Moved

Hello y'all. if you have not figured it out at this point, my blog has moved to my new site. I no longer update this blogger site. I'll see you over at the new place.

Only the Names an Numbers Change

I'm home today and have the opportunity to catch a lot of the media related to the tragic shooting of 32 innocent college students at Virgina Tech yesterday. I work at an urban university here in the northeast, and I can't imagine the impact such a tragedy will have on the VT community. My thoughts are with the dozens of parents who will have to come to the Blacksburg, VA campus to bring their children home for burial.

They won't have the joy of a commencement or even the difficulty of a transfer. All they will have is the outpouring of support from a nation that is shaken yet again by a gun rampage whose origins we can't understand. I wish there was more for them. I wish they had something more.

There are a million thoughts in my mind at this time. I won't say that any college I have ever worked for would have done better, but gosh it seems like the two hours after the initial shooting should have given Virginia Tech Police time to find this guy and do something.

NPR interviewed a Lucinda Roy, a professor of the gunman today. She discussed her attempts to inform campus authorities about her concerns about the 23 year old South Korean murderer. Her concerns went unheeded.

Liviu Librescu survived the Holocost, endured Communisim in Romania and was a well-thought-of professor at VT. He saved several students yesterday, heroically putting his body between them and the gunman. He died in his classroom. he was 76.

I'll be interested to talk to my brother, who just this minute is touching down on a return flight from London. I want to know how this horrible event was reported abroad and how his feelings differ from those of us who saw it unfolding live here in the US.

About the headline ... it just seems like these incidents keep happening in the US. I can't help but think that if guns were harder to come by, that many of the hundreds who have died since 1999 would be alive.

Changes

As i promised a few weeks back, things may look a bit messy around here for a while. I am converting this blog to a TypePad blog which will allow more flexibility. Stop by to see the changes. I think. If it doesn't we'll be back here. I will update both for a while, but you will always find the latest blog by going to http://www.cavalier92.com. Have a good one!

We Got To See A Win

We had a great time at Citizens Bank Park today and we got to see a Phils win, homers by Utley and Rollins, a fan ejection, and 7, count 'em 7 clutch RBIs. Lots of photos up on my Flickr site. It was a fun day for us all and a great Phils win. Maybe this was the game that turns the corner. I'll e back in the house on Monday, courtesy of a free ticket from Flickr friend Podolux. Have a great night! The kids are fast asleep and We had a great day!

Phils won!

Phils winning 7-5

We are here!

At the park!

TAA Opening Day

Today was Opening Day for TAA Baseball! John enjoyed seeing all his friends but really wanted to play a game. He's on the Marlins this year and I am helping Coaches Chad and Pete out this year. We are all looking forward to our first game against the Red Sox on Tuesday. Let's hope the weather clears up by then. I put a bunch of pictures up at my Flickr site from Opening Day. Enjoy them! We're getting ready to head down to the Phillies Kids Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park. Hopefully the Phils do a bit better than they did last night, as they gave up a 3 run lead on Roy Oswalt to lose in spectacular fashion, 9-6. We'll probably post more photos from the Phils game later tonight! Check back!

These Things are Cool!

You never know what you will see walking through Center City on the way to work. Today, running late in the rain I just HAD to stop to take a picture of the SmartCar that was parked at Broad and Spruce at the Kimmell Center. I first saw one in Maine last year, where the neighbors from Canada had one. I don't know much about them, but they look cool and I can't figure out why city dwellers with no kids aren't demanding them. The website says that they won't be available until 2008 in the US, but this one had a license plate and everything! NO real info on pricing yet, but these babies are HOT!

Thursday Musings

It's Thursday, the Phils are 2-6 and it's monsooning here in South Jersey. I had a good dinner with Carlo for his birthday last night at the High Street Grill in Mount Holly. I had not been there in a few years and the Ostrich Burger was very good and paired with an Old Thumper on tap, made for a nice evening. We sat in the bar and watched the Phils hold on to a 5-2 win behind strong pitching from Adam Eaton and the pen, even if they were still 1-7 with runners in scoring position. The bartender was a nice guy from Boston and they had the Sawx on the other TV. Dice K's gyro ball looked good, but not good enough as Felix Hernandez and the Mariners blanked the Boys from Beantown 3-0. Other Thoughts on the News of the Week

• The Duke Lacrosse players should get the lawyers who sued the Trop. The Duke guys will never get their reputations back, but somebody should pay for what they were put through.

• Wal-Mart finally got to buy an Eakins. Wonder why the fire sale at TJU. Are things really that bad financially there?

• Don Imus is a racist and he just doesn't get it. It's time for his brand of moronic, right of center 'humor' to take a permanent vacation.

• Kurt Vonnegut died last night. I can't say I ever understood his work, but the New York Times calls him a 'literary idol.' I'd link to it, but you need a subscription, and I hate that, so here's the quote:

"Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States."

• Finally, on American Idol last night, Haley Scarnato and her legs were voted off. Somehow Sanjaya made the cut, which means that this guy stays up on the roof another week. *Sigh* I guess this is his 15 Minutes.

Happy Easter

Good day everyone! We're pretty busy today, but everybody here at Another Delco Guy In South Jersey wants to wish everyone a Happy Easter, a Special Passover and/or an excellent Final Round of the Masters Day. We've got two Egg Hunts, two basket exchanges and a big family dinner today, but we'll be back tomorrow with all the photos and some more news from around the region and world. Enjoy!

And This Guy Is The Governor

I was wandering around the interWeb today and found this NOT SAFE FOR WORK gem: Arnold Schwarzenegger in all his glory fondling half nude women at Carnival in Rio circa 1983. No wonder there were protests when he ran for governor. I can't believe he got elected, let alone re-elected. Well. I have that opinion about somebody else too. Happy Easter! C

The Masters

It's corny. It's racist. It's sexist. It's old-fashioned. It's too quiet. It's too self-important. It's traditional. It's ever-evolving. It's hushed. It's beautiful. It's the best golf anywhere. Amazing shots of blooming dogwood and azalea at Amen Corner. Audio overlay of birds chirping The Masters. Pause. On CBS. Pause. A tradition unlike any other. Fade to shot of Phil putting a kelly green sports jacket on Tiger in Butler Cabin. Just Kidding! It's all of the things I said and yet it's still great golf and wonderful television. Hootie and his Bubbas have figured out a formula that get people to tune in for the second weekend in April every year. I know I'll be watching. Probably so will you. Ken Ferry, Aaron Oberholser and Angel Cabrera are all tied at -1 in early play. Tiger and Phil tee off later. Thanks to flickr user kimberly for the photo.

Photos from the Game

I'm not going to say much except that Opening Day was a blast. My brother and I enjoyed ourselves. Hanging out with Carlo was great, and Mr. Greengenes made us all feel better after Uncle Charlie proved he will never win manager of the year. Photos are up at my Flickr site. The Phils try to put one in the win column tonight.

Phils Lost

But the post game party at McFadden's featuring Mr. Greengenes old school acoustic was a WINNER.

Mister Greengenes in the house

Bryen and Harry trying to make it all better for Phils fans.

Tied in the eighth

Moved out to the bleachers in left center.

We Are WINNING!!!

Walking the Alley with the sun on my pasty face, sipping a HopDevil.

Live at Opening Day

Seats aren't bad!

Tailgating

We're here at the park. We will be live photo blogging all day. Enjoy!

Baseball Will Be Played Today

It's currently 45 degrees with dense fog. The weather people assure me that by noon it will be a wonderful day for baseball. Regardless of the weather, Brett Myers will be on the mound, Harry Kalas will be doing the game, my brother, his crew and Enrico will be in the house. As well as a few people who have called in sick from work. Some who are teachers. Check out this great Brett Myers interview with Jim Salisbury today where he thanks the fans for a second chance. Sounds like this guy has put it all back together. Also, please take a second to read this great blog by friend Pat Coleman at NBCSports.com. One of the voices of his childhood passed this weekend and he is feeling a bit nostalgic. Great read! We're going to try live blogging with the Ipaq today, but if that does not work, check back for updates and photos tonight. Go Phils!

Hottest Celebritity Nude Photos

Are you looking for naked pictures of Madonna, Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Lindsey Lohan, Meredith Marakovits and other HOT women? Well they aren't here!!! April Fools! Seriously though. If you're really desperate, this link might help. Have a good day! C

Just Another Day At Work

I work at The University of the Arts. I'm not much of an artist. I do things here most folks would consider pretty boring, but hey, it puts clothes on the kids and buys good beer, so I won't complain. Yesterday, the University community got together for one of our great traditions. Every other year we take a photo of the whole darn place in one big room. It's called The Big Shot. Students wear wigs, hold signs, dance, sing and generally act like themselves. Prospective students get to be in on it too! As usual, I had my camera and took a few dozen shots of the mayhem. They are up on my Flickr site here. Note co-workers Cisco, Duran and Carolyn as "The Box Robot Army." Not sure. Just don't know. There's also a shot or two of my crew as well as UArts junior and American Idol star Nicole Tranquillo. It was a fun thing to be a part of something like this. And yeah, that's a foot in that photo. Have a good day! C

I'm Speechless - Blogger Gets Death Threats

And that does not happen very much. For some time I have been writing about how blogging finally puts the means of publication into the hands of the producers. No longer do writers need someone to sanction their thoughts and back them to be published. And about 99.44% of the time, this is a VERY GOOD THING. But somebody always has to mess shit up. This morning, in my normal troll through the randomness of life on the Interwebthingy, I found this horribly disturbing blog. It details a series of threats of violence and sex against Kathy Sierra, a well-known blogger, that caused her to have to cancel a speaking engagement and get the police involved. Her blog is usually very good and in no way is there anything in it that might have triggered such a horrible response. It's good that the police are involved and that the blog community has rallied around Sierra. The people who did this are sick, twisted scum who should be be prosecuted. It's never acceptable to use the freedom of the press in such a way that you threaten the physical well-being of another. Such behavior IS ILLEGAL, chills interaction, threatens potential regulation and should be dealt with severely.

Jason Ray, UNC Mascot, Dead at 21

Just a quick update to note that since this morning's post, Jason Ray, the 21 year old senior mascot for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels has passed away. The Associated Press says that the NCAA is discussing how to memorialize Ray's life at this weekend's men's Final Four in Atlanta. CBS has a nice story here that re-caps the last few days. I can't imagine how they must feel at this time. My son John is six and Emma is three and I have so many hopes and dreams for them. I can't imagine losing them so young. My thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time.

Anna Nicole Still Dead

Apparently it's news that Anna Nicole Smith died of a drug overdose. I am not surprised a bit. What surprises me is that there were no illegal drugs, either in her system or in her hotel room. Guess the maid got there first. The number one search on the internet today is "Anna Nicole Smith Photos." Some things never change. Here's my question. Will the next generation's Elton John produce a song about this Playboy starlet. Is she the Turn of the 21st Century's Marilyn? I gotta think not. You never saw her on the arm of the President (not even that horndog Bill Clinton) and she was never cool enough to run with the Rat Pack, not even George Clooney's version. Still the world seems a little less glittery and a tiny bit less fun, doesn't it? Bracketology In in the 73rd percentile in the nation, three of my Final Four are alive, and my national champion handed UNC its ass in OT last night. Still I only win my pools if Georgetown wins it all. Go Hoyas! Puts It All In Perspective Jason Ray, UNC Senior and hoops mascot remains on life support. I know how much kids like Jason put into their support of teams. I wish his family well. Have a good one. C

Spring Has Sprung

Internal Clock It's amazing. As soon as the calendar said that spring was actually here, I started to get the itch to head out into the yard and do some work. What causes that? I want to get the spreader out and put down the Scott's Turfbuilder plus Halts or whatever, gather up the fallen branches, trim up the bushes and plant some flowers. Yeah I'm a guy and all, but I do love to get out and mess around in the yard and I would love to know why last week I had zero desire to do anything and now I am suddenly ready. I was out there briefly, and while the spring sunshine LOOKS warm, the wind cuts pretty hard just to remind me it's still March. Maybe next week. Timeline Finally Set On Iraq The House Democrats pushed through a measure (HR 1591) this week to set an end date on the war in Iraq. While it's unlikely this measure will become law since President Shrub says he will veto it, I think it begins to show that things are starting to change in DC. The final vote was 218-212-1. My initial question was who the hell elected a guy who votes PRESENT on a WAR??? Then I read this. Mr. Stark, you have immense courage and I stand humbly corrected.

OK - I Am Officially Worried

Tom Gordon can't find the strike zone, Freddy Garcia is pitching like Karim Garcia and the lineup is hitting about .240. And this team comes north next week. Even Uncle Charlie is starting to fret:

“We need to get off to a fast start and this definitely makes me concerned,'' he said. “Do you think jumping off the Causeway Bridge would help?”

Think the Phils' manager is looking around and noting all these guys on his coaching staff that have managerial experience? Think that's what has him worried? The Phils know one thing for sure. Brett Myers will be on the mound when the Phightin's open the season against the Braves at 1:05 on April 2nd at Citizens bank Park. Matt and I will be there. Bracketology Pitt killed me. I still have 3 of my 4 final four alive, but only 40 picks right so far out of 56 puts me in the 52nd percentile nationwide. Oregon is a surprise, UNC and Kansas look VERY scary. I'll stick with my Hoyas pick, but I will not be surprised if the Tar Heel Nation hoists the trophy. Sad Note Jason Ray, the University of North Carolina senior who portrays the Ramses mascot at athletic events was struck by a SUV and critically injured yesterday just hours before the UNC win over USC. Roy Williams addressed the issue after the game. My thoughts go out o him and his family.

Priorities

This Guy Needs To Get His in Order John Edwards just announced that he will continue his presidential bid despite the fact that his wife Elizabeth's cancer has returned. Ok. You are running for president and you find out your wife has cancer that is likely incurable. Only a COMPLETE ASSHOLE keeps running for president at that point. I've never been a fan of Edwards. I think he's style over substance at a time when America needs leadership with credibility. This decision now makes me wonder if he would be capable of handling the complex decisions of the presidency. I know he's saying his wife is forcing him to stay in the race, but he can say no. He can say thanks for your support dear, but my most important job is here with you now. My other issue here is that he told us that his wife being cancer-free was a major factor in his getting into the race. Now suddenly it doesn't matter. I see a credibility gap. At any rate, I sure hope that her treatment is successful and this is all a minor setback for her. Phoenix Has It Priority that is. Over Philly. The Daily News has a rather confusing story today that basically boils down to this: more people live in Phoenix than live in Philadelphia. We dropped from 5th largest city in the US to 6th. Probably sometime last year. Bummer. At least we still have grass. Umm Yeah No-Brainer Here Ok. I'll admit I have done it. But texting should not be your priority when driving. Our friends in Trenton are ready to help us by banning texting while driving. You already can't use a cell phone when driving in NJ. Yeah right. Thanks to Assemblymen Paul Moriarty, D-Gloucester, and David Mayer, D-Gloucester, we now have another thing that we wont be allow to do. Sure. Uh-huh.

