Patriot Day

Well, its been a pretty crazy offseason for the Pats. Signing Adalius Thomas, signing Stallworth, trading for Wes Welker and now Moss?? Its clear they are in Go For It Now Mode. After proudly declaring they had two draft choices in the first round for this draft, they essentially gave this draft the middle finger by trading out of their 28th pick, the third round and the fourth round too (didn't have a 2nd round). They did get a couple extra picks in next years draft though, so thats OK.

So Randy is now on my team. Its a puzzling move because of all of his baggage. This is an organization who on the first page of its scouting and player philosophy manual (think Mission Statement for a football organization) has things like:

1. How important is the game of football to the individual?
2. Is the player interested in detailed film study?
3. What values are placed on practicing?

etc, etc, you get the idea. It essentially outlines all of the values they have so carefully crafted during the BB era. One of the last lines in that cover page of the manual says simply - "No assholes". Well, Randy Moss certainly seems to miss on all of these points. However, despite all of that I still think this is a good move. The reality is that they are in pretty decent cap shape, so an extension to him won't be debilitating. Also, if it doesn't work out they'll cut him, eat some cap money and lose a fourth round pick. I think that is a pretty good risk reward.

So, lets look... last year in the AFCC they started Caldwell, Brown and Gaffney as their WRs. Now they could line up Moss, Stallworth and Welker (who I really like). With Caldwell on the bench and Gaffney probably cut. I'd say that's an upgrade.

One thing that is still a little worrisome is that they haven't really done anything to address the LB core. Thomas is a nice addition, but they could really use an infusion of youth and speed especially at the middle spots. What's weird is that LB is the position BB values the most, yet the highest round they have taken a LB is in the 5th since joining the Pats. I would have never guessed that, but the paper mentioned that this morning. I am still having nightmares seeing TE after TE torching the Pats LBs. But its clear that the Pats really wanted to get more explosive on offense this season and Stallworth, Welker and Moss should help that. Although I do think they will miss Dillon's power running inside the 10. Even though he wasn't great last season, he still found the EZ a few times.

Well, maybe they can actually beat the Broncos this season.....Nah. Not unless Danny Kanell takes a break from coaching HS football and lines up under center. :)

Draft Day Comments

I never watch the entire first round of the draft. I'll check in from time to time to see what is going on, but I never watched the entire thing. Well that changed this year since I had Tivo and I could fly through most of it. Great Article about the first round on ESPN. Below is a summary of the 1st Round results over the last 15 years. They even go into detail for every position. Great way to waste a couple of hours. So who is going to be the bust. Quinn or Russell? And those Safety numbers are pretty amazing as well.
Pos Number % of Busts Pro Bowl %
OL 70 31 26
DE 55 31 33
CB 52 29 23
WR 51 45 31
LB 48 16 39
DT 42 33 40
RB 41 49 36
QB 30 53 33
S 19 11 53


Moss to the Pats for a 4th Round pick? Wow, how the mighty have fallen. Also, the Pats look very scary right now. Very scary!!!!!

Charity

The Wall Street Journal has an article this weekend mapping out the top 35 charity foundations of professional athletes. The top 4 is pretty standard; Tiger Woods Foundation (Health and Education), Lance Armstrong Foundation (Cancer), Andre Agassi Foundation (education), and Mutombo Foundation (Hospitals in the Congo). But some of these other ones are pretty humorous.

Billy Andrade-Brad Faxon Charities- Raised $3 million through celebrity golf tournaments for the Red Cross. Um...what type of pull do these two have in Hollywood to get celebs out on the course?
Brian Griese's Judi's House- $1.2 million raised for kids who lose a parent. Nice cause, but can we get a new sponsor? He isn't even a starting QB anymore.
Jamie Moyer's Moyer Foundation- Yes that is right. The Moyer's Moyer foundation. He had a huge celeb bowling tournament that raised $318K.
Eddie Kennison's Quick Start Foundation- He's on their asses
Dirk Nowitzki Foundation- No money was donated by Dirk last year, but he promises some money this year. Way to take your own Foundation serious Dirk.
Kristi Yamagucki Always Dream Foundation- How is she still making money? Beauty and the Beast on Ice?
Amani Toomer Foundation- Only gave away $392 dollars in 2005. Who is worse, Amani or Dirk?
Mike Hampton Pitching Foundation: Supports Little League Pitchers. Umm...what is this? Does he buy them comic books when they are on the 60 Day DL?
Serfei Federov Foundation- Actually lost money in 2005 because expenses exceeding donations. The reason...Legal Fees. Legal Fees? I'm speechless.
Steve Nash Foundation- Supports youth Canadian Basketball Leagues and the environment. How does this go hand and hand?

