first base, Merkle singled, advancing McCormick to third base. The next batter, Al Bridwell, also singled, apparently allowing McCormick to score and ending the game as a victory for the Giants.

However, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed that Merkle, thinking the game was over, walked to the Giants' clubhouse without touching second base. Evers shouted for the ball, touched second, and appealed to umpire Hank O'Day to call Merkle out. By the strict letter of baseball rules, Merkle's not touching second meant that when Evers did, Merkle was out on a force play, and that McCormick's run did not count.

What Merkle had done was actually common practice at the time for players in games ending in that fashion. In previous similar situations, there had been other appeals to umpires from the losing side to apply the rules strictly against the winning team, declare the negligent baserunner out, and thus nullify the would-be winning run. Those previous appeals were denied, including, ironically, an occasion earlier in that same season between Evers and O'Day. On that previous occasion, O'Day called the runner safe. But this time, perhaps being more prepared after the previous incident and with the magnitude of the situation, O'Day enforced the letter of the law upon Merkle and the Giants.

For his part, Merkle maintained until his death in 1956 that he had only started to walk off the field without touching second base, but that he had realized his error, turned around, and touched second after all. The umpires did not see it that way, however, and ruled him out.

With the run nullified, the Giants' victory was erased and the score of the game remained tied. However, the game could not be continued because by the time that ruling was made, there were thousands of fans on the field. Consequently, the umpire ruled the game a tie. When the Cubs and Giants finished the season tied, the game was replayed. The Cubs won this makeup game and thus the National League pennant.

To this day, this play is referred to as Merkle's boner. Personally, I think Mitch Williams throwing Joe Carter a fastball when Carter was clearly not able to touch his slider in the 9th inning of game 6 of the 1993 World Series was a bigger error, but what do I know.

...and THAT'S the old ball game

Looking up random sports quotes a la Coglero. I came across a little nugget from Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Landis was the first commisioner of Major League Baseball. He ruled from 1920 until his death in 1944.

His most famous act as commisioner was ruling on the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. He banished eight players from the 1919 Chicago White Sox (including Shoeless Joe Jackson) for consorting with gamblers and throwing that year's World Series for monetary gain.

However, he should also be well known for helping perpetuate the color lines in baseball that prevented blacks from playing. Here's the quote:

"There is no rule, formal or informal, or any understanding -- unwritten, subterranean or sub-anything -- against the hiring of Negro players by the teams of organized baseball.'' He added, "Negroes are not barred from organized baseball ... and never have been in the 21 years I have served.''

Whether he actually believed that or not, the fact is, no black player played in the Majors from the late 1880s until 1947, three years after Landis' death.

Top 5 Negro League Players who never got to play in the Majors during their prime.
1. Josh Gibson.
2. Satchel Paige
3. Buck Leonard
4. Cool Papa Bell
5. Oscar Charleston

In 1943, Landis also prevented Bill Veeck from purchasing the Philadelphia Phillies as the rumour was that he was going to stock his team with players from the negro leagues. Instead, Landis allowed the team to be sold to William Cox who was later banned for life for betting on baseball.

It's just funny how it all came full circle regarding gambling, baseball and Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

Sports-less Night

A little known Trivia question relates to the day after the Major League Baseball All Star Game. Believe it or not, it is the only day of the calender year where there is absolutely no North American sports on TV. Every team in baseball has the day off. The NHL, NBA and NFL are all in the midst of their off seasons. The CFL usually does not play so, literally, there are no sports on TV.

Top 5 things I did to get through that sports-less night.
1. Read the Kathy Griffin. If you don't know who she is, she was an irritating character on an equally irritating show called My Life On The D-List. The show is actually relatively funny as it follows her around as she struggles to continue to be a name in Hollywood while, all the while, trashing celebrities. No one is safe, she has even taken shots at little Dakota Fanning. However, the reason she is in the news now is that she recently seperated from her husband after finding out he was STEALING from her. Apparently over $70 000. Allegedly, he would simply take out her ATM card when she was sleeping and help himself to money out of her bank account.