Snow, Stephen and Bo

I have to consider the possibility that Philadelphia is being paid to store snow for other communities. There is snow EVERYWHERE. I thought the white stuff was fun and all this weekend, but coming into the city today made me think twice. I mean what are my wage taxes paying for if not snow removal in Center Friggin' City. It's not like this is Outer Manyunk or Mayfair. This is the Gayborhood! And property owners, if I managed to get off my butt and shovel my walk, you can at least pay someone to shovel yours. I damn near fell on my ass at 13th and Spruce because some slumlord hasn't even considered the potential liability of his uncleared sidewalks (left). Eventually It Had To Happen I agree with Stephen A. Smith. Finally. He has finally written a column where he doesn't talk out of both sides of his mouth. He rips the fans. He rips Mr. Snider. He snubs the players. Last night, after the 76ers lost by 50 at home, Mr. Smith Went To The Visitor Locker Room. Skipped the home guys. No matter. They weren't talking much after posting the worst home loss in franchise history. The Rockets were though:

"We were up by 40, dunking the basketball," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said after the game.

The Sixers "didn't give any hard fouls," surprised Rockets guard Kirk Snyder added. "They didn't get called for any technicals."

It's sad that these guys have no heart and now they have no Kevin Durant or Greg Oden.

Bo Ryan Doesn't Get It

The Pride of Aston or Chester or Brookhaven or where ever he says he's from, Bo Ryan, just doesn't get it. In one of the great stories of this NCAA Tournament, his Wisconsin badgers were BOMBED by UNLV's Kevin Kruger, son of head coach Lon Kruger. In this article, Ryan complains that Kruger should not have been able to play in the game because of his circuitous road to eligibility at UNLV. How can you fault a kid who wants to play for his dad? Hey Bo, I love ya man. I loved what you did for D3 at Platteville. I love the defensive intensity. But when you get your ass handed to you in The Show, be gracious.

Enjoy!

C

March Snowball Fights and Much More

On Friday, we had a messy late winter snow storm that covered the Delaware Valley in 3-6 inches of wet snow and sleet. It was a pretty, but a bear to drive in. I like snow and I seem to live in a spot that gets more than the surrounding area. John loves that we get more snow here than at Mommy's house. However, as you can tell from the photo to the right, John is ready for spring. Yesterday, he and Eli and Eli's sisters had a great snowball fight in the back yard. A few photos are up at my Flickr site. I remember all of the great snowball fights I had as a kid back in Brookhaven with Greg and Matt and the girls. Mr. Feld was always around to help construct complicated snow forts and walls and participate in the fights. Billy Wagner - Moron In Jim Salisbury's column today, he reveals again, for anyone who has missed it before, that Billy Wagner is a moron. You may remember that Wagner played here for a few years, before moving on to New York because he could not handle ... the fans. he claims that the fans will be the Phils' downfall this year. Brett Myers puts some sanity into the article by noting:

"That's why Billy couldn't make it here. He could have been a superstar in Philly. The fans loved him because he threw 100. But he chose to focus on the negative part instead of the positive: The fans are the way they are because they care."

And that's why Brett Myers will make it here. Despite being a wife beater, Myers gets it. he understand who pays his salary and who the people are who care enough about a sport to enable him to throw a baseball for a living. Bracketology I am 8-2 in the second round games so far as March Madness rolls on. That puts me in the 98th percentile of all online pools and behind only Goot in each of the two online pools I am in. Who knows how I am doing against the folks at UArts.

Cats Run Done

It was pretty clear to me early on last night that the Nova Cats were not going to move on in the NCAA tournament. Sorry Mr. Davis. By halftime, I was ready to move upstairs to watch the game from bed. While the score was not yet indicative of what would be the final result, I have seen enough basketball to know that size and speed are usually deadly. Size, speed and experience are ALWAYS deadly when you are a rag-tag group of freshmen and sophomores being by a gimpy senior. The win by Tubby's Team may still not be enough to save his job. This was a fun year to follow this team. They lost a ton off of last year's #1 seeded team and yet managed to post more than 20 wins, slip into the NCAA tournament and topple a few giants along the way. Hopefully Jay Wright was on the phone to his recruits last night after the game, or at least today, talking to a few guys over 6'5". The y0ung guards on this squad could do a lot of damage if they had some big guys to help balance the attack. Similarly, Villanova could play a bit more zone against teams to switch things up if they had some tree-toppers in the middle. Bracketology I went 25-7 in the first round. Not too bad. That puts me tied with my brother for last in his office pool and in the 75% world-wide in the Yahoo pick 'ems. I would have done a bit better if I had put my money where my mouth was. I had been telling people all week that Winthrop was going to beat Notre Dame. And they did. I just didn't pick the game that way! I've only got one loss that projects into the second round, so I am ok so far. A lot better than some folks. The Kids We are all here in the snow today. Made a long trip from Joe Sestak's Higher Ed Summit in West Chester to pick them up yesterday afternoon and get back here safely. We were all pretty exhausted, hence the lack of an update yesterday. Emma is playing kitchen and John is playing football. How much more typical can you get? Have a good one! C

The Madness is Upon Us

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament is officially underway. Today should be a National Frigging Holiday! Bill Simmons has some hilarious lines in his tournament preview. Check out the setup that Enrico found some guy using to follow The Show. Here is further proof that Tony Bruno is God. Check out Amanda, the Hooters chick who called his show today to say that she had broken up with her boyfriend and wants to move to LA. Good luck there TonE! Enjoy my friends. It's the best weekend of the year. All live, all free, right here on CBS On Demand. Good luck with your brackets.

Illegal photo

Library of Congress This rather blurry photo of the main reading room of the Library of Congress was taken today while I was on a guided tour there. No photos are allowed of the room (no reason given) and it's through 1.5 inches of glass on a cellphone camera. Incredibly beautiful room. Stupid rule. Thus the transgression.

Heading Out

On Travel It's always nice to be away for a bit but also always nice to come home. I don't travel enough that it's a chore, but there is something tedious about noisy hotels and room service. Being away does make me appreciative. Not only of the places I get to visit, but also of my little home, the joyful noise of little people and also someone soft to hold against me at night. Photos Yesterday I got a chance to wander around the Mall a bit. I was 'challenged' by a federal officer when I took pictures of the Federal Reserve Building. Apparently I fit their terrorist profile. Many photos up at my Flickr site. More coming, especially of the ubiquitous surveillance cameras in DC, later this week in a special report on privacy. March Madness My Final Four:

• Florida
• Pittsburgh
• Georgetown
• Ohio State

Georgetown beats Pittsburgh to crown the second generation of John Thompson champions. Villanova beats Kentucky, but gets smoked by Kansas. As always, Enrico has found Another Angle. Lots of happy thoughts for my new friends from Niagara University. I met you all in the bar last night and I feel good for you. Enjoy it, because the Jayhawks loom. See ya in Jersey.

Sunrise in DC

Good morning from our nation's capital. Had a fun dinner last night at Bobby Van's. The ribeye was a bit over done and not as good at Smith and Wollensky or Gallagher's, but the Cabernet was excellent and the seafood tower appetizer was awe-inspiring. The conference is yet another opportunity for me to realize how much there is to know in the world and how little of it I grasp. More DC photos are up on my Flickr.com site I had been planning a Phillies Preview, but this one is better than anything I can do, so I will just humbly link. I had never seen this Lance Armstrong quote before, but I think it sums things up: "What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?"

Travel Report

So DC is not bad, but it’s not a ton of fun when you are by yourself. Yesterday, I wandered downtown in the afternoon. The DC St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a lot of fun. I walked the parade route along Massachusetts Avenue and 7^th Street. There was a lot to see and take pictures of.

After that, I wandered over to the area around Union Station. I took some pictures at The Dubliner, but they were not really interested in serving a tourist with a camera. The place next door was also an Irish bar, but filled with DC Firefighters post-parade. I had one Guinness. Then I headed over to Cap City Brewing. I had a good cheesesteak and a great Kolsch there. They were out of the dunkleweizen, but the Wee Dram was a very good substitute. Kate was a good bartender and fun conversation.

I ate dinner and caught up with a few former colleagues. This morning I discovered that the sun shines straight through the curtains at the Juries. This was good, since it came up at 7:25 and I had forgotten to set the alarm.

Metro

Every time I am in DC, I am amazed at the Metro. While the 1970s mass concrete architecture seems a bit dated in the 21^st century, the system is still about the best I have used.

The burnt orange and yellows of the original cars are being gradually replaced, but one thing has not changed. The trains are never late. The stations are clean, if eerily lit. And even when it’s crowded, the system is still roomy enough that you aren’t pressed into other people.

Sports

Jay Wright must be pissed. His team was a top 30 RPI squad that beat Georgetown. He’s not as pissed as Bruiser Flint should be. His Drexel Dragons beat damn near everybody, and still will be playing in the NIT because they aren’t from a power conference.

Tournament Expansion

For the last few months, every time I get a chance, I tell people that the NCAA tournament is too small. I have told Jody Mac, I have posted it on blogs, I have talked to my buddies about it. There is already a play-in game. There should be 4. It’s pretty simple. The 8 worst teams in the tournament should play each other Tuesday night to earn the right to have their ass handed to them by Ohio State, Florida, UNC or Kansas.

Phil Sheridan agrees with me. He thinks we should add 7 teams though.

I think that 3 teams is enough. That won’t water down the talent too much, and it will also give teams who normally would get blown out and go home a chance to actually win a game in The Show before getting blow out and going home.

Have a great day! C

In DC

US Capitol Building and peace marchers, originally uploaded by jcolman.

Ok - I am here. And 7:30 am comes really frigging early when some doofus in Congress takes and hour of sleep away from you. Don't these guys have something more important to do that play with the clocks? Have they noticed there is a war dragging on? A massive federal deficit out of control? Shit, if they want to work on something insanely stupid, they can tackle the traffic problems here in The District. Later - meetings.

Antonella Barba - Gone - Same as the Cats

Antonella Barba Well the run had to end somewhere for trashy-hot Jersey Girl Antonella Barba. America voted, and she got sent home last night. I can't figure out the obsession this country seems to have with American Idol, but its getting killer ratings, and even the people who lose get recording contracts, so i guess they are doing something right over at Fox. The Cats Not doing anything right yesterday in the first half was anyone in a Villanova uniform. At the Garden, the Cats managed just 7 points in the first 15 minutes. While they rallied to make it clsoe, Jay Wright's boys are now sent home to wait and wonder. One friend of mine at NBC Sports says that Villanova is back on the bubble with a lackluster win over DePaul, an ugly loss to Georgetown and Nardi not looking so hot. I still say they are in. So does Chamomiles Davis. The question in my mind at this point is seeding. I think that yesterday's loss drops them a bunch, perhaps into a dreaded 8-9 matchup. On the Town I Took Patti and Jim to the big V last night after work for a few drinks. As I have noted before, whenever I take people there they love the place. Last night was no different. Lorenzio kept Patti guessing with his concoctions and the pours of Jack were generous. As usual it was a varied crowd, some gay, some straight, some dressed in clothes their mom did not buy for them. Chef John was on Fox29's morning show this week, and the place got a great writeup at AroundPhilly.com this week. It's a good thing George is knocking a hole in the wall and expanding. It's tough to get a seat some nights!. Cabrini Hoops The whispers in the Philly hoops curcles are that Speedy Morris, former LaSalle Explorers coach and current St. joe's Prep Head Hawk, wants to fill John Dzik's shoes at Cabrini. After Matt Maccoccia nearly destroyed the program in just two years, something needs to be done. Morris can coach, that's for sure, and he has always brought talent in, but Division III is a whole seperate animal. Can he do it without scholarships and in an environment that is darn near hostile to athletic success? Stay tuned. The Weekend Headed to a cocktail party and The Flower Show tonight. Maybe a few margaritas at The Mexican Post afterwards. Audtition Day at UArts toimorrow. (No I can't get your kid into Musical Theatre). Saturday afternoon I head to DC for a higher education software conference until Wednesday. Sounds exciting huh? I'll try to shoot some photos while I am down there. Have fun! C

No Update Wednesday

Hello all - Just a quick note to say that due to illness there will be no update today. C

Philly.Com Picks up the Propp Story and More Antonella Barba

I thought it was interesting that the Inquirer got around to doing a story about Brian Propp running for New Jersey State Assembly. Loyal readers to this space will note that the Inqy guys are a bit late since the story, since even I had it on Sunday. US Airways So US Airways buys America West and somehow, after two years of planning, they are unable to link up their computer systems. This leads to three days where the airport kiosks are unusable to check in passengers. Is it any wonder that this company is in bankruptcy? Yesterday they managed to get 14% of their flights out on time. Antonella Barba (Not Nude) Thanks to all of the regular readers who put up with my tomfoolery yesterday. I decided to see what would happen when I posted a headline about Antonella Barba's nude photos with a story about my family below it. That little stunt netted me about 1200 hits in an hour before Technorati dropped the link. I wonder how many people understood that I was tweaking folks who scan the internet for porn. Not many I think.