All in all, more athletes are staying out of the creating a foundation because of the scrutiny and expenses. ARod, Gary Payton, and Zito all donate a ton of money, but they refuse to create their own foundation. They talk about how Hines Ward is actively involved in helping out mixed Korean kids directly without the use of a foundation. He states that Korean mixed kids are treated very poorly and he feels that he has to do something about it. Way to pick such a worthy cause.

Open post on the draft

I have to post this....

but a serious question: any of the West Coasters know the off-field issues on Eric Wright? Some say he is the best corner in the draft, but there was a date rape charge - which later got dismissed - that caused his stocl to plummet. We got him at #52. HE was t USC and then UNLV. Any one got any more info?

Opening Day

Today is the big day! Freddie's T-ball league has their first game today - first pitch is 11:00 am ET. (although since there are no pitches, what is it called? Tee off time?)

Two defensive coaches are allowed to be in the field - so I guess I will be out there helping to yell at the kids to follow the ground ball instead of the butterfly. We'll see how that goes.

We just got back from the opening day parade - a 1 mile truck ride through a local neighborhood. Gapper - the Reds mascot pictured provocatively here - was present; as soon as Freddie saw him, he yelled "BOOOOOOOO!". I was secretly proud, even though I officially told him he can like the Reds too.

During the parade, one of the kids broke into song. He was singing Sir Mix-a-Lot: "I like big butts and I can not lie....." Ummm, not sure if I want to have Freddie hear that yet. Kermit, are you sure you don't have an illegitimate son down here in Cincinnati? This was your favorite song from, oh, 1994-2000.

News or Entertainment

So Eric and I were having a very interesting talk this morning about ESPN and what direction the network is heading. We both agree that ESPN non-game programming is gearing more towards entertainment style shows than actual sports reporting shows, which includes their pre and post game coverages of football and baseball. Is this smart or is this a dumb? We are having a very tough time figuring this out. I tend to believe that ESPN is not dumb and understands what their core audience wants. They understand that most of the in depth analysis and true reporting is now found on the web, either at their own site or on the growing number of team supported sites, and their core audience (18-40 males) continues to increase viewership of these sites. Are they being proactive in adapting to the new style of media unlike the newspapers. Do they see the figures for the number of viewers on sites like Deadspin and such and change to cover more of these items than normal game reporting?


And lets give ESPN some credit. Both Eric and I now turn to ESPNews when we actually want to see highlights of the games. Since I do not have the football package, I tend to spend a lot of time on ESPNews to catch just the highlights. And the postgame press conferences that they show are amazing. Why should ESPN duplicate programming, when they are giving exactly what we want on another channel? Why is it so tough for us to just go straight to ESPNews instead of first going to ESPN, gettting pissed off about the coverage, and then changing it to ESPNews and seeing what we want?

And I want to retract some of the things I said in my prior post because I should know better. What will pull in higher ratings for Baseball Tonight, 30 minutes of Yanks-Sox coverage right after the game, or 30 minutes of highlights of the A's, Twins, Indians, Rangers, Royals, DRays, BJays, and such. Of course the Yanks-Sox coverage. Now I was in a desperate place last Friday night since the baseball package wasn't working, I forgot about ESPNews, and I was too lazy to go get my laptop to check the scores and the recap so I ended up venting on this subject.


But the real problem for people like Eric and I (and the many people that continue to vent on this subject) is that we have extremely high expectations of SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, and Primetime since we all grew up on this and have great memories of these shows. Watching Berman do highlights and creating nicknames used to be awesome. Watching Peter Gammons do his Diamond Notes everynight used to be a can't miss segment. Even Kruk was fun for a short period of time. Now we have to settle for Steve Phillips, an out of control Kruk, an even more out of control Berman, and Tom Jackson butcher everything that we used to enjoy about ESPN. But to replace all the things we loved about ESPN is now either on ESPNews, XM and Sirius radio, or the Internet. Why is this so hard for all of us to grasp.

Finally, Eric and I wanted to know from Jon and Jay is if the overexposure of the Sox and Yanks on Baseball Tonight bothers you or do you love it since you get to see a lot of additional coverage on your teams.

Facing Reality

So it is looking more and more likely that around 12:30 on Saturday, we will find out that this person is the newest member of the Cleveland Browns.