2. Checked out Catwoman's podcast called Black Cat Baby Presents. Her show has all the newest hip hop tracks plus she has a really cool voice. Click this link to get an MP3 of her latest show. It is the second link on the banner at the top.

3. Got plans rolling for the Beer Fest this summer. For those uninitiated, Fort York is closed for one weekend each summer. And all the different breweries set up there and you can buy little glasses of all these different kinds of beers. Ricky B and I have been going for almost 10 years. Joining us this year is Jayman, Coglero and Seven as well as, possibly, some of the guys from by baseball team. The game plan, as always, is to get there as soon as it opens. Before the huge crowds and, in turn, huge bathroom lineups.

4. Now that I have finished the first season of Big Love, my television interests have moved to the Canadian series available on TMN on Demand called ReGenesis. Imagine the movie Outbreak but as a television series. It stars Peter Outerbridge as the director of NORBAC (North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission). This lab deals with ethical issues regarding bacteria, disease etc etc. Despite Ourerbridge's decent movie career (roles in Mission To Mars, Land Of The Dead and Men With Brooms) the real star is the lab's chief administrator Caroline Morrison (played by Maxim Roy). She always has the tough dramatic scenes while Outerbridge just gets to be the head of the lab and get to have sex with a lot of different women. Seriously, he is a virtual Captain Kirk from Star Trek in terms of the amount of action he gets. I am guessing real Molecular Biologists who watch the show must be laughing their asses off when they see that. One of the things this show is reknowned for is their outstanding use of the internet to help promote the show. Here is a link to their official website.

5. Revisited the most underrated band of the 80s, the Psychadelic Furs. They are like a mix of Roxy Music and Berlin-era David Bowie. Lots of good stuff not just the hits that everyone knows like Pretty In Pink and Heartbreak Beat. You can find out more about their lead singer Richard Butler who has one of the coolest voices in music on his official website.

Okay, how freaking long is this damn FIFA World Cup? I am glad we are getting into the quarter finals which means this tournament is coming to an end. Despite incredible ratings both here in Canada and across the world, I just can't watch it. Every game runs into each other. Every score feels like it is 1-0.

Top 5 things I want to change about soccer.
1. Eliminate offsides. Why is their a rule in a sport which has lower scores than any other sport that inhibits scoring? I realize this will change the way the sport is played but it will certainly be more interesting.

2. Decrease penalty severity. For us non-soccer fans, the diving by offensive players who are near defenders just makes us nuts. As reported by Coglero on Tuesday, the Italy/Australia game featured a call by the ref with seconds remaining in the game that was a borderline dive. This resulted in a penalty kick that Italy was able to convert to score the one and only goal of the game and allowed them a spot in this weekend's quarter final.

3. All passes must be forward or lateral, no back passes. Again, this will increase offense and allow teams to set up more scoring chances.

4. Add a shot clock. This wouldn't be a time limit for getting a shot on goal. But a time limit to get across the centre line. Again increasing offense and allowing teams to set up more scoring chances.

5. Make the goal crease smaller. The goalie has way too much area to come out and grab the ball from offensive players. I suggest that the goalie is forced to hang back more and allow the offense to take more shots.

I know that my friends who are soccer fans, both Coglero and Wee Scunner will be against these changes and will explain to me that as a North American I just don't get the sport. And they're right. I just don't have this world cup fever. Even my friends at CBC who I am in a baseball pool with have caught the soccer bug.

Ironically, Coglero has entered two teams in my office's World Cup pool. One is under his name while another is under mine. The team under my name is currently tied for fourth place in our pool. People at work keep asking me how I could possibly be doing this well. They walk by my desk while every tv in our office is on a soccer match, mine is on a repeat of Law & Order. As a matter of fact, the quarter final match between Germany and Argentina will be starting shortly. I think I will be watching Rachel Ray on the food network instead.

Let's play ball (again, again and again)

So my slo-pitch team played in its first tournament this past weekend in Ajax, Ontario. This tournament was the first one our team had ever been involved in and the first one I had played in since I was a teenager.