Antonella Barba Nude, Lunchtime Monday Update and Photos

We had a great weekend! The kids were a blast and they had a lot of fun with Andrew, Ellie, Grandma and Pop's visit on Saturday. A few photos are up on my Flickr site. They're nothing special, but I've already gotten requests. Sunday Afternoon Baseball While Emma drowsed and hugged her Bun, John and I tuned in Comcast SportsNet for the first of the televised Phillies Spring Training Games. The pre-game did not start well, when newbie broadcaster Gary "Sarge" Matthews mis-pronounced Chris Coste's name. Way to get to know the club there, Sarge. John and I had a good time watching Cole Hamels pitch well thought three only to have the bullpen get bombed by a B-team of Yankees. John was happy! Antonella Barba Ok - I have not seen her sing. But I have seen more of her than just about any other person on earth. Apparently the photos of her umm uhh 'pleasuring' a guy were apparently FAKE. This site has all the ones that are real apparently. Sports Update Donte Stallworth apparently has a substance abuse problem. No wonder no one wants to sign him. The Flyers still suck. The 76ers don't suck as much as the Flyers. In fact they may not suck enough to get a decent draft pick. Can you say playoffs? My brother and I argued a bit this morning about whether they would have improved this much with AI around. I say yes, that he would have helped Andre Iguodala along. He thinks I may be a moron. Have a good one! C

Sunday Update

New and Old I found it ironic, or at least coincidental that on the day that Children's Hospital took down Pennsylvania Hall, the last part of the old Philadelphia Convention Center, the Flower Show opened at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Inga Saffron, is of course terrified that the Pennsylvania Convention center will be "the the creature that eats Center City." I agree with her that the Broad Street facade of the expansion needs a TON of work. But the city needs this building. Burlington County GOP Continues Changes In its continuing effort to re-establish credibility with the voters, the Burlington County Republican Committee turned its back on two long time incumbents and will instead run a former Flyer, Brian Propp, for Assembly in my district. Propp has no political experience and now works as a broadcaster for the team and WIP. Its no real surprise. After Vince Farias was stunned in his bid to add the County Surrogate job to his list of public jobs and Martha Bark saw the writing on the wall about her political future and pulled out of the race, the Gang in Red was looking to avoid losing a Freeholder seat this fall. Gone from the fall ballot are incumbents from 8th District state Assemblymen Fran Bodine and Larry Chatzidakis. Bodine is about 90 I think. Also interesting is that Phil Haines beat out cranberry magnate Bill Haines for the GOP nod for Bark's senate seat. Probably they were afraid they could not hold onto Bill Haines' Freeholder seat without him. Cats Win! Cats Win! Cats Win! Ok. I agree with Chamomiles Davis. They're in. With the up and down victory over the 'Cuse yesterday, the Villanova Wildcats sealed their invitation to the Big Dance yesterday.

Photography, Kids and CHEESESTEAKS!

I took the photo above last night while the kids and I were headed home to Moorestown. It's looking northeast along 563 south of Chatsworth in the New Jersey Pinelands. I've shot that area before (lived there for a while) and it's a very nice spot for sunsets especially. I paused for this photo largely because of the moon. You'll notice a shadowy self-portrait head lower left. I plan to try to take some shots of the eclipse tonight. Should be a challenge. Kids The kids are here this weekend. It's a very cool thing to have them for long stretches of time. I am amazed at how much they change when they are away for a few days. Emma is becoming so much more independent and talkative. It's hard to believe that I was once worried that she was behind the curve for verbal ability. John is still as energetic as ever, and has already asked 3 times this morning if he can play baseball outside yet. We'll be hosting my parents and my sister's kids for dinner tonight. That should be a lot of fun. Important Voter information - Cheesesteak Choices! Did anyone catch this item in the DN yesterday. Seems the tiny tabloid has nothing better to do that fall all over itself making sure we know the next mayor's cheesesteak choices. Hmm. Doesn't mention Milton Street. For the record, if I'm in Philly, I prefer Jim's for cheesteaks and Tony Luke's for roasted pork with provolone and broccoli rabe. If I'm in Delco, it's LaSpada's Original in Parkside (another side of the family has good hoagies in South Florida). Of course the family has its own successful Philly steak and hoagie places in the Denver, CO area. if you're out there, check out Pat's Philly Steaks and Subs. My Uncle Bill and Cousin Pat have won numerous awards for their Philly-style sandwiches in Colorado. I can't say I have made the trip yet, but as soon as Denver thaws out, I will be on a plane. On a side note, we had pretty good cheesesteaks from Passariello's last night. Not Delco, Philly or Denver quality, but as good as it gets in Burlington County. Have a GREAT weekend! C

Evening Update

One More for the Cats Villanova inched closer to the Field of 65 tonight, taking down UConn 78-74 in Storrs. The Wildcats improved to 20-9 on the season, though one of those wins is over NAIA Northwood, coached by Rollie Massimino. Villanova needed 40 points from Scottie Reynolds to take home the win. I still say the boys in blue need at least one more win, either at Syracuse (yeah right) or in the Big East Tournament to go to the show. Phils Open With Win Not much to say here. the Phils beat up on Florida State tonight 12-4. They didn't even let the college boys use the aluminum. Utley homered. Kyle Drabek gave up a leadoff homerun. Jamie Moyer takes the mound at 1:05 Thursday against the Tigers. Sixers Shock Suns I guess these guys have not head the constant Sportstalk 950 promos for the Greg Oden Sweepstakes. They knocked off the Suns 99-94 tonight in front of "15,914 excited fans at the Wachovia Center." Yeah right Juliano - they were excited because Uncle Tommy had free tickets that the company wasn't using so they got in free.

This Seems Sad ... Or Just Wrong

You've Experienced 80% of Life

You have all of the life experience that most adults will ever get. And unless you're already in your 40s, you're probably wise beyond your years.

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

Please tell me that at 36, there is more than just 20% of life left to experience. Yeah. I've done most of the biggies, college, marriage, divorce, kids, a house, etc. And wise beyond my years? Well I sure hope so! But isn't there more? And why am I filling out a 20 question personality test at 4:30 in the morning? In Other News The Eagles signed Quinten Mikell. Whew! God, I thought we were going to let him get away! Now are we going to sign the waterboy? The Phils aren't sure about an opening day pitcher, but Todd Zolecki says it will likely be Freddy Garcia. I'm surprised. Even with all his troubles, isn't Brett Myers the ace of this staff? I saw this headline and thought, "Rosie had her mouth amputated?" But its a story about a dog named Rosie, not the crazy fat woman. Paul Holmgren has apparently figured out how to use the phone in his office. I was stunned at this trade. After all of the picks and building toward the future moves, why pick up a goaltender who is a free agent after the season? It's not lke he can save this team.

*** UPDATE ***

While he didn't bother to comment, My brother, Matt P, checked in personally to note that he has a much better blog post about the Flyers deal here at the700level.com. I'll give him his due - his is beter than mine.

***END UPDATE***

And in Delaware County, when you can't fill a tough spot, go with the established crony. I don't know Nunn, but god, why would he want to get involved in the Chester-Upland mess? I don't agree with Thaddeus Kirkland much, but he has a point that there should be SOMEBODY who lives in Chester who is on the School District Board of Control.

Weekend Photos

Snow!!!!!!! As I sit here watching the race, drinking the last Clipper City Brewing Winter Storm Category 5 Ale (thanks Matt) and watching the snow fall, I have to say this has been a pretty good weekend. Photos and a few thoughts ... Friday Drinks at Copa Too to celebrate a good audit were lots of fun! Saturday Yesterday, I drove out to Tabernacle to support John as he participated in the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart at the middle school across from John's elementary school. It was a bit chaotic, but the kids enjoyed all of the jumping, the Tabernacle Tiger and the pumping music by Mr. Cancelleri. More photos are up on my Flickr.com site in this folder. John had a great time, but has about as much coordination as his father. I ran into John's baseball coach from last year, Bill Fisher, who told me that John was the best player on the team last year. There were some other great young people on that team too, but it was still good to hear. Sunday After a night of TV, my girlfriend and I headed into Center City today for breakfast at Reading Terminal Market. I had been to the market the other day with a co-worker, and it was packed. On a Sunday however, there were few people and fewer open stores. I took a bunch of photos, and posted them here, but I need to go back where there are more people around. Tonight we're going to watch the Oscars and I plan to cook out in the snow. Maybe we will get lucky and tomorrow will be a snow day. Monday Weather permitting, I will be a guest on Hoopsville, talking about the Division III Men's Basketball Championship tournament. With all of the upheaval yesterday in the D3Hoops world, it should be an interesting show! Join us here. Here's to the Snow!!!!! C

Some Changes Coming ... And Idol

I wanted to let you know that a few things may look goofy around here for a bit. I recently bought a few domain names and will be exploring some options to make the blog look a bit better and give it some more reach. I'd also like to make posting a bit easier for me. I will probably move off the Blogger platform, though I am not sold on that yet. I bought 2 domains from godaddy.com that I plan to move to, anotherdelcoguy.com and cavalier92.com. I've used cavalier92 for about 10 years as a AIM screen name and it's pretty much my online identity at this point. Anotherdelcoguy is a good handle that seems to resonate with some folks, so I think I'll move that one forward as well. I'm looking for advice on different blog platforms, hosting arrangements and design software. I know nothing about any of that stuff, so anything you can contribute will be much appreciated. I'm also toying with an upgrade to Vista if the pocketbook holds out this month. If you have any upgrade experiences to relate, post them up! American Idol Ok - I have to admit that I don't watch, but I was pulling for UArts student Nicole Tranquillo (pictured right). Nicole got voted off in week one of fan voting this week. (Guess I should have voted.) So I was planning to throw my support to Jersey Girl Antonella Barba. Turns out she may be in some trouble too, as some almost-naked pictures of her have surfaced. The Fox folks don't usually like that kind of thing, so she is probably done as well. Until Playboy calls. Have a great weekend! C

Just a Couple of Things

Friggin Morons Many people think that the selection system for the D1 NCAA Men's basketball tournament leaves a bit to be desired. It's nothing compared to the D3 system, where 59 teams make the show. (Yeah. That's a prime number!) Kinda hard to do a bracket, no? you can get selected from Pool A (Automatic Qualifers), Pool B (Independents and teams from terrible conferences) or Pool C (Good teams that didn't with their conference). Where does 59 come from? The NCAA uses an "Access Ratio" the states that for every 6.85 teams playing men's basketball in D3, 1 team makes it to the show. Sound crazy? Not as crazy as giving 5 teams first round byes and having a wholly seperate access ratio for Indpendents and other bad teams. The D1 tournament ratio is almost 3 times as generous than D3. But wait - it gets worse. The NCAA this week issued a revision to the formula. It noted that there had been a mistake made when they origianlly wrote the campionship manual and that there were now revising the formula, less than a week before Selection Sunday. How embarrassing is that? Jill Porter Can't Write In reading my morning dose of news, it struck me that it must be hard to write a column when you have essentially nothing to say. It's even worse when you get all confused and what comes out is a mess.

Neighbors Behaving Badly

My Neighbor is Running for Mayor Just not the mayor of the town we live in. As you may have heard, T. Milton Street thinks he should be the next mayor of Philadelphia. No matter that he lives here in Moorestown, over on New Albany Road. No matter that he is under federal idictment for tax evasion. No matter that he can't name the neighborhood he claims to live in in Philadelphia. No matter that he got busted on traffic warrants this week at The Sev. No matter than he owes people more money than I do. No matter that even a judge says he doesn't live in Philly. He says he won't run if he can't get 5000 people to come to a rally for him on march 1. I haven't seen 5000 people in Philly rally about anything since 1980. He called Michael Nutter a 'watermelon man.' I have no idea what that means, but I suspect a white guy calling Michael Nutter that would end up in front of the Human Relations Commission. I have some experience dealing with crazy people. This guy shows all the signs of being a total nut job. He even LOOKS crazy! Current Mayor Has Issues With 'Quakers' Moorestown Friends bought a vacant building and a commercial building in downtown Moorestown last month. The mayor, Kevin Aberant, is now worried about the "Quakers" diminishing the town's tax revenue. I think he has a problem with the "Quakers." Why wouldn't he call the school by its name? He's lucky them Quakers are pacifists. If he ran around pissing off the Catholics, they might kick his ass. Personally, I think both sides in this article are full of it. First, the building has been empty for years. If someone was going to develop it and create a better tax ratable, it would have happened. Second, MFS throws out the line that they save the taxpayers $2 million by educating 200 Moorestown children. That's crap too. If Muffy and Biff weren't at Moorestown Friends, they would be at The Hun School or Princeton Day or Friends Select. Yeah, I'd prefer to see the downtown have some more going on, but arguing about the deal after its done is just silly. Have a good day! C

Old News

Cabrini Basketball Gets Better Cabrini took the first step in righting some of the wrongs in its basketball program on Friday when Leslie Danehy fired Matt Maccoccia. In just two years, Maccoccia took a playoff team to the depths of failure, losing 20 games this year. What's worse is that he chased players away, badmouthed his legendary predecessor and was clueless on the bench. Now Danehy needs to do the right thing and re-establish the program's links with its glory days. Joe Kelly is sitting in Sharon Hill waiting for the call. He was on John Dzik's bench for 25 years and has a staff ready to go. It's recruiting season and there is no time to waste. Do the right thing and hire the Chief, Leslie! Michael Irvin Cut The only thing I have to say is what the hell took so long? The guy is first and foremost a moron. Second, despite being a Hall of Famer, his own co-hosts think he's 'retarded.' Third, he's a stone cold racist. About time ESPN showed him the door. Britney Spears Ugh. What a trainwreck. I'll admit I thought she was hot in a nasty kind of way. But she has apparently lost her mind. Kissing Madonna on the mouth? Hanging out with Paris Hilton? Forgetting underwear with the paparazzi hounding her? Shaving her head bald? It's not like she can actually sing, a la Sinead O'Connor. Doesn't look like the one day in detox worked. And yeah. I'm over her. The Greatest Daytona Ever? For the casual NASCAR fan, the 49th running of the Great American Race had it all. Kelly Clarkson in a backless black dress. Clueless Nic Cage in a giant black hat showing that he is incapable of saying "Gentlemen start your engines" without over-acting. Jeff Gordon's girlfriend is HOT, but causing him gray hair. Big name drivers making bonehead mistakes and then charging back up through the field only to make more bonehead mistakes. A 505 mile race decided by 4 feet. And finally a car finishing by sliding across the finish line on its roof, ON FIRE and then flipping back over so the guy could step out of the car like nothing happened. For the more serious fan, the harder tires made for some interesting moments. The larger fuel cells did reduce the pitting sequences, which led last year's restrictor plate races to seem to be more about servicing the cars than racing them. Toyota was a bust, with Dale Jarrett the best finisher at a measly 23rd. Mark Martin failing to win another 500 when Harvick charged around him on the outside eliminated the feel-good story of the day. 500 pole sitter David Gilliland was better than expected, but still committed a devasting mental error by causing a pit road incident. Juan Pablo Montoya was lost amid the messiness of the afternoon, but performed well once he figured out that all he had to do was hold the accelator down and steer. Phils Tix Matt and I have our Opening Day seats. Do you? Have a good one, C

On Sports and Memories

Some of my earliest happy memories are sitting with Grandpop on his back porch listening to the Phillies on the radio. I remember feigning illness one March day and going to his house, where I had the rare treat actually watching a spring training game on TV. He explained what 'inside' and 'outside' pitches were and endured my endless questioning about all these players I had never heard of. I really loved listening to the west coast trip games under the covers after I was supposed to be long asleep. I can recall setting my alarm to wake up to listen to a Steve Carlton vs. Jerry Reuss and the Dodgers matchup when I was about 10 or so. Given that I was listening to the Phils, most of those West Coast games were losses. I'm pretty sure my folks knew what I was doing, but who knows? And how much fun was it to play around with the AM radio to see what stations you could pull in on summer nights? I know I had a list for a while of the places I had heard games from. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago were easy. Boston was usually possible. Sometimes I could get Carolina League games. I knew all those teams long before Bull Durham came out. When we would vacation in Maine, my other grandfather (pictured right with me in about 1977) and I would regularly listen to the Phils playing back home via the amazing 50,000 watts blasting their signal out all over the Eastern seaboard. Every time I listen to a game on the radio, I remember both of them and wish I had the chance to listen to just one more game with them. They'd be excited over the prospects for this summer's campaign and I would love to share it with them. I know they would also share my pride that my son is a baseball fan, though they would certainly be chagrined at his fervent love of the Yankees. NASCAR In thinking about this today, I think I vaguely remember watching the first nationally televised NASCAR race in a hot living room my brother is probably currently slumbering in. This race is legendary not because it was the first race on network TV, but because a brawl broke out on the last lap when some of the best drivers of the day wreck on the backstretch at Daytona. I'll admit that I may not ACTUALLY remember this, but I want to. Why? Well, first it's a great memory. Imagining my grandfather and I gaping as the 'hillbillies' duked it out on CBS is more than a little funny. But it also goes to my desire to figure out where my interest in the sport comes from. How did a college-educated guy from the suburban Northeast become a NASCAR fan? I have always pointed to the fact that I was very moved by hearing NASCAR great Ned Jarrett call his son home to the 1993 Daytona 500. But today, in remembering all the games I watched at 3447 Mt. Vernon as a child, I am virtually certain I was watching that February afternoon in 1979 when NASCAR hit the national scene. It doesn't really matter. My son John and will be watching today as Daytona kicks off the NASCAR season. Emma and my girlfriend are headed to a baby shower, so the boys will sit on the couch and do what millions all over the world will be doing. Holding out breath and shouting for our guys, #44 and #20. Have a good one!