And I'm OK with that. However, I think everyone should call Don on Saturday afternoon to make sure he hasn't committed suicide on the news. Don is certainly in a stage of denial at this point.

Frankly, I'd be happy with almost any pick in the top 5. Russell, Quinn, Peterson, or Thomas (and not necessarily in that order). I'd question a Johnson pick a little bit, seeing that we already have Braylon on the team.

The reason why I am OK with Quinn is that:

- we are not going to win the division in 2007

- we are going to compete in 2008 and win the division in 2009, and I see Savage building toward that.

- Who will be our quarterback for the division (and AFC?) champion Browns in 2009? That question is answered NOW, not in 08 or 09. Palmer was drafted in 03 to lead the Bengals in 05. Manning was drafted in 98 to lead the Colts in 2000 and later. Rivers was drafted in 04 to lead the Chargers in 06 and beyond. You draft a QB now for payout 2-3 years later. We need an answer now......and I can accept Quinn being the answer.

My only question is - who on the Browns will be his mentor? For better or worse, Tim Couch had Ty Detmer. Charlie Frye had Trent Dilfer. Who will be a mentor for Brady? Charlie? Well, he could teach him to run around in the backfield with his back turned to his offensive line......

But then again, you could argue the mentor is overrated. Look how good a mentor worked out for Couch and Frye!

Baseball Ramblings

Ahhhh..baseball is in full swing and I'm missing all of it. Heard on the radio last week that Cox Cable is up and running on the MLB Package. Also saw a TV ad on Friday, so I decided to call and order it. They accepted my $159 and said that it was activated. I recorded the A's game on Saturday and went out to go grab something to eat with Ben and Carol, and came home and the game wasn't recorded. Just a black screen. Long story short, I ended up having a long conversation with a Cox Cable tech, discussing the ins and outs of the MLB deal with cable and me not believing it. He finally stated that he was watching the A's game there at the office so he knows that it is working and gave me the update that "some guy named Duchesser just gave up 3 runs for the A's", with me moaning into the phone and now getting even more pissed because the A's were cruising the entire game. In the end I had to control myself since I still needed this guys help. Now I have to wait until today for a cable guy to come out to fix our signal. If he doesn't show up, I might be ready to forgive Direct TV and go back to them.

I HATE ESPN- On Friday night I tried to catch my highlights on Baseball Tonight, right after the Yanks-Sox game. I waited for 45 minutes before they showed the A's highlights. How sad is that. They spent 30 minutes on the Yanks and Sox. What crap.

And can ESPN spend some time on other teams other than the Sox and Yanks? I know that this isn't anything new, but come on. Who is the best baseball team currently? Which pitching staff has had 18 out of 19 quality starts this season? And I agree with the Sportsguy on how disappointed he was with Morgan and Miller that they totally forgot about the Dodgers last year on their back to back to back to back homers off of Trevor Hoffman in the 9th inning, during a pennant race. This was absolutely amazing.

Now with that being said, I do have to say that I enjoyed the Yanks-Sox series this weekend. All were very good games and surprisingly they were relatively quick games, unlike last year, so I can't complain too much. I really do like a lot of the players, despite hating the teams themselves. Manny, aka The Predator, is probably my favorite. He really acts like someone playing in a backyard whiffle ball game. I know he doesn't need to sprint back to the wall to handle a wallball, but its just funny watching him trot back there and then bare hand the ball and whip it in. Big Papi is amazing and so much fun to watch hit that according to my friend Jeff, my golf swing looks just like his at the plate (that's not good). And Papelbon is simply amazing. I do find his stare to homeplate a little ridiculous. Maybe it was the extremely close up that ESPN was doing, but he looked like an idiot. As for the Yanks, am I the only non Yankee fan cheering for Arod (as long as it is not against my team)? And I'm simply fascinated with Abreu's gray glove.

Anyway, here are a couple of my additional thoughts after a month worth of baseball:

• I have never seen so many injuries to major players to start off a season. Just take the A's. Harden, Bradley, Kotsay, and Loiaza are the major injuries. I never thought I would see Marco Scutaro playing RF and Todd Walker playing 1st for us in a million years. Ouch.
• And yes, that stat is correct above. The A's have 18 out of 19 quality starts so far this year. And what is our record? 10-9. Simply amazing how banged up our team is. I should be happy with a 10-9 record, but I feel that our pitching will start to falter soon.
• The Sox should look inward and not do too much talking about what just happened. IF they can stay healthy, then they are probably the odds out favorite, but I'm sure that this will not happen.
• What is up with Tampa Bay's ownership? Are they the worst? Why haven't they traded one of their 1000 talented offensive guys for some bullpen help. It is painful to watch these guys pitch.
• As of right now I don't see any team running away with their division. Angels and A's will be there to the end in the West, Yanks and Sox with the possibility of the O's and Blue Jays in the East, and everyone except for the Royals in the Central. I think everyone in the NL West and NL Central has a chance, with the Braves, Marlins, and Mets going at it in the East. This should be a tremendous year for pennant races.

