material on this page covers the time period 3-3-09 to 12-29-09...

Now in San Jose, CA for the Sharks/Predators game.  A smooth, ninety-minute train ride got us here from San Fran. 

It's Tuesday afternoon and we're staying in nice Silicon Valley digs.  Tonight's hockey game will mark the sixth of six consecutive days in a sporting venue.  I fly back on a ridiculously early flight Wednesday morning with a stop in Houston.  Jeff leaves a little later in the morning with a connection in Ontario, CA. 

We ended up going to Berkeley on Monday night for Cal's hoops opener at Haas Pavilion.  The on-campus facility was built in 1933 and got a facelift in the late nineties.  It holds 11,877.  The stands are stacked steeply upward which gives it one of those old basketball barn-type feels. 

The only real knock I have on the arena is that it was half empty.  Cal fans didn't bother showing up for this contest despite the fact their team opened number thirteen in the country.  Enrollment at Cal is 35-thousand and the Bart train from Oakland and San Fran drops you off just a few blocks from the arena - so there is no good reason this team shouldn't sell out its opener against a quality Murray State team. 

Attendance was announced at 7603.  That number was padded artificially by at least 1500.  Students occupied the entire lower section opposite the benches and were pretty spirited. 

We bought ten dollar seats at the ticket booth outside the arena about twenty minutes before tip.  A few minutes after the game started, we moved to a section of padded benches behind a goal about 25 rows up from the floor.  

Cal's second-year coach Mike Montgomery came off as a whiner.  He unleashed several loud protests at the refs for what appeared to be legitimate calls.  Montgomery should probably focus more attention on the fact that his talented team is wildly undisciplined on offense. 

Montgomery gave his giant Chinese center Max Zhang five minutes of playing time in the first half despite the fact the 7-foot-3 big man has little to contribute going either direction.  Zhang is the tallest player in the history of Cal hoops. 
  
Retired NBA star and Cal alum Shareef Abdur-Raheem sat courtside as a fan.  His brother Amir is a Murray State assistant. 

After exiting the game, we noticed the Murray State team bus.  The Racers haven't played a Pac-10 team (home or away) in 23 years.  Despite losing to Cal by five points, the Racers can go back to Murray, KY knowing they put a little scare in a big conference school. 
 
After the game, we closed down the Geary Club near our hotel.  There is no sign on this place.  It's a sort of speak-easy filled with regulars.  The bartender Lillian (who happened to be celebrating a birthday Monday) can appear to be out-there when you first sit down - but we found her charm and attention to customers to be endearing.   

11-10-09 1530

Forced by the ownership to start Vince Young at quarterback, the embattled and emasculated head coach of the Tennessee Titans has won two straight since his hand was forced. 

Jeff Fisher (pictured above) has run a conservative game plan centered around the great scat-back Chris Johnson to protect Young from doing too much. 

It's produced two victories.  A blowout last week against the Jags - and then Sunday at San Francisco against the Niners. 

The Titans D scored one TD and set up two others.  The Titans are now 2-6. 

Me and Titans fan Jeff were in the house.  We sat in section ten on the lower level. 

We barely made it there for kickoff. 

About twenty-five minutes before our 8 AM departure was set to roll out of Burbank, CA, a Southwest Airlines gate agent announced the cancellation of our Sunday flight to Oakland.  What ensued was confusion.  The gate agent who made the announcement failed to set up a game plan for affected customers yet sent them to other Southwest gates to be rebooked.  Problem is, those agents weren't immediately inclined to handle such a chore.  

What made us feel better about getting out of Burbank was an assurance from a middle-aged Southwest employee (wearing shorts) that the 9:15 AM departure to Oakland had "room for all of us." 

He blamed the cancellation of the 8 AM departure on fog in Burbank.  That seems like a stretch.  At no point in the early Burbank morning did visibility appear to fall below a half-mile.  Several departures left before and during the time our 8 AM trip was to leave. 