It's Officially SPRING!!!

Ok, so you may not be able to tell from the bone chilling cold, your salt-encrusted shoes, or the 2 inches of solid ice on your car, but today unofficially marks the first day of spring in the Delaware Valley. Phillies pitchers and catchers FINALLY report for workouts in Clearwater, Florida today. This is the initial step in the long season that is finally going to bring this city a parade! In a story by Marcus Hayes, it becomes apparent that Jon Leiber is not real concerned about cash flow should the Phillies decide to trade him. This guy shows up for camp in a $211,000 Ford F-650 SuperTruck over 9 feet tall. That's a big truck for a guy who doesn't really have a job. The gas tank costs over $500 to fill and the monster get 12 miles to the gallon. Hayes actually calls the 300hp engine "thrifty." Yeah. I guess in comparison to an M1 tank maybe. Other News In the sideshow that is happening in stead of a Barry Bonds indictment, the two San Francsico Chronicle reporters who broke the BALCO story and ran stories that contained information from sealed grand jury testimony, will avoid jail time. In a plea deal, Troy Ellerman, 44, the attorney who leaked the documents will face two years in jail. The Justice Department announced it will end its mis-guided witch hunt against the two journalists, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. Another Tradition by the Wayside This year when the Phils visit Chicago, there will be some changes at Wrigley Field. For the first time ever, the team has sold advertising space in the outfield. No, they aren't hacking down the ivy. Rather, they will paint up two doors in left and right field to make way for Under Armour billboards. Apparently the Soriano deal emptied the coffers. Valentine's Day Dinner out, flowers, candy, jewelry - $500. Seeing your kids sipping Shirley Temples and cuddling by the fire after dinner - Priceless! Enjoy! C

A Great Place to Hang out

While no one is ever going to sing "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" Or shout "Norm" when you walk into the place, Valanni is a great spot right in the heart of Center City. With an interesting cast of characters, Valanni attracts both regulars and one-time visitors. Some come for the well-prepared and interesting food that Chef Evan and staff bring out of the tiny kitchen in the back. There are seasonal changes to the menu, and the lamb shank currently on the cold weather menu is among the best meals you can have in the city. Others come for the fun and the friends around the bar. whether you prefer the big, shaved headed grumblings of Lorenzio (straight), or the rail thin, wavy haired drama of Henry (definitely NOT straight), the bar is a fun place to get very well-made drinks. $4 weekday happy hour menu and cocktails brings me in along with an ever-changing cast of people from all walks of life.

While I can't say I have experienced it personally, I am sure that Jennifer (happy birthday!!) and her Kinky Quizzo Tuesday nights is a sight to see.

It's a cool place to spend and evening or two. I've never brought someone there who didn't agree that the food was outstanding and that it was a fun place to be.

Enjoy!

C

REALLY???? You're Frigging Kidding!

You Have A Type A Personality

You are hyper, energetic, and always on the mood You tend to succeed at everything you attempt And if you don't succeed at first, you quickly climb your way to the top! You could be called a workaholic, but you also make time for fun As long as it's high energy and competitive, you're interested You have the perfect personality for business and atheltic success

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Today's News

Astronaut Madness Doesn't NASA have background checks? Let me get this straight. A US Navy Captain, Lisa Marie Nowak, who is married and the mother of three, drove 900 miles in a diaper with a BB gun to accost a woman, (Colleen Shipman) who wasn't even the girlfriend of a man, (Bill Oefelein) who wasn't her husband. AND she's an astronaut. No wonder the Hubble Space Telescope doesn't work. Reid Son Indicted This is just a sad, sad thing. No, not the fighting Irish beard. The fact that these guys are so messed up that they think driving around high on heroin and waving guns at people is acceptable behavior. Should He Stay or Should He Go? If a gas station attendant's sons get arrested on drug charges, do we immediately begin discussing whether he should step down from his position to take better care of his family? NO! SO why in the world are people talking about Andy Reid needing to step aside for his family? DO we know that he's a bad dad? Do we know he's an absent father? NO. We are assuming based on the situation. Maybe he's a great dad who is there all the time for these guys and they are bad seed. I say we should leave the guy alone and stop giving him parenting advice. 76ers Will someone please put the Andres on the injured list? A Lucky Man Charles Barkely claims he won over $700,000 betting on the Superbowl in a LasVegas casino. Sir Charles is living the life, ain't he? Have a good one! C

Super Thoughts

The SuperBowl XLI Stunk I was bored out of my mind. Rexman at QB? Maybe the Eagles want to trade #5 to the Bears. And if they can play in a downpour, how come they can't play the game in cold weather? The Commercials They stunk too for the most part. I kept a log, and the Budweiser ones were the best as a group, but did not do much more than make me smile. I personally liked the "Rock-Paper-Scissors" one. CBS filled TONS of time with promos for their own lame shows. The best of the night was Letterman and Oprah on the sofa snuggling. Hilarious! Also funny was the Blockbuster spot with the guinea pigs messing with the mouse trying to get on the internet. The women at work seemed to like this one the best. I didn't get the Jim Gaffigan spots for Sierra Mist. And what the HELL was salesgenie.com doing with a Superbowl ad? Guys in The Booth Best line of the night came from Phil Simms. Upon seeing David Spade and friends sitting in the rain he deadpanned "If the show was a hit already they would be in a box." Nantz was great as always. Entertainment Billy Joel was umm how to put this as a Billy fan. He was umm ... old... and not great. And who brings a baby grand to a football game? In the rain? Prince looked great, but sounded just ehhhh. The godaddy.com strippers were entertaining. Did Anyone Else Notice? Was that Scott Graham doing a voiceover in the Motorola "Making of a Champion" ad? Hope you enjoyed the game! C

Weekend Update

Nice Family Weekend There are a few more pictures of the family up on my Flickr site. Some more will be coming after I recover my camera from Pennsylvania. Thanks to Carin for her hospitality last night. We all enjoyed a chance to spend some time in Havertown. Baby Ellie is growing quickly, Cousin Andrew is as energetic as ever and Aunt Carin still has time to re-decorate. Uncle Kevin seems to have weathered both his second season at the helm of the Marple Newtown Tigers and his second wave of fatherhood well. Though most kids at 3 months wear diapers there, bud. Superbowl Sunday For what it's worth, I am predicting the following: Billy Joel sings a 2:00 National Anthem (the over), the Colts win the coin toss, take the ball and score first, en route to a 14-3 halftime lead (the under). In the end, the Colts beat up on the Bears, winning 31-10 (cover and the over). Bodog has some insane prop bets for the Superbowl here. I don't gamble myself, but will tell you that if you bet these those deals, or these here, you need HELP! We're just going to sit around, make some pizzas and enjoy the commercials. Cavs Win! In what I predict will be the final win for the Cabrini Cavaliers this season, the Blue Black and White beta back the Marywood Pathetic Pacers 77-65 at the Dixon Center. I also predict this is the last win of Coach Matt Maccoccia's head coaching career at Cabrini. While Maccoccia has been telling everyone in the PAC who will listen that he is going to be named Assistant Athletic Director and have his coaching tenure extended, I have faith that AD Leslie Danehy will correct her error in hiring him and terminate the slide. Even this guy's official bio notes that he has snuck into Cabrini and needs to be shown the door. South Jersey Sports Scandal Is anyone watching over charter schools? The LEAP Academy University Charter School scandal is even worse than we thought at first. These guys recruited players from out of state, allowed them to live in Pennsauken (a potential crime in itself), didn't keep track of where the players lived or whom they lived with, and went to the state title game in only there second year. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association banned LEAP from the tournament for 2 years following the discovery of the problems. Coach Marco Morcos was placed on probation for 2 years and will have to attend compliance classes. Morcos, who played his college ball at Rutgers-Camden, should have know better and I would have shown him the door. Best, C

Gross Clinic Stays, The Cello Player Goes

I am pretty sure that most of the region won't notice this article in the Inquirer today. Seems that in order to participate in the highly publicized effort to protect Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic from the Wal-Mart people, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts actually had to sell ANOTHER noted Eakins work, The Cello Player.

I guess The Cello Player didn’t have the backing of really rich people and Mayor Street. Or perhaps The Consortium to keep the Gross Clinic though we would be too busy grieving Barbaro to notice that they had pulled a switcheroo on us. I might fantasize that Street is too busy solving the crime problem or the child welfare issues in Philadelphia, but somehow I doubt it.

On Another Note

How about the woman who tried to sell herself on Ebay to get a trip to the Superbowl in Miami?

When that scheme failed, Sarah Spain somehow swung a deal with Axe men’s body spray to get 4 tickets to The Big Game. She is now auctioning off the 4^th ticket. She’s a Bears fan. A well-built Bears fan.

What a country!

Lunchtime Musings

Google Ends the Fun "Google Bombs" It seems Google may be getting a bit more mature in its business model. Google has tweaked its search algorithm to prevent pranksters from rigging search terms to create hilarious results. The practice was known as "Googlebombing." The most famous is probably the "miserable failure" search that used to pull up the White House website. The "miserable failure" moniker still seems appropriate to me. Air Force One and "Energy Conservation" In case you missed it, last week President Bush visited Wilimington, DE to talk to Dupont employees about energy conservation and biofuels. The visit was timed to support the Advanced Energy Initiative that Bush apparently announced in his 2006 State of the Union address. I don't know. I know it's 2007. Maybe he doesn't. Didn't he talk about this last year? How about this year? Yep. Same stuff. I saw his lips moving but all I heard was "Blah blah blah." Does anyone else find it ironic that the President flew 98 miles from DC to Wilmington on Air Force One, a heavily modified 747 jet that uses about a gallon a fuel a second to deliver a speech on ENERGY CONSERVATION? The flight took 22 minutes. That's 2640 gallons for the trip. Not counting the escort fighters?, motorcade vehicles and police equipment that used fuel (none of it biofuel) on the trip. At least Prince Charles gets it. 76ers Thank god they lost last night. What the heck is up with this team? Before the Debacle last night, they were 4-2 in their last six and had climbed out of the fight for Greg Oden. Then, they go and play like CYO guys last night and it looks like we will have a horrible team the rest of the way that just manages to win enough games to select Yannick's son Joakim Noah. Flyers At least Ed Snider says it's all his fault. His wife looks pretty young for an old geezer like him. Take it easy, C

Footballers Make Headlines

And sometimes they aren't good. Today Slate.com reported that the US Government has tapes implicating New Orleans Saints running back and former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush in a scandal that could cost him the Heisman and USC the 2004 and 2005 National Championships. Yahoo! Sports has been reporting on the illegal gifts and contact with agents since last year. Seth's take on the whole Michael Vick "was it or wasn't it pot in the bottle" scandal is funny. Falcon's record 4-20? Hilarious!!! On a smaller scale, I reported the following story on D3football.com today:

Guilford players charged with assault

Local and national media reports indicate that a total of five Guilford College football players have been charged with ethnic intimidation and assault relating to a fight at the school. In the altercation early on the morning of Jan. 20, Jonathan Underwood, 20, Jazz Favors, Michael Bates, 19, Mike Six, 20, and Chris Barnette, 21 are alleged to have beaten and kicked two Palestinian students and one of their friends. The alleged victims stated in court documents that they were called 'terrorists' and taunted with racial slurs. The Greensboro, N.C., Police Department issued a statement today stating that the case has been referred to the Greensboro Metropolitan Criminal Investigation Division and has been assigned to a detective. The charges weren't requested by Greensboro police but instead stem from statements the victims made to a magistrate, who issued the warrants. Officials at the Guilford County magistrate's office have declined to discuss details of the case with the media. On Thursday, Guilford officials said they charged five students with violating the school's code of conduct in connection with the assault. Aaron Fetrow, the college's dean for campus life, said he could not identify those students because of federal privacy laws. Seth Cohen, a lawyer representing the three alleged victims, confirmed to the Greensboro News-Record that the two who attend Guilford have been charged by the school. The brawl, which court documents report up to 15 football players were involved in, has led to an on-campus student walkout, a vigil and a forum on the campus of Guilford, a Quaker school in western Greensboro. A statement today by Brendan Keene, president of the Guilford alumni association called the incident "isolated" and noted that "At least some of the participants were under the influence of alcohol." Guilford football coach Kevin Kiesel declined to discuss details of the case with the media but asked that students and faculty not make any premature judgments. Barnette, a senior wide receiver, is a D3football.com 2006 First Team All-American. He was also the offensive player of the year in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Mike Six is a starter on the defensive line and led the team in tackles for loss, while Bates and Favors are reserves and saw limited action.