What I won't write

I won't write the Yankees are getting old. I won't write that Marino is finished. I won't write that the Yankees have no pitching. I won't write that Joe Torre will wear out what few good relievers he has. I won't write that A-Rod can't hit in the clutch.

Look, we've all been down this road before. Every year this decade, the Yanks have a slow start and people start drumming up the "Is this the year the Yanks don't make the playoffs?" stories. Followed up with the "The yanks don't have enough pitching and we all know that pitching is what wins" stories. And every year I blindly play along hoping that it is all true. Well, I know better. The Sox could take the next two games and outscore the Yanks 23 - 2 and it wouldn't bury them. Sure one could say if the Yanks didn't have Arod, they would be cozying up to Tampa Bay in the cellar, but the fact is they have a ton of guys hurt and they are still cruising along. If they end up finishing April at .500 Joe Torre might do cartwheels considering the obstacles they have faced.

What about Arod??!? The last guy this hot for this long was Barry Bonds in the World Series. And now we know that he ingested enough steroids, going on a two week chemical bender that would have made Keith Richards proud. He is just a freak, its pretty scary. Will he opt out? Of course he will because name me the last Boras client that doesn't go to Free Agency when given the chance?? How is this guy not playing for the Angels next year?

One last thing I have to mention - Dice-K. Of course the hype has gone to ridiculous levels, but its obvious that the guy can really pitch. He pitches backwards, and will throw any breaking ball in any count. It will be interesting to see if he throws Arod any fastballs. So far his contract (minus posting fee) looks like an absolute steal. Under $9mil per for 6 years for a 26 year old, top of the rotation type guy???? Sign me up.

Let's look on the bright side

Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that Borowski is still perfect (5/5) in save situations.

What?

Quickies for Wednesday night

1) So how many Puffs* were needed in the Chicago White Sox TV booth as Hawk Harrelson called the Mark Buehrle no hitter tonight? Gees, Hawk has an orgasm when a White Sox pitcher strikes out Jason Kendall in the 2nd inning of a 1-1 game....

2) A miracle happened tonight. The Bulls lose tonight at New Jersey, giving the Cavs the #2 seed in the East. So instead of beng the #5 seed and playing the Heat (gulp), we open against rrd's favorite team, the Wiz. And, of course, if we win, we avoid the Pistons until the Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks for the gift, Mr. Frank!

3) Get ready for "74" day, coming up on Friday! April 20th is the 17th anniversary of the round that started it all, a 74 in the UAA Championships in Boston, MA. Buy your cream soda now and avoid the rush!

* - I am contractually obligated to say "Puffs" instead of Kleenex, since I work for P&G and Don was an engineer in Puffs for 6 years or so. I correct non-P&Gers all the time whenever they use Kleenex but mean "tissue". Yes, it is an annoying habit, like snooping in people's bathrooms and finding out what toilet paper and shampoo they use.

Baseball thoughts

Gees, it's been quiet around here over the past few days, no? I have a whole another list of European observations - but that will have to wait for another post.

Some thoughts on baseball after the first 10 games of the season (some of you poor saps may have already played 15 or 16 games...)

1) Who are the following people and what do they have in common:
Chase Wright
Kaz Izawa
Darrell Rastner

ok - that was easy. Those are the starting pitchers for the Yanks goign against the TRibe this week. And I'm scared shitless. We NEVER do well against no-name pitchers. I can't tell you how many times Bob Pecozzi opens up SportsCenter on the radio in the morning with a lead something like:

"In the American League, Derek Zahn, a lefthander called up fron Double-AA Edmonton last night, pitcjed 7 1/3 innings of 4-hit ball as the Rangers beat the Indians, 4-1....."

Exhibit A is the final week of the 2005 season, when Seth McClung - SETH McCLUNG - pitched a shutout against us in that awful, awful week where we finished one game out of a playoff spot.

I fully expect to lose all three to these stiffs. And we are 1/3 of the way there after Westbrook's performance.

2) The Tribe won, 2-1, vs. teh White Sox on Sunday. A note from the game story

The last time the Indians won while getting one hit was on April 12, 1992.