We landed in Oakland on the later flight at about 10:25 AM and had our  checked luggage by 10:45.  We jumped in a taxi and flew over the Bay Bridge.  A parade downtown messed us up, so we ended our car ride prematurely, paid the $70 fare (including tip) and walked about six blocks to our $69 per night hotel near Union Square. 

The hotel let us check-in early and we jumped a bus to Candlestick Park at 12:00 PM. 

We were in our seat about ten minutes before the 1:15 PM kickoff.    

 -We're doing a special "Californivacation" edition of TSR Radio this afternoon.  1 PM in the West and 4 PM in the East.   Call in if you have a question or comment about anything Californivacation, Breeder's Cup or whatever you want to talk about. 

The call-in number is 347-539-5988 and the website is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/T-S-R

11-8-09 1900

These Californivacation days have started early and end late, so it's hard to do updates...

But it was quite a scene at Santa Anita Saturday afternoon.  The old grandstand rocked hard when Zenyatta made her signature move and got the biggest of wins in her undefeated 14 race career.  The crowd of nearly sixty-thousand erupted - and created a volume very rarely heard at a thoroughbred race track. 

Just got back from our third straight night at the great Colorado Bar in Pasadena.  An early Sunday morning flight to Oakland for Niners/Titans is just hours away.

11-8-09 2355

My aunt and uncle took me to the Mission San Juan Capistrano on Thursday.  There were no swallows but we saw a few black crows.

We started the day off with my Aunt's famous steel-cut oats.  She crock-pots 'em and throws in craisins. 

Tonight, the big run of sporting events kicks off with Preds/Ducks at the Pond in Anaheim. 

11-5-09 1640

Greetings from Orange County, California.  I arrived here midday Wednesday after a 5:35 AM departure out of LaGuardia with a stop in Houston. 

I originally planned to be out here solely for this weekend's Breeder's Cup festivities at Santa Anita but the trip has turned into something much bigger. 

After discussions with regular Cup attendee and last year's Cup roommate Jeff from Nashville, we decided to expand our itinerary to include several sporting events.   Our plan took root when the NFL schedule was released.  It revealed a Titans/Niners game in San Francisco the day after the Breeder's Cup wrapped up. 

Since Jeff is a huge Titans fan - and since I love filling the rare Sunday off with a visit to a NFL venue - I suggested we make the short trip up the coast for the game.  At first, Jeff was reluctant.  I don't recall what prompted his change in mind, but I believe the release of the NHL schedule got his wheels spinning on what now has turned into a big trip.  His Nashville Predators happen to be out West while we're here, so we'll be taking in a couple of their games. 

For the record, here is our fun-filled itinerary over the next week:

Wed. 11-4-09
I arrive one day before Jeff to visit my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dick who live in Corona del Mar, CA 

Thu. 11-5-09
I'll ask my Uncle to drop me off in the parking lot of the Honda Center (also known as the Duck Pond) in Anaheim at about 6:00 PM or so.  Jeff is arriving at the Ontario, CA airport at about 5 PM and will drive a rental car to the Duck Pond.  I'll throw my suitcase in the car when he arrives and we'll see the Predators take on the Mighty Ducks.  After the game, we'll drive to a 1920's era motel in Pasadena where we will stay for three nights. 

Fri. 11-6-09
Breeder's Cup day one at Santa Anita. 

Sat. 11-7-09
Breeder's Cup day two at Santa Anita. 

Sun. 11-8-09
We'll catch the first flight to Oakland out of Burbank and jump in a taxi to our cheap hotel in San Francisco.  It'll be a bit tight time-wise, but we should arrive in advance of the kickoff of Titans/Niners at Candlestick Park.  That evening, we plan on hitting a rock show.  I'm leaning in favor of seeing The Dutchess and the Duke at Bottom of the Hill but Jason Isbell is playing right down the street from our hotel - and Jeff is a big Drive By Truckers fan - so who knows where we'll end up.     