Bush is a greedy jerk whose actions might cost his teammates their championships. Vick may be explaining why he simply can't read a defense. The five Guilford players are, in my opinion, the worst of the lot and simply not worthy of wearing a uniform. Except perhaps a prison uniform. Enjoy the weekend. C

Big Dog Back in HIS House

John Dzik made his triumphant return Saturday to the Nerney Field House in the Dixon Sports and Recreation Center on the beautiful campus of Cabrini College. Dozens of Dzik’s former players packed the house as the annual Alumni Basketball Game returned to Cabrini after a one year exile to visit our friends at Eastern College.

Coach Keeley’s squad was up big at halftime and survived a late run by Coach Kelly’s squad to hang on for the victory. Notes on the game are that no one had a heart attack, Johnny Drummond can still play and Kris Pittman can still handle. Tommy Newnam, though, needed oxygen after about 2 minutes. Photos are up on my Flickr site. And at Kelly Gallagher’s site.

Following the game, the current squad of Cavs, led by former Allentown player Matt Maccocia, continued their winless PAC campaign, falling to 1-14 on the year. On the bright side, they played furiously in the second half and lost by only one to Neumann 74-73.

It was good to be back in the building where we won so many games over the years. Try as I might though, I was still unable to put the pointless firing of a man who won 487 games behind me. He deserved better then and the program deserves better than 1-14 now.

Special thanks on putting the day together go to Coach John Mack, SID Extraordinaire Rich Shepis, “Schmoo” Steve Harrow and Cabrini’s Director of Basketball Operations and Former Dzik Player, Billy Leahy.

The afterparty at J.D. McGillicuddy’s in Ardmore with Cabrini soccer great Bill DiRita behind the bar was a wonderful chance to enjoy each other’s company. Nearly 200 turned out for what has become a great tradition of fellowship.

As cavsalumni.com notes, one of our all-time greats, Marty Clancy, was unable to join us, as he passed away in December. I was with Coach Dzik in Georgia the day after he learned of Marty’s passing. I can tell you that there have not been many times I saw him as reflective and saddened as he was then. Marty was a great guy and would give you the shirt off his back. He will be missed.

I’ll never forgive Toni Iadarola and crew for what she did to these people, this program and the future of Cabrini Athletics. At least that night we all got to remember how good it used to be and forget about the travesty of the present.

Its All About ME!

Me Me MEEEEEEEEEEEE! On the front page of the Courier Post today! At least my name was on the front page. The story and link to this blog and a photo of me are all on page 5. While I rarely buy a physical copy of the paper these days, I did run out and get a copy of this one. I talked to the reporter last week and was honestly kind of surprised to be recognized for the blog. I am not delusional. I'm not doing anything special here. I write when I want to about what I want to. Nobody is going to drop by and hand me a Pulitzer. It's still nice to be noticed! Kevin Riordan is the reporter who did the story. He profiled Jay Lassiter, who does his blog from his Cherry Hill home, and Lou Antosh out of Cinnaminson. Lassiter is somewhat to the left of me politically and Antosh is a good bit right of me. The three blogs are an interesting study in contrasts. Lassiter's is by far the most voluminous. Antosh's is the best written. Mine is, well as Riordan put it, "Ecletic." Worse things have been said about me!

Falling Ice Mobilizes Neighborhood

Anyone catch this story on NBC10? Seems that a 3 pound chunk of ice fell off an airliner that had just taken off from Philadelphia International Airport and smashed theough the roof of The Myers Family home in Woodlyn, PA. This article in the Delaware County Daily Times says the ice that opened a huge hole in the Myers Family roof was "...a combination of human waste and liquid disinfectant, (and) is the material that drips from a leakage on an aircraft’s septic system." It used to be called blue ice, but airlines stopped using the blue disinfectant. It's so common, it's made it into references in mainstream TV and films. The FAA confirms the ice came from a plane, but claims that such incidents are rare. I'm not so sure. A simple Google search turns up dozens of similar incidents. The Delco Times searched its archives and came up with 2 other similar incidents in the area immediately south and west of the airport since 1994. This document says that in the UK , there are about 31 "icefalls" a year. I don't know about you, but 31 incidents of heavy things unnecessarily falling off planes and pummelling the earth is too many. According to Wikipedia, PHL is the nation's 9th busiest airport, so I guess one can expect some noise and soot from the overflying planes. But chunks of plummeting pee? It seems like there should be som method to kep this stuff INSIDE the aircraft during flight rather than letting it ramdomly smashing into homes and recreation centers. This guy apparently fixes planes for a living and seems to agree, but notes that there is some thought that atmosepheric onditions may be to blame as well. The most interesting part of the the story is that the hunk of human waste seems to have galvanized the neighborhood to oppose the proposed runway expansion and airspace adjustments planned at Philadelphia International. Several other locales have similar objections. For the record, my house is not on a busy flight path top PHL, but I grew up not far from where the most recent icefall incident happened in Woodlyn. I support the proposed changes to the airspace design in the region and the runway expansions. I know from personal travel experience that the expansions are necessary for PHL to continue to maintain airline competitiveness in the area. We need to bite the bullet and make these changes, to encourage more airlines to schedule flights here. That will help competitiveness and decrease fares. Not to mention lower traveler stress. Yeah it may sound as though that will only hurt folks who travel by air, but that simply isn't true. More congested airspace and flight delays will result in substantial loss of commercial activity at the airport and in the region. We can't afford to lose any more jobs around here. We need the longer runway and new flight paths. We also need planes that don't drop frozen pee on houses.

Starbucks In The Forbidden City

There seems something wrong about a Starbucks in Beijing's Forbidden City. (image left by Wintermute) And I'm not the only one who thinks so. A Chinese television newscaster has called for the closure of the coffee outlet in the traditional home of the Chinese emperor, constructed beginning around 1420. I work in Center City Philadelphia and have a Starbucks about 450 feet from me right now. And another about 700 feet in the other direction. There are over 12,000 of these places worldwide. There is even one on Main Street in Moorestown, NJ in the old Moorestown Trust building. This guy has visited over 6,500 of the stores. I might go 3 times a week. I need help. He needs meds. Still, the ubiquitous coffee retailer seems to be out of place trying to worm its way into the Forbidden City. I know why they want to be there. 7 million visitors a year drink a lot of coffee. It's as bad as a McDonald's at the Pantheon. C

A Herd of Donkeys

At some point the Democrats will figure out that they need to get their act together, right? I mean how can they hope to elect a president from this list of dreck?

EVAN BAYH — Who? Even he knows he is unknown. Bayh withdrew his name in December. Darn.

JOE BIDEN — Still a plagiarist in my book. I think he also takes double doses of Propecia.

WESLEY CLARK — The modern day Mario Cuomo isn't sure if he wants to run. Would have to give up lucrative network news consulting job.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON — I just don't think America wants a snarky woman whose husband likes fat interns as the president.

CHRISTOPHER DODD -- Most recent to announce. From his website: "Chris Dodd believes that the best social program is a good job." With positions like that, how could you THINK about voting for someone else?

JOHN EDWARDS — I can't think of anyone as boring. Except maybe Evan Bayh.

AL GORE -- Too busy re-inventing the internet. Actually has gotten the most votes in a presidential election once. Maybe 08 is his year?

DENNIS KUCINICH -- His campaign seems as lost as Jimmy Hoffa. MS NBC forgot he is running. JOHN KERRY — I’m still trying to figure out how this guy lost in 2004. Oh yeah. I remember. He was a terrible campaigner. Inexplicably made the Vietnam War the central issue of the campaign.

BARACK OBAMA -- Yeah, blue dog democrats are going to voter for this guy. Even a sports reporter thinks he is a lightweight.

BILL RICHARDSON — Smart guy. Good campaigner. How is a New Mexico guy going to play in Iowa and New Hampshire? Too few favorite son electoral votes.

AL SHARPTON – I guess he thinks everyone forgot about his tax evasion conviction and the fact that he is ridiculous liar.

TOM VILSACK -- Dodges the Iraq Issue with "America's real war on terror is fighting poverty and ignorance." Great. How about the 3000 dead soldiers? How are you going to dodge that issue?

MARK WARNER — The former Virginia governor said he is out of the running. Maybe it's a ploy. The rest of these guys (and Hillary) are pretty bad.

In all seriousness, this website is an excellent resource to compare and contrast the candidates and their positions. About the best out there so far and they also profile the Republicans.

Political Sun Sets on DeMarco

Apparently Burlington County Republicans were a bit stunned by losing the County Surrogate seat in November. When long-time Freeholder and LBI beach shop owner Vince Farias was rebuffed in his attempt to add the Surrogate position to his Freeholder spot in a blatant pension double-dipping maneuver, apparently the Burlington County Big Red Machine got the people's message. Yesterday, an unknown Moorestown attorney, John Comegno II, took over as Chair of the Burlington County Bridge Commission, one of the political plum jobs in the county. The position was previously held by former Chatsworth cranberry baron Garfield DeMarco. DeMarco, who sold his massive cranberry holdings to an environmental group in 2003, is a legendary figure in NJ and Burlington County politics, where he has long been a power broker. His dismissal by the Freeholders marks the surrender of his last official political office. Comegno will have his hands full. He takes over a place with no Executive Director, filled with patronage jobs, and beset with scandal. NOTE: The photo above is actually a December, 2006 shot of the sun going down over Demarco's former cranberry bogs along Route 563 in Chatsworth.

As If Lawyers Needed More Bad Press

Scumbags in the Criminal Justice Center Some scumbag lawyer (note - I don't hate all lawyers, so these words are seperate in my mind) was ALLEGEDLY caught naked in a meeting room with a 14 year old on Monday. Wait. It gets worse. She was apparently in a 'family relationship' with the guy, Larry Charles, 49. And it was on the third floor of the friggin' Criminal Justice Center. This article does not say if the victim was a criminal defendant, probably because she is a juvenile. This website notes that rapper ODB had an attorney named Larry Charles. Can't possibly be the same guy, right? It's GOT to be different from lawyer Larry Charles, 49. And yes, the rule applies that when you see your name in the paper followed by a comma and your age, it ain't a good article for you. It should be noted that ODB has had LOTS of lawyers. But only one named Larry Charles. Can someone explain to me what kind of a zoo they are running at 1301 Flibert Street? lawyers naked with kids? This ain't Thailand, gang! Heads better roll over this.

Things That Make Me Mad

Bush 41, Iran-Contra Conspiricist, to Lead Constitution Center George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st president of the United States, apparently has nothing to to at his mansion on the Maine Coast. He has just agreed to be the chairman of the board of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. According to this article, the 82 year old could not be bothered to even attend his coronation ceremony. Will Bunch does a great job characterizing The Original Bush President's misdeeds. Bush 41, of course, is also the father of the doofus to the left. I just wish for once we could get a do-over. Anyone think the Supreme Court made the right decision in Gore v. Bush? Why do They Always Bring up Santa and The Snowballs? Some guy named Chris Rose from the New Orleans Times-Picayune came up to Philly to write about Philly fans. He did a pretty good job on balance, but can anyone tell me why Sportstalk 950's Gregg Henson had to bring up the Santa and Snowballs incident? For the record, I did talk to Rose on the radio this week. And yes, I accidentally used a word you can't use on the air. Gregg, Glenn, Meredith, I apologize. For the guys who asked me to post my rant, here is the basic theme: Folks from Philly love going to New Orleans. It's one of the few cities that we visit and say, jesus, Philly is better than this.

• Your mayor makes our mayor look like a genius.
• Philly is neat and clean in comparison.
• There aren't may place on earth that smell worse than Philly International in July. Except The French Quarter.
• We feel right at home reading about political and police corruption in The Big Easy.
• The streets in North Philly feel safe and well lit in comparison.
• Philly.com is well-organized and readable in comparison to NOLA.com.

Everyone have a great weekend and GO EAGLES!!!!!! Unsafe Searching As the above NY Times graphic above indicates, it's pretty easy to see what people on AOL (and probably Google and Yahoo) are searching for. In this article, the reporter didn't have to do too much work to figure out who the searcher in question was and contact her. Don't you feel safe now?

Last of the Christmas Photos Posted

Hey there Everyone! Just a quick note to say Happy New Year to all. We will have to wait until next weekend to enjoy(?) the Mummers parade. The last of the Christmas photos are posted to my Flickr account. Thanks to all who hosted and visited to make it a very special holiday season for us all Enjoy!! Happy New Year, C

As If We Needed More Proof

The People who Govern Us Are Morons While describing himself as a 'loyal Democrat,' Pennsylvania Rep. Thomas Caltagirone of Reading has decided to abandon his party and the people of the Commonwealth and vote with the Republican minority to re-elect Republican John Perzel as the PA Speaker of the House next month. Philly.com's Mario Cattabiani files this dispatch from the sate Capitol. It's really no surprise. Only the Iraqi Parliament is less organized than Pennsylvania Democrats. Perzel has been hinting to the media for weeks that he had some Dems willing to vote with him. Luckily, according to The Fly Under the Dome, Perzel's efforts to retain the post he has held since 2003 will fall short as severl incoming Republicans plan to vote 'present' in the leadership election. Caltagirone doesn't get it. The people of Pennsylvania clearly were looking for a change in the House. Why in the world would he side with the losers and want to re-elect the Northeast Philly guy? My guess is that Perzel offered him a deal. Too bad Perzel won't be in a position to make good since his own party is ready to move him aside. Which seems fitting since under his leadership the Republicans lost a near-insurmountable majority. Some other good blogs on the subject are dragonaballyee (also a great photographer), and Dan U-A.

Comcast Sucks

As of this morning, much of the Internet is inaccessible to Comcast users in the Philadelphia region. This post on DSLReports.com shows the extent of the 'issue.' It seems to be a problem in the local DNS servers that direct traffic to the proper places when you type in an address in your web browser. I called tech support. They have 'escalated the issue,' but have no idea what a DNS server is. Who knows is they can find their ass with both hands and a flashlight. C

Christmas Pictures

New Pictures Are Up! The photos from our Christmas Eve gathering and Christmas Morning are up on my Flickr site. I hope you are all enjoying your holidays. Cheers! C

Merry Christmas to All!