This seemed fishy, so I checked - yes! This was the infamous Matt Young game - where we beat Boston 2-1 while being NO HIT by Matt Young. In two separate innings, Kenny Lofton (the 1992 AL Rookie of the Year - Pat Listach is just a figure in many sportswriter's imaginations) walked, stole second, was sacrificed over and scored on a SF.

Do Red Sox fans remember this game? Peter Gammons must have wrote a song about this. I remember exactly where I was during this game - it was a Sunday, I was in my dorm room catching up on studies after being gone the last 2 days to a golf tournament (the Wooster Parlor Open, Kermit - that was the year you and I played together). It was a beautiful spring day, about 65 degrees. I listened to most of the game on radio.

Am I insane for remembering these details?

(By the way, I just checked the game story - it has been fixed to read:

The last time the Indians won while getting one hit or less was on April 12, 1992, a 2-1 victory over Boston when they were no-hit by Red Sox pitcher Matt Young.)

But no mention of my score or Kermit's in the Wooster tournament.

3) I logged on to CNNsi today, saw that the lead story was an article about Jose Reyes and how he can be the next Jackie Robinson.

My first reaction - do I care? He plays in the NL - so I don't care. Go away.

Is that bad? I follow the AL now, and will follow the Reds on occasion ( I do live here, you know). Other than that? No - don't care.

4) T-ball update: I agreed to help coach Freddie's T-ball team. This team is made up of 6 and 7 year olds, most of whom have never played in organized baseball yet.

Some developments:
- Practice started at 10:30. At 11:10 on the first practice, an assistant coach was trying to teach some of the kids that if there is a runner on 1st and you are in the field, you can throw to second to get the force out.

Hello? A bit early, no? How about WAY too early???

- we have a 16 game schedule. 16 games! Games go from the end of April to late June. Two games a week. That is insane.

- A coach actually has encouraged our players to "chop" down on the ball off the tee, because "that will make you hit grounders and you'll get a hit. We all do that, we should do well in our games....."
Um..... are we really keeping score in these games?

- Freddie was playing the pitcher position - and he actually fielded a gorund ball! Now - what to do with the ball? Well, he sees a runner running from 1st to 2nd - so he naturally aimed at the runner's head and fired the ball at the runner.

I'm sure that thought process has nothing to do with the fact that we play the "burnout" rule in the basement over the winter. Geesh, I have to make sure he unlearns that lesson quick.

Random thoughts on French dining

Well, I flew blind tonight - was on my own for dinner (had a conference call and failed to connect with other Americans at the hotel) so I explored the town and found an authentic French restaurant hidden behind the main town chateau. I used as little English as possible!

Random thoughts:

1) Carbonated water is like a one-week fad. I've had it three nights in a row now (Pellegrino, which is just like Perrier) and love it. But I don't think it's something I can drink regularly. I had this phase in Iowa where I bought a 1L bottle of Perrier at the local Hy-Vee once a week. The phase lasted a couple of months until a Saturday in May. I came back into the house after mowing the grass, looking for something to drink. I saw the Perrier - ugh! If you are thirsty,it is NOT the drink for you. I remember thinking to myself: "Self, why the hell are you buying this again? It does not taste better than Crystal light, you won't drink it if you are thirsty, and it costs $2 per liter." Never bought it again.

2) I forgot to take my Crystal Light "to go" packets to the restaurant (I do have them here on the trip). I wonder what the French would say if I pulled that out at the dinner table and poured it into their mineral water?

3) Did you know that "entree" actually means "appetizer"? I did not know that!

4) Fun with the menu, part I: So I'm trying to order an"entree". I brought my dictionary along. One of the choices was pate. No, not a big fan. The next appetizer took up two lines, but it contained the word "l'avocat". Avocado! Yes, I like that. Let's try that.

Well, I should have looked up the rest of the words.Out comes a plate of salad greens, with a avocado mold on top surrounded by various forms of vegetables and seafood. There were little balls of seafood - I'm telling myself they were miniature scallops - and some seared tuna, I believe. Delicious.

One of the vegetables was a long bean-type of item that what blanched and had a head on it, like an asparagus. I couldn't help but think that it looked like a albino's thinned penis. No, did not touch it.

5) The main course. It was foie gras or "faux filet". Faux filet - literally, "false filet", was really a sirloin. I ordered that.

It came out with a sweet potato cream on the side and potatoes. The potatoes were diced julienne style and seemed to be sauteed in a 1/2 inch of oil.