Worst 5 Baseball Movies of all time
1. Major League: Back To The Minors
2. Summer Catch
3. Mr. 3000
4. Ed
5. For Love Of The Game

Tournaments are always an intense affair as your team is forced to play short games sometimes back to back, sometimes a couple hours apart.

For this tournament, in disgustingly hot weather, we played a game at 10:15 (we won) and then another right after at 11:30 (we lost).
We then had a couple of hours to kill before our next game. As is the standard for some reason with tournaments, our team chose to have some cold refreshments (eg. cold beer) at a nearby watering hole.

The third game of the day proved to be another loss but it was clear that we were still going to qualify for the semi finals the next day. The final game of the day was right after. Not a lot of effort was put into that as we were all exhausted from the strain of playing and the heat. As the team's manager I rested whoever needed it and made sure people didn't get hurt.

The drama was saved for the semi final game the next day at 1 pm. Our team started off slow and were down 4-0 after the first couple of innings. The team we were playing were a rather nasty bunch. Everytime one of our players was getting ready to catch a popfly, they would yell "no glove, no golove" over and over. Our team prides ourselves on being good sports and we were rather shocked by this display. Equally nasty comments were directed at our hitters. But this seemed to incite our team as we exploded for six runs in the fourth and another 4 in the fifth.

Going into the last inning, we had a fun run lead. However, it was not to be as we gave up 6 runs to lose a chance at the finals. I am not sure our team had enough energy for another game. We pretty much gave it our all and would not have had much left to play an even better team an hour later.

This tournament that we entered was a rather last minute decision and meant that J-Mac and I missed out on the Polo for Heart. We usually go every year and it is a lot of fun and not as snobby as you would think. Really, it is just hockey on horses. Plus it is on private property which means you can bring your own food and drinks to enjoy during the games.

Lefty is still all right with me

Having discussed yesterday about the sport event I didn't watch. I thought I would touch on a sport I did watch this past weekend. The US Open. The Masters and the British Open are events I prefer but the US Open holds a certain fascination for me. The reason is that the course is usually so difficult that every year, certain top players do not make the cut and the golfer who wins usually has a score closer to what I get on a good day. This just makes me feel like maybe I am not as bad as I think.

Of course, what everyone was talking about was how Mickelson lost it on the 18th hole. Yes, he had a one stroke lead and yes he should have played it safe. But he didn't, and I respect that. Like Ted Williams in 1941. Going into the final game of the season, his batting average was .400. Despite being offered the day off, he played both games of the double header going 6 for 8 and raising his average to .407. To this day, he is the last hitter to end a season with a batting average over .400. Like that copy guy says to Jerry Maguire after he gets his mission statement printed off, "That's how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there!"

Top 5 underrated lines from Jerry Maguire.
1. Jerry Maguire. "I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game featuring you, while singing your own song in a new commercial, starring you, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not sleep until that happens. I'll give you fifteen minutes to call me back."
2. Jerry Maguire. "Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment?"
3. Rod Tidwell during an argument with Jerry where Jerry seems like he is about to lose it. "You are hanging on by a very thin thread and I dig that about you!"
4. Dorothy Boyd after her son asks her what's wrong as they are both sitting on a plane. "First class is what's wrong. It used to just be a better meal, now, it's a better life."
5. Chad the Nanny talking to Jerry outside Dorothy's house. He gives him a cassette and says "This... is Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Stockholm. 1963... two masters of freedom, playing in a time before their art was corrupted by a zillion cocktail lounge performers who destroyed the legacy of the only American artform -- JAZZ."

The worst choke in golf history, to me, is still Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters. He had a six stroke lead going into the final day. He shot a ridiculous 78 and lost to Nick Faldo by five strokes. Do that math in your head for a second and you see how badly he actually messed it up. It's a choke that still defines him to this day. My prediction right now is that he finishes second in the upcoming British Open. Second only because Tiger Woods will be on a mission at that time and should win it easily.