Well the angels have awakened and we are about to go downstairs and see what Santa has left for good boys and girls. Last night we had a great Christmase Eve with family an friends gathered for a good time. We had a blend of the 7 fishes and some more traditional fare. John got a digital camera from my parents which he has already filled with images. Emma is having a great time playing with her baby doll furniture. Everyone have a wonderful Christmas filled with laughter and great memories. Best, Chris

Tragedy Averted

Since I know you were all worried, I will let you know that Mayor Street's efforts to keep Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic in Philadelphia have been successful. In a nearly unprecedented fit of focus, Street led an effort to raise the $68 million needed to keep the giant 1876 painting in the city. The big donors were, predictably, Leonore Annenberg (rich lady), Joe Neubauer (Aramark), Gerry Lenfest (Suburban Cable) and the Pew Foundation. They were apparently horrified that the Eakins 'masterwork' was going to be boxed up and shipped off to Arkansas after being sold to those nasty Wal-Mart people. It's good to know where all the exorbitant stadium food money and cable fees are going. It should be noted that the painting has been gathering dust in a Thomas Jefferson University dorm for about 40 years, basically unnoticed by darn near everyone. In this Inquirer article, Mayor Street announced that he was sending legislation to City Council that will register all important art in the city so that this kind of thing can't happen again. Hopefully they do a better job registering and tracking the art than they do the kids under the supervision of the Department of Human Services. Wouldn't it be nice if the mayor and all these rich folks were as worried about crime and education in the city? Other News The Flyers lost again. Poor Tim Panaccio had to go to Montreal to watch. Santa is readying his sleigh. Only 3 shopping days left! Still some great items left on my Amazon List. C

Chris Was Right!!!

Shocking As I noted in yesterday's post, in a shocking turn of events, POLITICS and MONEY played a role in the selection of casino sites in Philadelphia and the rest of Pennsylvania. Sandra Shea does a nice job in her column today noting all of the connections the winners have with the power elite in Pennsylvania politics. Typical Complaining In her usual 'Oh everything about change in Philadelphia is terrible' tone, in her column today, Inga Saffron makes the same points she has been making for two years about the casino projects. I don't disagree with her points at all. The projects are too close to the neighborhoods. Traffic is going to be a mess. Casinos are inherently giant, ugly box structures and need a lot of jazzing up to contribute to the street scape. But they have to go somewhere. The Delaware is the logical place for these buildings, but these designs are the most boring of group. Saffron notes that they have fewer amenities, especially for families. I am not sure that anyone really expects these slots parlors to be family destinations, but there is still time to make the architecture more interesting and incorporate it into the Penn Praxis planning study. Just Checked - The Sixers Still suck Down four players, (Joe Smith and Andre Miller stuck in the snow Chris Webber taking December off and Steven Hunter injured), the Sixers staggered through another ugly loss to the Pacers last night. Not much more to say here. Enrico has the links to AI's final philly-oriented interview with Stephen A. Hoffman Fantasizes Rich Hoffman, usually a good columnist, actually writes a column today discussing the possibility of Larry Brown returning to coach the 76ers. While it's true that Larry Brown and Billy King are still close and that King and Brown talked a lot in the recent weeks about what kind of deal could be done to move Iverson, I don't think that helps bring Brown back. While his relationship with "Mr. Snider" isn't as bad as it is with Knicks owner James Dolan, Mr. Ed ain't hiring Brown again. This story has some legs, as the AP story here shows. My guess is that local AP flacks are making a bit more of this than there is. Brown doesn't like working with younger players and this team will be REALLY young next year with 3 or 4 rookies on the team plus the young guys back from this squad. I think Coach Brown is a basketball genius, but the time to bring him back is past. He was the right choice over Mo Cheeks and Billy King couldn't get that deal past Mr. Snider, so why would you bring him back to this circus?

Wednesday Musings

Here Come the Slots Well after about 43 years of deliberations and untold millions in bribes and graft, the slots parlor sites in Philadelphia have finally been named. Philly.com has the story, but the bottom line is that both sites are on the Delaware River, one on traffic-clogged Columbus Blvd. between Tasker and Reed. Ed Snider, Billy King and Quincy Jones are investors in this Foxwoods development. Sugarhouse is in Fishtown and has some traffic issues as well, but mega-lawyer Richard Sprague and super builder Neil Keating are the local investors in this Delaware Avenue site. No political connections for any of those guys, huh? Somehow Donald Trump got locked out. Maybe because his site was almost totally inaccessible to the world. Sands is opening a casino on the former Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem. Barring legal challenges, these places should open in mid-2008. So more like 2015. Home From Atlanta We're home from Atlanta and the final photos are up on my Flickr site. It was a good trip. John and Emma enjoyed the Aquarium the most. John and I also loved visiting Turner Field. Spending time with everyone down there was a wonderful thing. John especially enjoyed meeting Kayla again, and Emma just ADORES Aunt Elaine. AI Trade I won't go into too much detail here but it's a good deal. Here's why: It moves an unhappy player It gets us 2 more 1st round picks in a deep draft It gets us a pretty good player in Andre Miller It breaks AI's salary into 2 pieces so that it's easier to make some deals under the NBA Salary Cap Now the reason this trade was needed is that Billy King is a pathetic excuse for a GM. He failed to put a team around Iverson that could hope to compete. He seems completely impatient with coaches and he just makes some terrible deals. Eagles What more is there to day except Eagles-Cowboys, Christmas night, in Dallas, for the NFC East? Well lots apparently. Check out the 53,000 or so posts at Wingheads, an Eagles fan forum. Or drop by my friend Enrico's site, The700Level. Enjoy the Holidays! Have a great rest of the week and I hope to see you this Holiday Break! C

Hanging out in Atlanta

Thanks to the amazing holiday vacation policy at UArts, I am currently on vacation for a few days. The kids and I are visiting the relatives down here, dropping in on Coach Dzik up at Piedmont, and doing some sight seeing. Last night we saw an amazing Christmas light display at the Islands of Lake Lanier, which is about 10 miles but 45 minutes from our hotel. Yesterday morning we went to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. It's the largets aquarium in the world and features Beluga Whales among a million or so other fish. It was a really fun time for all of us. Special thanks to my cousin Zak for keeping me updated on the Eagles victory last night. It was fun tlaking sports with an Eagles fan so far from home! Photos are up on my Flickr.com site. We'll be home in time for the holidays. See you all soon! C

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Leaving Las Vegas

Sitting here in McCarran International Airport, enjoying free wireless while waiting on yet another delayed USAirways flight, I guess it's time to update the world on where I have been for the week. Las Vegas is an interesting place, but I have to say I am glad to be headed out of this rather odd place. I stayed at the Paris, a French-themed hotel-casino on The Strip. It wasn't anything really special, a huge room with lots of people playing slots, a couple of bars, a shoppoing area proporting to be France-like and of course a half-sized Eiffel Tower out front. The food was pretty good, the rooms were basic, the bathrooms were very nice as was the health club. But people can smoke everywhere, there is no natural light and it's just too frigging weird to have faux-French everywhere 24/7. Plus, there are something like 54 major construction projects along the Strip right now and there is dust everywhere. My eyes are killing me. The conference was pretty structured, but I did bag a few sessions I had seen before and took the Payless Car Rental PT Cruiser out of the lights and noise of the city to get to Hoover Dam and the Mojave National Preserve. My Flickr site has all the pictures that are worth showing. My camera is a piece of junk and I really need to replace it, but I did the best I could to give some sense of the scale of the landscape out here. If you have never been West, there is no real way to explain just how HUGE things are in this area. People routinely drive 90 miles an hour on the highway because there is just so much distance to cover. Just for the record the PT Cruiser does NOT go 90 miles an hour. No matter how hard you try. Phillies Adam Eaton is a good signing, but no better than a #4 pitcher in all liklihood. They didn't sign a #1 pitcher, they didn't sign an everyday thirdbaseman, they have not improved the outfield or catching situations. Where are they going to spend the Abreau savings? The bullpen? I am going to be monumentally pissed off if they sit on the cash. Gasoline It's cheap back home, folks. I paid $2.95 a gallon yesterday in Davis, California and $2.49 a gallon today on The Strip. Looks like it's about $2.19 back home. And for this 2886 Americans have died in Iraq. Have a great Weekend! C

A Time to be Thankful

Looking back at the last year and how much my life has changed, I'll take today as a moment to pause and be thankful.

In August, I thanked my friends and family for all of their support as I stepped into this new phase of my life. They've been there for me, given great advice (some of which I even took), and I appreciate all that they have given. As I noted then, I would not be here today with out them, but today my thoughts are a little bigger.

I 'borrowed' Norman Rockwell's "Freedom From Want" because we take it all for granted here in the US. As a middle class American, I have been able to get an education, have two kids, eat when and where I want, travel, own nice stuff, get a decent job and so much more. What have I had to give up for it? Not too darn much. I have to work hard, but I am fairly paid for it. I have given up a few things here and there to be able to live as I wanted, but that was mostly a result of my own bad choices. One can argue things aren't perfect here, with $2 gas and a war in the Middle East, a moron in the White House, personal freedoms under attack and medical costs skyrocketing, but honestly, where else would you want to live. My buddy Dan is a conservative. I'm a liberal. We can talk and argue freely. I can call the Vice President a puppet master without worrying about imprisonment (yet). We can travel freely, marry easily (too easily), have as many kids as we want, create personal wealth, or art, worship freely if we wish to. This is truly amazing if you look at the rest of the world. The 102 men, women and children who braved two months of hellish conditions on the stormy North Atlantic to become the first to permanently settle here were remarkable in their fortitude and passion. Their ideals still form the foundation for much of the American psyche. They simply wanted to be free and they were willing to risk everything for it.

We have become so much more complacent about the freedoms we enjoy. I hope we each spend some time today remembering all the people who have sacrificed so that we can gather freely today and choose to pray if we want to, eat heartily, laugh deeply and enjoy all that we have.

Last night, as I read The First Thanksgiving to my children, I realized again how lucky I was to have been able to be complacent. And, as I do nearly every year, I promised I would be less so in the coming year. We’ll see.

Ellie Newsome is Born!!!!

Just a quick post to congratulate my sister, Carin and her husband Kevin on the birth of their daughter, Ellis Elizabeth Newsome. Ellie was born at 7:57 on Friday, November 17th, 2006. She weighs in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and measures 18 1/2 inches. She is quite pink, and has a bunch of dark brown hair. In the few hours I visited her at Lankenau Hospital today, Ellie only opened her eyes for a few split seconds. She seemed very content to sleep on my chest, her mother's chest and her father's chest. She's really cute and I enjoyed meeting my first neice very much. Congratulations to Carin, Kevin AND big brother Andrew!

Stuff For Friday

Flyers Sorry Matt, this is going to be a long season for the men on skates. It's all been said before, but after last night's 3-1 loss to the Islanders was pretty ugly. As is noted in Tim Panaccio's article today, the Fly Guys were booed on their home ice as it became apparent that they are basically unable to play major league hockey. Eagles Ok we have been talking about the last loss for 2 weeks now. It's time to see if these guys are made of anything. Yeah I know it's a tough run through the last half of the schedule, but this is going to be a brutal town if the Eagles aren't in this thing. At least we know they can't find any more painful way to lose than this. Rutgers I feel really good for these guys. But the win last night over #3 Louisville basically cements my position that the Big East is a sham this year. Are these guys BCS contenders? Give me a break! Did anyone catch Erin Andrews on the sideline of the game last night? She ain't Suzy Kolber, but she ain't bad either! Winter Beer Great article in the Inquirer yesterday signalling the opening of the winter beer season. They mention one of my local favorites, the Troegs Mad Elf. If you want to have the best in the nation, you will have to call Matt at The Beer Yard soon. It always sells out. The Wheels Are Starting to Come Off First Bush fires Don Rumsfeld, apparently after misleading reporters about whether Rumsfeld would serve out the second term. Then Bill Mahr outs RNC National Chair Ken Mehlman on CNN's Larry King. (Holy Shit Batman! There ARE gay Republicans!!!). Now Lincoln Chafee (Lame Duck R-RI) has said that he intends to block John Bolton's permanent appointment as US Ambassador to the UN. What's next? Laura Bush shooting Dick Cheney? Weekend Plans Finally, I just want to say how much I am looking forward to the weekend! A quiet night this evening. Packing for Phoenix tomorrow. The UArts 130th Anniversary Gala tomorrow night. A room at the Ritz Carlton. Then off to Phoenix for the AACRAO SEM Conference! Should be a great weekend and a fun week! See you all on the other side.

Potpourri

Gooden Released From Jail

In case you were still keeping track of the four time Cy Young Award winner, Dwight Gooden was released from prison today.

And here I thought he was dead.

Remember that Gooden had to serve this jail sentence after repeatedly violating his parole on drug and drunk driving charges. He took a 1 year jail term rather than a probation, which had he violated it would have reverted to 5 years in the pokey. Even he didn’t think he was enough of a stand-up guy to do it.

Sixers Lose Second

Ok. Even I will admit I thought that they had a chance to be better after the first 3 games, but perhaps the planets are lined up against them. The Raptors’ CENTER Chris Bosh launched a bomb that effectively killed any chance the 76ers had of topping the Raptors last night. Gotta wonder what else the 76ers could have done to win this game. They were darn near perfect then this guy launches one from about 40 feet and the feeling is suddenly a whole lot worse about the hoops team in Philly.

The Voters Come Through

After several years of collective insanity, the voters of Pennsylvania regained their senses Tuesday and sent Rick Santorum home to play with his kids and have sex in the missionary position with his wife, Karen Garver Santorum. People love to say not nice things about this guy. I am restraining myself not to kick the guy when he is down. Good job Pennsylvania!

Emma Turns Three!!!!

Emma turned three yesterday and I can’t really believe it. She is my little princess and I am amazed at what a sweet little girl she is. While there is no doubt that she has a stubborn streak a mile wide, she is still the most wonderful, joyful girl I know.

She had her struggles early on, spending almost two months in Virtua Voorhees’ NICU until she was able to breathe and eat on her own. I still have dreams about the big scary room that she lived in for her first week, before moving onto the smaller, less intense rooms. I am in awe of the nurses that work in those rooms and how much caring and empathy they were able to give me and my daughter. Don’t get me started on the doctors or LaLeche freak.

Eventually she came home and got to spend some time with her brother. They are very close and Every time John gets frustrated with her, I just remind him that Emma wants to play with him because she loves him so much. They are wonderful kids.

Emma was tiny and she fought hard and I am so proud of all that she went through to be the funny, happy, tiny bundle of energy she is at three years old. Today she runs and jumps (only about an inch off the ground for all her efforts), plays with her brother, has tea parties for her baby and bunnies, and lights up my heart every time she smiles. She tells jokes she doesn’t understand and tries to pitch in her thoughts in every conversation.

Her love of the color pink and drawing are constants. She loves to read but virtually ignores TV, preferring to make a million pages of crayon work to spread through the house. Picking up after her is a non-stop job, but I do it willingly given the fun she has. Recently she has begun cleaning up her own messes and I think it’s hilarious to watch her pick up a room one item at a time.