Mon. 11-9-09
We'll try to do a little sightseeing if we have time.  In the evening, we're undecided between two sporting events.  We may go to Oakland for Warriors/Timberwolves.  Or we may end up in Berkeley for Cal's men's hoops opener.  At 1 PM in the West, we'll do a special one-hour TSR Radio show that will include discussion of our travel adventures.  Details on how you can listen and/or call in will appear here on Monday morning. 

Tue. 11-10-09
We'll take a train to San Jose, CA for the Predators/Sharks game.  We'll stay in San Jose that night and return to our respective hometowns from the San Jose airport on Wednesday 11-11-09. 

Updates and photos should be coming along the way. 

-The thin margin of victory for Mayor Mike shocked me.  I guess it explains why he continued the advertising barrage viewed by some as overkill.  There was a story in the Daily News two weeks ago saying the race had tightened and that there was concern inside the Bloomberg camp.  But the story seemed to die on the vine when another poll (in a long line of them) said Bloomberg had a safe, double-digit lead.  I wonder how many voters stayed home thinking the vote tally would be a blowout.  I wonder if the research will indicate that no-shows impacted Thompson's totals more than Bloomberg's.  There has to be regret all over the place.  Regret by Anthony Weiner for thinking he had no shot.  Regret by the Democratic Party machine that Thompson's campaign didn't have a clue about how to run a big race.  Regret from the Democratic party politicians who sold out and stood with Bloomberg because they thought they were standing with a powerhouse on the brink of gaining a mandate.  Regret from the pollsters and news organizations who blew the way this race was covered.  Bloomberg should be embarrassed for spending all that dough on a squeaker.  And if there’s a lesson to be learned yet again from this outcome:  don’t trust the polling data and don’t withhold your vote from a candidate who you don’t think has a chance to win.   

11-4-09 1735       

The Queens neighborhood I live in is densely populated.  Six-story apartment buildings stretch the length of most blocks and there is a steady stream of pedestrians up and down my street at all hours.

With all those people come a lot of dogs.  Since nobody really has their own back yard, the sidewalk is the favored depository when it comes time for the dog to do his duty. 

Nine times out of ten in these instances, the dog’s owner removes a plastic shopping bag from a jacket pocket, scoops up the poop and keeps the neighborhood’s sidewalks minefield free. 

But there’s always that one out of ten dog owner who either has no shame or somehow rationalizes a decision to walk away from the pile. 

Given the population density, these one in every ten dog-owner deadbeats add up - which makes for a sidewalk that can sometimes be dotted with soft, fresh manure. 

I bring this up now because I stepped squarely into a pile of the stuff the other night as I walked back to the apartment with a couple bags of groceries. 

I pride myself on avoiding such accidents because of intense focus on the concrete that lay in front of me.  What foiled me in this situation were two impediments to my vision.  First, there’s a portion of my street that is uncovered by street lights and is nearly pitch dark.  Worse, all the fallen leaves this time of year create the illusion of crap all over the sidewalk which can lead one to let their guard down. 

Well, that’s what happened to me.  It was dark.  There were fallen leaves everywhere and I said to myself that I would walk without concern for what lay ahead.  I was walking blind, basically.  I had no choice. 

I could go on with this story.  I could talk in specifics about what it felt like when shoe hit the shit.  I could talk in detail about what it was like to clean the affected footwear.  But I think I’ll just make a general observation about offending dog owners and leave it at that. 

I’ve found that the dog owners who most often walk away from their clean-up responsibility are typically young people.  Under twenty years of age.  And I’ve noticed that the dogs that are allowed by their owner to leave behind their mess are big dogs.  Over fifty pound dogs. 

One other related note on this subject.  No matter how bad this problem may be in my neighborhood, it will never come close to the epidemic of left-behind dog waste I saw on the streets of Budapest, Hungary.  I spent a week in Budapest about fifteen years ago and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.    