In other words, French fries.

It tasted just like the homemade potatoes that Mom used to make in her fryer. They were very good, even though I was embarassed to look like the typical American ordering French fries in France.

6) I was struggling with my French at this time - and then realized that I could honestly say "Pardon my French" - in French! - in actual conversation! This made me giggle for a while. Ah, simple pleasures.

7) Yes, it is true about dogsin restaurants. A labrador came by, smelled my clothes (and probably smelled my two schnauzers as well) and lingered a bit. But well behaved. Amazing.

8) Dessert time. Cheese or dessert? Well, dessert of course. I think having a cheese plate for dessert is an utter waste of time and a dessert course. Why? What is the point. Ooooh - cheese! But you could be having something fattening, delicious and sweet as well. And don't give me this crap about some cheeses being sweet. Dammit, I want sugar, not Neufchatel!

9) Crepes or Creme Brulee was the choice. Oh my, did I struggle over that. Wow. I am self-professed expert at Creme Brulee, so I had to order that.

/channel Graham Kerr

The texture was a bit rough, not as smooth as I expected. But the taste - ooh, so rich! The taste was better than the previous #1 Creme Brulee I have tasted, the Creme Brulee at the Phoenix in downtown Cincnnati. The layer of sugar was not at all thick, and does not overwhelm. Perfect. Slight burnt spots, but it is supposed to be that way. I hate the 1" think layer of sugar that some restaurants create in order to impress the customers. Non! The sugar is there to complement, not overwhelm, the custard. Perfect.

Now go do yourself a flavor.

/end Graham Kerr

10) This is the third meal in a row that was completely satisfying. I was so worried that I would have to eat 2 dinners just to be full. I have no idea where that stereotype came from. Every dinner I have had so far - which, to be fair, is sold as a "package" with appetizer, main course and dessert - was enough food to allow me to skip breakfast the next morning.

Where did we get the idea that the French server 2 string beans with an ounce of beef as the main course?

11) Red wine by itself is not as good as red wine with a meal. I am not enough of a connoiseur to understand why that is. Red wine just tastes better (less bitter and acidic) with food to go along with it.

12) Time of the meal: 1 hr, 20 min. Not bad. Not bad at all, for three complete courses (and coffee at the end).

Just a wonderful experience so far. More to come later!

The Big Day is here!

At 7 pm FST (French Standard time), or 8 am HST (Hawaiian time, for Leland), the 2007 NFL schedule will be released.

Rest assured that I will not be expecting ANY primetime games for the Browns. We are playing the AFC East this year - you think a major network will waste a Pats game showing a game in Cleveland? - and the NFC West....no one will be clamoring for that great 49ers/Browns game either.

Last year, I hoped for an easy home opener to start the season right; I got it, as the 2006 season opened in Cleveland vs. New Orleans. Whoops....

This year, I'm hoping for a road game against a opponent of medium strength - a game we could win, but I won't be devastated if we lose. Say, St. Louis? The Jets?

And I got the go-ahead for this year to be the year I take Freddie to his first game. I think (at 6) he will be old enough. Maybe a fall game against a fellow sub-.500 team, like a September game at home vs. Houston? Buffalo?

We shall see....

Aloha from Hawai'i

Continuing on Eric's travel theme, I thought that I'd write about my trip to California and Hawaii.

Friday: Arrive in San Diego, Derek picks me up from the airport. We end up meeting Carol at a bar in Pacific Beach after some "interesting" directions. I think that scenery may be a little higher on the new Mrs. Zahn's list of priorities perhaps than it is on mine and Derek's. Either way, have a few drinks, hang out and generally have a good time. Ben meets up with us later in Dana Point, which is always interesting. Oh the stories! I wish I could tell them here... Carol has one or two too many shots and is speaking gibberish on the ride home. She went from happy to falling down in about 4 seconds! She's yelling about politics, and just about everything else that crosses her mind. Not to worry, she passes out on the couch as soon as we get home. Final words: "I'm over it."

Saturday: ran for an hour with Derek in the morning, then went out for brunch with Carol and Ben. Good times had by all, especially those with a clear line of sight of the strippers eating a few tables over. Watched a little Masters and baseball in the afternoon and had a couple of beers. Carol is still nursing her hangover from the gibberish-inducing bout with Patron from the night before, so she's taking it easy. We end up going out in LA to meet up with Bridget (yes, that Bridget) for her birthday at some weird bar near her place in LA. Met her fiancee and a few of her friends and ended up talking to her for a while. Interesting things happening with her and her family. Derek is so enthused that he ends up falling asleep in the corner. Literally. I end up pulling a Carol (i.e. doing too many shots, not screaming gibberish) and we go home. It's a long ride and I hear that Carol and I talked on the ride home, but I couldn't tell you what we talked about. Derek continues his narcoleptic ways and passes out as soon as we get in the car.