I will admit I spoil her rotten, but who couldn’t. I let her climb into my bed on cold mornings and she gets a few too many cookies. I’m not the only one who spoils her though, as she has more shoes than her brother and I combined.

I hope I always remember her asking me hoist her up to the mirror to show her the shampoo I give her in the bath tub and the shrieks of joy that the soapy mess brings her. I know that her “Lock the door!” and “John ILLiam” shouts from the backseat are forever in my memory.

This time last year, Emma and I were able to spend an entire month together before I started at UArts. It was an important month for both of us, as it reconnected me with her and brought back many of the intense feeling I had from her first two months. It’s hard not to see her every day, but when I am missing her most I think back to that special month. I am looking forward to the same kind of experience this December for a shorter, but hopefully as fun time.

Happy Third Birthday Princess!

Love,

Daddy

%&*$ING Blogger

1 hour 3 topics 13 paragraphs links video push publish *ZOTZ* Gone!!!!! It's depressing. Well not as bad as Clarkie on Sunday, but pretty bad. I'll see if I can get my thoughts back togther later and post.

So this is What October Baseball Looks Like

Watching the World Series previews, I have to restrain myself from throwing things at the television. When I look at how simply average the St. Louis Cardinals are, I am forced to realize that had it not been for a game here or there, this was the Phils' year to get to the Fall Classic. Let's face it, the Phillies didn't do what they needed to do to make it into the playoffs. But they were certainly hotter down the stretch than EITHER of the teams playing this w eekend. Two things doomed this Phillies team in 2006. April and Charlie Manuel. Conversely, April and the managers are why the Tigers and Cards are still playing and everyone else is playing golf. Except Cory Lidle of course. The Cardinals are starting a guy in Game One who wouldn't even start for the Phillies and who had an ERA over 5! Their thirdbaseman hasn't driven a guy in since my birthday. The Tigers staggered into the playoffs and have not played in a week. It's the old rest or rust question. Detroit was red-hot a week ago, but will the week off give the Cards an edge? I would say yes if the opening games were in St. Louis. However, since the schedule starts in Detroit's Comerica Park, I think that Detroit will be able to shake off the rust and prevail. It won't be as easy as everyone thinks though, as the Cards will take 2 at home and force the Tigers to come back to Detroit to pick up the trophy. Random thoughts: Valanni has the best food in the city right now. But Mercato isn't as good as the reviews. Seems like the Birds will be more healthy this weekend, and they'll need it. 20-17 Birds. I thought we had a major league hockey team in this town. This is a trainwreck. Can Clarke survive? YouTube is history. Have a good weekend!

Classy vs. Classless

Classy You may have missed this one in the mess that was sports this weekend. Golf legend Arnold Palmer retired. The 77 year old Palmer withdrew from the Administaff Small Business Classic somewhere in Texas after playing only four holes. His back was killing him and he had hit a bunch of shots into the water. What was classy about it? Palmer kept playing, just didn't keep score. He realized that hundreds of people had come out to watch him, and he didn't want to disappoint them. The guy gets it. I met him about 7 years ago at the Bell Atlantic Classic. He was funny, personable and engaging. And at the time, at 70, he could still corkscrew himself into that weird swing and lash a golf ball down the fairway. People have been watching the guy hit a little white ball for over 50 years. Part of me can't believe it won't happen again. Classless I hate to do this, but the comparison is just to stark not to make. On the same weekend you had something as great as what I listed above you also had the most classless display I have ever seen in college football. As the Thugs of the University of Miami clashed with the Junior Thugs of Florida International University. In case you have been under a rock for 4 days, here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JWeE9KqZjQ The worst part is at the end, where after beating FIU players with helmets and crutches, the Felons in Orange gather and do a victory dance. Disgusting. Larry Coker should walk his sorry butt over to Donna Shalala's office today and resign. But he won't, because this kind of behavior doesn't happen unless the coach condones it. He obviously does, so she should buy him out and end the season for these sorry excuses for scholarship athletes. Among the other casualties of this brawl is Comcast's analyst and UM alum Lamar Thomas, who can be heard exulting on the clip above. Comcast did the right thing Monday and fired his ass. Have a great day, C

Baby Brother

My brother Matt turns 27 today. Today, I count him as one of my best friends and most trusted advisers. It took 27 years for this to happen. I remember - The day he was born. My sister Carin and I stayed overnight at our grandfather's. My brother owns that house now. When the bus came, we bragged to everyone about him. I still brag to people all the time about him. He's a superstar in my book. That he used to have a flat spot on the back of his head from slamming it into the high chair when he was angry. Why my parents had a wooden high chair with no padding I have no idea. That his hair was almost blonde and he had freckles as a child and we called him "Mr. Matt." He is still sorta charming. Even if women think we are the same age! Calming him as a child when he got night terrors. Not sure what he was upset about, but my kids get them too now and then, and I'm glad I learned early that all it takes is a few soothing words and a rub on the back. Bringing him to Cabrini when he was about 9 or 10. He stayed over for Family Night or something like that. It's not true at all that he developed his taste for beer that weekend. Taking him to his first Temple Football game at the Vet. He was also about 10. Mostly he wanted to see MC Hammer. No, Temple didn't win that day. No, they have not won since. Realizing when he was in high school that he is a better writer than I am. Took a while to admit that one, but it's pretty clear today. Moving him into Temple. You couldn't get a room on the SECOND floor? Being incredibly jealous when he took a semester in Rome. It was SO much easier for him being the third kid. I can just imagine what Mom and Dad would have said if I had suggested that i was going to study abroad. Enjoying the afternoon at the Duke-Temple game this past year. And all the beers and ball games along he way. Seeing how much my children love him, I know one day he will be a good father. I think. Matt, have a great day! You are a great guy and I wish you nothing but happiness as you creep toward 30. I hope you learn from my example, rather from my mistakes!

Cory Lidle Flies Into Building - Immediately Canonized

On Wednesday, I briefly had a blog up on the rather odd end of Cory Lidle's planetary existence, but brought it down because I thought it might have read a bit harsh. I've toned down my comments a bit after reading and reflection. My brother's blog post covers most of how I feel and he and I have talked about it a good bit. I owe him for the opportunity to vent! I'll tell you that when I heard it was Lidle, I had 3 basic instincts: A. I hope no one else go hurt. B. So he's no good at flying a plane either. C. Well that makes the trade look a LITTLE better. Harsh, I know, but the guy has become something in death that the never was in life. Here's what he was in life: A. A #5 starting pitcher on most staffs B. A guy who played for 8 teams in 9 years. C. A guy who routinely blasted teammates then relied on buddies in the media to patch it up. D. A scab. Yeah I feel very bad for his 6 year old son and his wife and family. Losing a dad and a husband is a terrible thing, especially so unexpectedly. What bothers me about all this though is that because of his minor celebrity status, the guy has been given a pass on all of his misdeeds and faults. Have a great weekend, C

A Great Columnist Passes

Frank Dolson died on Sunday. Many of the younger readers of this space won't recognize the name of one of the finest sports writers of a generation. I'll do what I can to give you an idea of what this guy meant to Philadelphia sports. An amazing writer, he retired in 1995 after a 41 year career in Philadelphia newspapers as a writer, columnist and sports editor. I still remember some of his best work, including his coverage of the Big Five and the Phillies pennants. When I was a younger man, Dolson was one of a few men who made me want to write about sports. His straightforward work was a celebration of the men who play the games and the people they play them for. He told their stories with a passion that jumped off the page and an authenticity that is near-absent from local newspapers today. To some extent I must confess that I miss the days before ESPN and pervasive local and satellite coverage. When the only way you could experience the thrill of the streamers unfurling at the Palestra was to be there or to read about it through the talents of a master like Dolson. His direct style let you add the embellishment, but left no room for confusion. Dolson's obituary notes that he was a life-long Yankees fan and got to spend a good portion of the last part of his life working for Steinbrenner. I'm happy for him that he had this opportunity, but sorry that the Boys in the Bronx were unable to get it done for him this fall. In his last gift to Philadelphia sports, Dolson, a 1954 Penn Wharton School graduate, established an endowment of $1.25 million to support fund the Penn Relays in perpetuity. It's a wonderful gift by a man whose mark will never fade from my memory. Thanks for the memories.

What the Hell Happened?

Ok, let's be clear here. I am NOT the hippest guy around. I don't go to a lot of concerts or hang out in cool clubs. But I do get to the Wachovia Center more than a few times. Concerts, hoops, hockey, all said I have probably been there a half dozen times in the last year. So last night when my friend who I can't tell you about went down to the Big House for a Phantoms Game, I was ASTONISHED at the changes the Center's 10th year brings. No Red Bell. (By the looks of their site, no one told the, yet!) Terrible beer selection. Near zero food choices. Now I am not going to pretend that the Red Bell Brew Pub that used to be on the concourse was anything special. The beer was uneven in quality and place was always too crowded. But it was the freshest beer in a sports venue I have had. And it was certainly far better in quality than the terrible little Finnegan's Wake (no one told their webmaster either) they dropped into the prime concourse spot. The place looks terrible with about 50 green-shaded lamps hanging from the ceiling. The only beer available is distributed by mega-beer conglomerate Anheuser-Busch. (These guys should stick to making aluminum cans, rather than filling it with anything.) Prices? ABout normal. You always pay $750 for 16 ounces of frothy, warm Bud Light, right? When it opened, the Canter was one of the best venues to watch an event in America. Wide concourses, lotsa bathrooms , good beer and great sight lines made it a monster step up from the Spectrum. The Spectrum had all those banners, but you risked life and limb looking up at them because the steps were so damn steep. And who could forget the the lines in the tiny hallways they called concourses? And the scary, subterranean bathrooms? So the Center with three different corporate appellations was a welcome step up. And they regularly made it better, most notably with the bar/restaurant/stage pavilion they added this past spring.. There are some great memorabilia displays, most interesting of which is the Flyers Hat Trick display of the thousands of hats that have been picked up off the ice. The last two times I have visited though, I was left with the feeling that the place is slipping down hill. Food quality and selection are not as good, staff seem a bit less friendly. The bathrooms need to be spruced up. The changes didn't dampen the fun we had at the Phantom's 5-4 OT win over the Norfolk Admirals, but I was still left thinking, remember when this place was new? Maybe I am getting grumpy in my old age!

Bill Conlin Is A No-Talent Hack

He is also a fat tub of shit, but I am trying to be restrained here. Right now I am trying to prevent myself from walking up Broad Street and beating him into early retirement with his own frigging typewriter. Did anyone catch his column today? First he goes through the nonsense about Abraham Nunez being a good enough player to put at third base every day. The numbers he cites are based on a platoon year in St. Louis. Yeah the guy plays the field better than Aramis Ramirez, but how many games a year is that winning you? He attacks the corners in defense by talking about the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 50s. Hey Bill, the teams had 6 pitchers back then and guys smoked in the on-deck circle. The game has changed a bit in the intervening years. He babbles on about some stat that a buddy of his dug up that the Phils' bullpen wasn't that good this year. Well no shit sherlock. When you take out Geary, Cormier, Smith and White (as he does) the rest of the guys are not real strong. Fortunately those guys did pitch here this year and we can go get them again. Finally he closes by showing the petulant little crybaby he is. I'll quote to save you from having to click through. "Finally, when retiring Jeff Cooper was hired to be trainer Don Seger's assistant in 1976, I had been a Phillies beat writer 10 years. Cooper never said hello then, so I won't say goodbye." WAAA WAAA WAAA. Let me translate this for you: "Back when I had only been stealing money for a decade, the cool new kid in the class didn't say hi to me in the lunch line. I am a big weenie and I am still holding a grudge 30 years later, so I will use my nifty column to blast a guy as he retires." What a coward. Maybe the fact that Jeff Cooper is hanging it up ought to give you some ideas. Maybe if you had saved a few dollars instead of spending it on, oh god knows what, you too could retire too Bill. Why didn't you take the buyout this summer, Bill? Afraid that you won't be able to chow down on the free buffet in the press room? Perhaps you realize that the day you write your last line that you will be forgotten in this town. Some of won't forget how bad you have been. C

Little Brother Buys A House

My little brother Matt bought a house last Friday. Today in the first of many such purchases, he bought a shop vac. It's the house my dad grew up in and Matt is the third member of the third generation of the Pesotski family to live there. I lived ther for about a year after my grandfather (pictured above) died. My sister lived there for a few years and now Matt has lived there longer that he thought he would.

It's a pretty typical post-WW2 GI tract house. A 4 bedroom Cape Cod with a small yard. The yard may be small, but it grew some of the largest tomato plants (also above) ever seen. Like any house inhabited for 40 years by an older person and then by a series of young people, there is some deferred maintenence. What I would do with this house is improve both its liveability and curb appeal. It's a good house for a young family, ut would not be real appealing in its current condiditon. Matt has some work ahead of him. Here's what I would do: Do Today

• Get the heating duct fixed
• Clean the basement up

Its going to get cold soon, son! It's actually hilarious the run of events that resulted in the heater having an open duct to the basement, but this is a short space. Top Priorities

• New Roof
• New Siding
• New Gutters
• Remove Outbuildings

The roof was done by a low-bid government contractor in 1983. It's toast. There is maybe one winter left in it, then things will get ugly. Do the right thing and do all four of these things together and soon. Get a nice color siding that matches the new roof. Of course you need to remove the sheds to do the siding. Also Important

• Replace the floor, toilet and sink in the bathroom
• Fix the leaky tub faucet
• Have a plumber look at the rat's nest of pipes in the untility room and advise

You will save a TON of money and it will improve the whole situation to modernize this bathroom. Cosmetic Stuff

• Remove the plastic stick-on tiles in the kitchen
• Apply heavy, textured wallpaper to the living room and hall
• Paint

These things seem daunting, but just do it. The textured wall paper will go up fairly easily. A fresh coat of paint on it and the kitchen will do wonders. It's cheaper than re-rocking the palce and WAY less disruptive.

Outside

• New plantings

It's sale time at the nurseries. Get some new bushes and plantings in before winter. They will stay dorman and come in great in the spring. This, along with the new siding will do a lit to improve the curb appeal.

Future Projects

• Consider new windows and sliders for the back porch
• Perhaps add a bath with shower in the big closet upstairs

Home ownership is a lot of fun and you learn a lot. Enjoy!

Plan For a parade - Part Two

Who Do We Get? The obvious guy is Aramis Ramirez. An infield of Howard, Utley, Rollins and Ramirez would be the best in baseball and one of the best EVER. But he is a second level priority. This team needs more consistent starting pitching. They lost the wildcard because they couldnt count on the young guys in mid-season. Yeah, they faded at the end at the plate, but heck they scored more runs than any team in baseball. There were just days the starters did not perform at major league minimum levels. Primarily becasue they are minor leaguers. Dispelling Myths Will Barry Zito come East? Not unless you move the team to oh, let's say eastern San Diego and buy him a beach house and helicopter. Next Guy? Mark Mulder? No Frigging Way! Just once, I want a guy who has not had reconstructive shoulder work done. Brad Radke? Why is this guy still making big money? And another guy with shoulder trouble The Guy The guy I want is Jason Schmidt. Yeah making the move from San Francisco, one of the world's most beautiful places might take some convincing. Can we get Utley to take him to Finnegan's for a few beers and follow it up with a trip to one of the city's growing number of gentlemen's clubs? Yeah the Giants will want to keep him, but I think the Phils need to be aggressive here. This guy is going to get $9 million from somebody, lets make it us. The Rest of the List In order here are the guys you need to be calling, Pat. If you need a number or an agent name, call me. I'll handle it for you. But that's why you are paying Reuben Amaro, Jr., isn't it? or are you paying him to keep the 610 morning show team happy? Jeff Suppan - 190 IP, 4.12 ERA and on a PLAYOFF TEAM! Ted Lilly - 180 IP, 15 wins for a team in a rough division, 4.31 ERA. Enough said. Miguel Batista - 200+ IP, 4.58 ERA this guy is a horse, but give ups some hits. Adam Eaton - ERA is a bit high, but pitched well down the stretch Tony Armas, Jr. - won 9 games for a HORRIBLE team, getting close to the bottom of the list Woody Williams - only downside to this guy is that he's older than me. Playoff experience and a solid 3.65 ERA Too Old Greg Maddux and David Wells are great pitchers. Or at least they were. I know Maddux is only 40, but he had thrown about a million innings. The only way you can go after one of these guys is if you sign one of the above guys, but and still want to spend some money on a number 4 for a year. Neither will be around when my daughter is playing t-ball. Third Base

Aramis Ramirez is your guy. He can bat 5 behind Howard and this lineup will have opposing pitcher with brown stians on their pants and not from sliding. Recent rumors seems to point to him returning to the Cubs, So you will have to act fast and spend cash. The second tier here is a big drop off to guys like Tony Graffanino or Aubrey Huff. Aaron Rowand or Ryan Madson could bring you Adrian Beltre from Seattle as they seem ready to make some changes and have been unhappy with him.

Outfield

As I noted yesterday, I think we are stuck with Burrell. You need a trade for a right fielder. What can Rowand and Mathieson get you? Trot Nixon is also a possibility. He's a tough guy and good in the clubhouse. The fans would love him. I also think you need a guy who can play a little first base to give Howard a break now and then. If the proposed Seattle firesale materializes, find out if Ichiro is available. He could play right or center and bat anywhere in the lineup. Of course everyone else will want him.

Catcher

If you aren't bringing Leiberthal back, what is the plan? The A's have cooled on Daric Barton and he has had a few off-field issues, but umm, THE GUY CAN PLAY. He would be a young guy who could play a number of positions and could very well be the catcher of the next 5-10 years. You've got some flexibility here with here with Coste and Ruiz, so take a chance. Make a deal. the guy is in the minors, the A's are tough to work with, but that's why we are paying you.

The Bullpen

I think it's time to go with youth here. My space here is limited, but I think you need 2 arms. There are a million guys available out here, but even if you go with the youth, go back and get Rheal Cormier. The guy can still pitch and leftys in the bullpen are like gold. Whatever you do, don't lose Geary. Charlie

The guy lost us at least 4 games I can think of this year. There's your wildcard. Yeah the guys seemingly like playing for him, but they would prefer a parade. Make a change. Dusty Baker? Joe Girardi? I think you can do better, but both are available.

Summary

You need to make some moves, or this is another .500 team next year. Your fans will be in open revolt if you don't make some moves. Your players will follow. You've had success as a GM. We believe in you. Bring us the parade!!

Plan for a Parade - Part One I had hope. And just like last year, they almost did it. The problem with the 2006 Phillies is simply that they weren't good enough. This was a .500 ball club that had to get red hot to get into the race, then faded when they just couldn't keep up the pace. To: Pat Gillick, Phillies GM From: Chris Pesotski, devoted and disgruntled fan Re: My Plan for the Phillies Future I know you are busy these days, Pat, so I thought I would put togther a helpful little how to guide to get us to the pennant next year. Please follow along carefully and remember to go get the 'Abreau Salary Flexibility' out of the safe. The Keepers Obviously Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are keepers. In my book, these are really the only stone-cold locks on the team though. Near-Untouchables Unless the Yankees are willing to part with A-Rod in a trade for Cole Hamels, Hamels stays. Brett Myers pitched pretty darn well after returning frombeging placed in time-out for beating his wife in public. While he is a distasteful human being, he's still a stud pitcher and the Phils won't get any value for him in a deal. He's your #1 next year. Jimmy Rollins is one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and has good pop in the bat. He's not a typical leadoff hitter, but he's better than what's out there. 3 of the 4 infield spots are back. Shane Victorino answered most of the questions about hoim in the second half of the year. He deserves a shot to play every day next year. Good Enough To Be Back Aaron Rowand is nothing special in my book, but if he's willing to play right field, he can come back. I'd rather have Victorino in center, so if Rowand won't play right, he can anchor a trade for pitching. Jamie Moyer has earned the veteran spot in the rotation. I keep him for one more year. Chris Coste is an able catcher, but I can't imagine he can do this again. He's an excellent choice for a second catcher. Abraham Nunez is also a backup. He can't hit well enough to play third every day, but he's a guy we need. Michael Bourne needs a spot on this team. He's fast and plays the outfiled well. Somewhat Shocking If he can still play after what is apparently a complete tear of his groin yesterday, I think youn have to bring Mike Leiberthal back. He has done some nice things this year and he'll be a bargain. This team needs a veteran that knows major league lineups behind the plate and Leiberthal is better than anyone we are likely to be able to afford on the free agent market. Guys We Are Stuck With A guy who needs a golf cart to play his position should not be a starting right fielder in major league baseball. And he sure as heck should not be making $10 million to do it. Pat Burrell would be a great DH. Well, good. Or maybe acceptable. Except that he doesn't hit a lick when he gets the chance to DH. There is ZERO interest in this guy though, so we are stuck with him moping around the outfield and putting up meaningless, hollow stats in games that are already decided. I am not a Jon Leiber fan. He is an average starter at this point in his career. We need a designated fielder on the mound when he pitches and he is injured more often then Mike Leiberthal. That being said, we won't be able to pick up two free agent starters, so Leiber will be back. The Bullpen I think you need to make some changes here, but too much is unlikely. Fultz and Geary are back. They were solid, if not stars this year. Probably have to bring Gordon back though he is on his decline and that is an area to be addressed in the near future. The young guns, Matt Smith and Fabio Castro pitched well enough down the stretch to earn them a long look if not a bullpen spot in 2007. Gone? My guess is that Rick White and Arthur Rhodes are done in MLB, but Rhodes could sneak on the roster becasue he is apparently a good guy to have around young pitchers. Plus I like him because he HATES Corey 'Tub o' Shit' Lidle. Madson? The guy can't pitch. Sanches? We don't know if he can pitch since Charlie only remembers he is out there in games where we are winning or losing by 8 or more runs. Over the Side Bye Bye Randy Wolf. Making 9 million, coming off Tommy John surgery and ineffective are a bad combination. David Dellucci was an important pickup this year, but it became evident that he HATES the platoon situation despite being totally unable to hit left hand pitching. Thanks but no thanks. Jeff Conine is one of my favorite guys ever, but he's at the end of the string. I think he may find work again in the AL as a bench bat, but he won't be back Phils pinstripes. As I noted earlier, I'd ditch Rowand given the right situation, and I am not wedded to virtually anyone I have not named specifically. What do we do now????? That will have to wait until Part 2. Look for my solutions to the mess tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 The end is near The Phils Are Done I was pretty sure of this last night as I watched the bullpen implode by walking nearly everyone in a uniform including four cops, the ballgirls, a clubhouse attendant and the shooter girl from McFadden's. After the Disaster in DC tonight, I am absolutely certian that my son will be watching his beloved Yankees in the playoff and my daughter's Phils will be swinging golf clubs in various souther locales. No one has gotten a clutch hit in 3 days, the pitching looks tired and David Dellucci is looking like a guy who has already packed his hotel room for his next stop. I had remained hopeful despite the Phillies nearly 10,000 losses as a franchise. However, as the homers have stopped flying, the pitching has tired and the luck seems to have run out, I must finally admit that this is just another one of those teases the Phillies put us through. It was fun for a while, but it's time to look to the Flyers for the next heartbreak opportunity. C

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 TO Blew And we thought TO was bad in Philly last year???? CNNSI had an article earlier today saying that the Cowboys had not referred TO to their problem player guru because "Owens didn't have that kind of history." WHAT? Are you KIDDING me? If TO doesn't have that kind of history, just how the F%*K do you define a problem player??? I wonder if the boys from Dallas have re-thought theyr position on TO as a potential problem? He actually thinks he is playing Sunday. He plans to practice tomorrow. This is a guy who certainly appears to have tried to kill himself last night. If he didn't he exhibited some seriously screwed up behavior in a attempt to re-focus attention on himself. And he thinks he is playing? Does anyone know the NFL policy on injuries? Do you have to be physically injured or is complete mental instability good enough to get put on the reserve list? It almost makes me feel bad for Jerry Jones. Almost. Nope. Not really.

Ok - I Officially HATE MySpace. Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred. This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group. I have been getting that message when I try to access my MySpace Blog for the last 2 days. It's very reassuring that they are notifying MySpace's tech geeks, but since nothing has happened, i can only assume that they: A. Are too busy looking at the frightful bitch who is TO's publicist B. Don't care C. Care but only about as much as I care about whether Anna Nicole Smith got married. Again. D. Are too busy dealing with this issues from this dead-on rant back in February. I will admit I am an idiot and didn't save most of the stuff on there. It's my fault. I should have remembered that this is a massive service that is boud to run into some technical difficulties. Still, it's PISSING ME OFF! C

One thing I have learned in 15 years of working is that there aren’t many workshops that are worth investing an entire day of your life. Every now and then you run into an experience that is the exception that proves the rule. I went to a workshop yesterday that ROCKED me out of my doldrums on work stuff. It was the TargetX workshop on higher education e-marketing held at the Independence Visitor Center in Philly. Now before you get all bored and click to cnnsi.com or something, hear me out. These guys are cutting edge thinkers about how colleges should be selling themselves to students and they blend technology, marketing and just plain common sense into a package that made me sit back and say, “Why the hell didn’t I think of this?” For a while now I have been thinking that the internet in general and blogging in particular had fundamentally changed the nature of publishing and communications. For the first time in history, people don’t have to own a newspaper or a printing press to get their unedited opinion before the masses. With a few keystrokes, you can get a blog up on Myspace, or any of a dozen other sites. People can talk back to you, give you new ideas, call you a moron, whatever. It’s amazing. This has the mainstream media worried. Witness this blog entry forwarded to me by my brother, Matt. Fat Philly area sports columnists are beginning to worry that their ruminations have a lot less impact in a world where the weight of their opinion is roughly the same as mine. Or yours. Go figure. It’s sports, not cellular biology. How much more valid is megalomaniacal columnist’s viewpoint than mine? We both have college degrees. Or at least I think he has one. We both watch the games. I actually watch a game or two from the west coast in fact. Just because some idiot pays him to spew forth his stuff twice a week doesn’t make Bill Conlin god. Admittedly, most of the blogosphere is pretty bad. That being said, it’s still a revolution. Not since 1455 when Gutenberg set the Bible in hot lead has there been such a significant shift in the way that people gather information. Johan dragged us out of a storytelling, verbal tradition and into the age of the printed word. Yeah there had been scribes writing for centuries, but you had to be a Catholic priest to have access to any of that stuff. In 1517, Martin Luther helped open things up a bit more, but it really took centuries before the majority of humans could read. In just 15 years the internet has changed all that. Now RSS feeds can give you a personalized stream of stories tailored to what you want to read. Yeah it risks narrowing your focus a bit, but god, how cool would it be to actually just learn what you need to know and not worry about whether Nicole Ritchie is on heroin. Add this to podcasts, TIVO, voice over IP, iTunes and the million other technology advances that have put content into the hands of its producers, and marketers are scared. Why? They cant control the message about their products anymore. No matter what thye do to try to create an image or message, there is far more intellectual mass created in the blogoverse then they could ever counter. Remember the Chevy Tahoe blog controversy? Miss that? Don’t worry, it’s only the first in a million lessons that will be necessary for major marketers to understand that they risking irrelevancy by hanging on to a concept as 20th century as marketing. Have a great weekend! C

I can’t wait. My girlfriend and I are headed down to the Phils game tomorrow. Dazzling Dan Hill got tickets for all of us. Hall of Fame Club, one o’clock national television game, wildcard race in the balance. Ryan Howard just ripped his 58th to the opposite field and the place is going nuts. It should be an awesome time. There is nothing like playoff baseball and I am really looking forward to seeing these guys play. A few beers, ball park food, great friends and a pennant race are about all a man can ask for. Well, there are a few other things, but well, this is a family blog, right mom? Just one thing bothers me thinking about the game. It’s a really nice ballpark. But in typical Philadelphia fashion, we decided not to do anything really special when we decided to plop it in the parking lot of The Vet, thus finishing the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. One of the things that makes Fenway, Yankee, Camden Yards, Jacobs Field, and the rest really superior places to watch a game are the neighborhoods they are part of. We decided that way more important than a truly special stadium experience that linked the team and the city, creating a true destination stadium was to make it easy to park. You don’t go to the game to park the friggin mini-van. You go for the experience. So instead of burying 95, building the stadium right on top of the highway and re-connecting Penn’s Landing and Old City, we gave up the only chance we will ever have to fix the disaster of 1970s planning that disconnected a river town from its water. We decided that ease of parking and access to interstates was better than tourism value and being one of a kind. The guys at Sports Illustrated have it right. The ranked Citizens Bank Park #15 in the majors, and noted “Really, it's a shame that such a marvelous ballpark is stuck in Philly's stadium office park, near the homes of the Eagles and the Sixers. While that makes for easy commuting via public transportation, it also makes for a lousy pre- and postgame scene -- and that makes for an all-too-quick experience at a picture-perfect park.” We should have spent the billion and hit a home run. Instead we spent $346 million and hit a double. Oh well. I’ll still have a great time tomorrow. C