Sunday: Leave for Hawaii. Flight from San Diego is delayed, so I end up missing my connection in LA, so I end up getting put on a later flight, watching the Masters from a bar in LAX and texting Eric about the Masters. Plane leaves around 4:45pm PST and gets into Honolulu at 7pm Hawaii-time. Rental car, bags, and I'm off to the Waikiki Marriott.

Monday: Light work schedule, so we're done by about noon. We hustle back to the hotel eat a little something and head off to the beach. Since I landed when it was dark, this is my first look around Waikiki. Let me tell you, it's an odd and conflicting sight. The scenery of Hawaii is amazing. The people on the other hand, are terrible. It's a tourist trap and everyone is fat and ugly. Yikes! We end up spending 2 hours on the beach making fun of everyone else (how else am I supposed to feel good about myself?) and getting sunburned. I guess it's that whole Karma thing... Go out to dinner at Duke's on the beach and meet up with a couple of Australian sisters at the bar afterwards. They are in town for a netball tourney and are out drinking the night before they are set to play 4 games. Love the Aussies! End up talking to the sisters and their mum for quite a while before a few of us head home. But not all of us, as one of the boys ends up bringing one of the sisters back to his place. She left around 7AM, so good for him...

Tuesday: Full work day and I'm nursing a sunburn anyway, so I'm in my room going through email and avoiding doing real work by blogging. I'm here in Honolulu through Friday and then off to Kauai Friday-Monday. I'll write again if we slay any more foreigners....

Mahalo.

Bonsoir d'France!

Bonjour, mis amis!

We're blogging live from Blois, France, on the banks of the Loire river in Central France. We have a P&G plant here that I am working with for the next 4 days.

Some quick impressions of the city, the trip, and France so far:

1) Is it a rule that if you are 6'4", have a heavy-set body type and are balding, then you have to be an asshole? Thanks a lot for talking during the WHOLE flight over, Mr. ass in seat 5G.

2) I found my way around Paris and France on Monday with my only French being my handy-dandy phrasebook and my recollection of "Mille Bournes". Essence - yes! That's gas! I ran out of it a lot in Mille Bournes.

3) I do know a little Spanish, but haven't spoke it regularly in years. Nevertheless, whenever I'm stumped for a simple French word, the Spanish word comes out automatically. I can't count the number of times I said "Si" when I meant "Oui".

4) Walked around the town yesterday - European cities are so much more compact than American cities. Lot of cafes, shops, restaurants all within a square mile. I never seem to get tired of comparing American downtowns vs. European towns.

5) Let me just say this... Tony Parker is HUGE in France. He's hawking three French products on separate advertisements around here (and Paris). I have no idea what they are for - but his face is everywhere.

6) Rates for Taxis? Sacre Bleu! A 4-5 mile ride from the plant to my hotel was 13 euros. That's like 18 dollars. Ripoff!

7) We need more Schweppes in the United States.

8) You can impress people with simple French. A couple of times in the plant I said "C'est bon" or "C'est magnifique!" and eyes lit up. "Parlez-vous Francais!" they said. Hold on there, Tex, that's about it. That and "Ou'est la toilette"....

9) Soccer is on 24/7 here. Gees.

10) I rarely have lamb, but now have had it for two straight meals. Delicious. Not gamey at all.

More to come later........
and what the hell is this about Don's post? The Indians have to play this week in Milwaukee? (Thank God for internet access- I saw that today on cnnsi.com and espn.com, which is incredibly fast loading if you think about it). What's the over/under for the attendance there? I say 1463 1/2.

Au revoir for now! Congrats to my Iowa boy Zach Johnson on the Masters win!

Talkin' Baseball...

Its egregious I tell you, egregious.

Apparently Bud Selig wanted to watch some LIVE baseball in Milwaukee this week. Too bad he is watching the Tribe and Angles. If this had happened in NY or Boston, what are the odds they would move the series to Toronto?

I assume MLB will revenue neutralize the Dolans for the, oh, say 100 fans, that might show up in Milwaukee. And the fans in Cleveland …well just s*&% on them (just like the NFL).

Now Cleveland and Seattle have been placed at a disadvantage just as the season starts. Good luck making up 4 games in Cleveland (note, that was Seattle’s only trip to the North Coast this season) And why? I can’t explain it. Why does baseball insist on scheduling games in early April in Northern cities that don’t have a dome? I clearly do not understand. I don’t enjoy watching teams play in the freezing cold in October, let alone in April when it can be easily avoided. And for those that didn’t grow up in Cleveland, it snows in April. This isn’t a freak occurrence.

I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

Starbucks

I can't tell you the last time I wrote about Starbucks. Gone are the days of working there with all of the soccer moms and their crazy kids. But what makes me revisit this morning was something magical that happened on my way up to LA. I stopped by Starbucks since I forgot to load up the coffee maker last night and I was running behind schedule. Had to get out of the house by 4:45am or I would hit major LA traffic. Stopped at Starbucks just north of LA and had my usual coffee, but decided to try their new breakfast sandwiches. WOW!!!!! As Will Ferrell would say, it was mindbottling. I had the bacon egg and cheese on an english muffin with an added pound of butter. Boys, this thing is worth the $3. This puts Dunkin Donuts microwave sandwich to shame. I'm speechless right now. Everyone have an excellent morning.

Opening Day Wishes to all

Good luck to all of your teams out there. I mean it! I wish nothing but the best for all of us as we enter the 2007 season.

I regard the baseball regular season much like a USGA qualifier that I play in every year. For example, the US Mid Am Qualifier last year had 82 golfers for 5 spots. In the American League Qualifier for 2007, there are 15 "golfers" playing for 4 spots.

There's no ill will. Why can't the 4 spots be filled by Cleveland, Oakland, New York, or Boston?Or maybe the Indians, Royals, Orioles, and A's?

In these USGA qualifiers with multiple spots, I always wish the best for Don or Kermit or others that I play with. Hey, if they are taking the top 3 or 4 or 5 golfers, why can't it be us?

Now, if the qualifier was 35 golfers for 1 spot, I'd wish Don or Kermit the best of luck, but secretly hope he duck-hooks it out of bounds and makes triple on the first hole.

The first three months or so is the first 18 holes of the qualifier - no sense looking at the scoreboard; just play your game and (hopefully) keep piling up the wins. During the last 18 holes - August & September - that's the time for scorebaord watching and hoping the Tigers keep 3-putting greens.

Good luck to all.

(PS - please note; the above thoughts are my theory on how I should act. I'm sure I will have a big grin on my face when the Red Sox or Yanks gets swept by the Devil Rays in May. )

Worst Tournament Ever?

Geesh. Not a memorable tournament at all...unless you could Joakim Noah's antics in front of the CBS camera over the past 4 weeks.

Really -what will we remember from the 2007 NCAA Tournament? Not much. Just a lackluster bunch of games with no cinderellas at all. Let's review the last few years and play word association:

2006: George Mason, Morrison crying
2005: The unbelieveable quartet of games in the Elite Eight - and the term "Pittsnogle!" was introduced.
2004: Two #1's going on in the 2nd round, St Joe's proving Packer wrong
2003: Nicholas, the "Butler Bandwagon"
2002: Maryland winning it all (in all fairness, most experts say this final game was THE WORST final in the past 10-15 years)
and so on....

nothing is memorable from this year, with the possible exception of BYU picking up a loose ball with :00.1 left and getting a layup to close the final margin against Xavier to 2..... what? That's got to be in the top 10 of "greatest covers of all time", right?

Seriously, the best day of basketball was the 1st Saturday of the tournament. As people find out that I was in Vegas for the first weekend, I've had a couple of people ask me:
"Wow - so what was it like during all those crazy games on Saturday?"
And I have to lie. I don't think they would be satisfied with the true answer of "I wasn't watching games, I was playing $5 Pai Gow poolside at the Golden Nugget".....

Opening Day

Is there a more unproductive work day than today? I know that the opening rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is bad, but most people take off the afternoon to watch the games, but for opening day, hardly anyone takes off and just monitors the games. Below are my top five most unproductive days at work:

1. Opening Round of the NCAAs (when I don't take off)
2. Opening Day of Baseball
3. Opening Rounds of the 4 majors
4. Opening week of the baseball playoffs
5. Ryder Cup

Man, after doing this, I really miss being in Baltimore. When I was a supervisor and CR, there was a group of us that would go to Padonia Station or the Turf Inn to watch these events during the afternoon. Man it was great not having any responsibility and being able to ditch the afternoon by saying that you were working in the field or at home. Those were the days.

Baseball preview will be posted later on today.