-The 20-year-old son of former Chicago Bears kicker Kevin Butler is the starting punter for the Georgia Bulldogs.  Redshirt sophomore Drew Butler is leading all big college punters this season with a 49.4 yards per punt average.   His 44.1 net (punt minus return) is impressive.  Butler wears uniform number 13.

-The amazing two-out Damon at-bat in the ninth inning Sunday night will go down as the turning point of the World Series.  Mo wouldn’t have entered a tie game bottom nine. Who knows what would have happened in that case, but it seems quite possible the Phillies would have evened the Series at two games a piece if it weren’t for Damon rattling a fragile Lidge.

-Whether it was the marijuana positive – or the leg injury at the end of his junior season – it’s hard to believe now that Percy Harvin dropped to 22 overall in this year’s NFL draft.  Is there a NFL rookie having more impact right now? 

11-2-09 0140

If you’re Bud Selig right now, you have to be furious about the protruding television camera in right field. 

The last thing you want in a postseason of controversy is Charlie Manuel saying the umpires were cognizant of the camera and discussed possible ramifications of its impact before game three, yet didn’t address it during the home plate “ground rules” meeting when lineup cards were exchanged. 

If the camera was a fan, the momentum-turning A-Rod homer would have been a double, right?  That’s the way it looked to me.  I mean, it seems a leap to believe the ball would have gone out if the camera wasn’t there.  And it’s even more outrageous – if Manuel’s claim is accurate – that the umpires made a decision before the game to make a baseball’s contact with the camera a home run ball should it happen – and then not share that important ground rule with the two teams.    

I’m sure we’ll hear more on Sunday, but you gotta believe there will be no protruding cameras allowed once game four starts.  Partial blame will likely be assigned at some point to Fox, and it’s probably justified. 

It simply can’t be allowed.  Either move the camera back or get rid of it.      

-The back page of Saturday’s Post touted an “exclusive Q and A” with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner inside the newspaper.  But if you read the transcribed dialogue between the Boss and Post columnist Steve Serby on page 56, it was apparent there was no way the words came directly out of the mouth of Steinbrenner.  And if you looked close enough, you’d see Serby included a disclaimer that said the interview was conducted “via spokesman Howard Rubenstein.”  In other words, Serby interviewed Rubenstein.  There’s nothing “exclusive” about that and the Post is guilty of deceiving its readership.

11-1-09 0130

Thursday night’s Yankees victory and Series equalizer was a splendid, edge-of-your-seat affair from start to end.  But it was the four block walk up River Avenue to enter the new Stadium that will stick with me when I think about my 2009 World Series experience. 

It was the first time since game seven of the 2006 NLCS that I felt such intense gravity walking into a sporting venue.  Scores of people looking for tickets held up index fingers.  The way Yankee Stadium is lit up in contrast with the crowd that mills about on the perimeter’s ground level is an impressive sight from the corner of 161st and River.  As you walked in, you knew it was a big game.  You could feel it. 

As if on cue, Jay Z and Alicia launched into Empire State as we walked onto the main level concourse to find our seats.  The dynamic pair of A-list entertainers got a good charge out of the crowd.  That was a half-hour before first pitch.       

It was 52 degrees at game time.  For much of the first three innings, I stood next to a platform for still photographers on the elevated main level behind the Yankees dugout.  The Daily News photographer Andrew Theodorakis was the only guy using the perch while I was up there.  He deployed a monstrous telephoto lens and snapped off shots of Pedro in rapid succession.  In between pitches, Theodorakis examined his work and repeatedly checked his PDA.    

The crowd was pretty loud when chanting “Who’s Your Daddy” in the bottom of the first, but become more passive as the game went on. 

The lone Philadelphia run came on what could easily have been scored an error on A-Rod.

The two “blown calls” weren’t egregious to me, but it’s become fashionable now to go nuts about the umpires. 
 
The loudest advocate for expanding replay is Buster Olney.  The former Times reporter is beating the baseball replay drum on ESPN on a daily basis now.  After game two, he called on MLB to incorporate replay reviews immediately.  Not next year.  Now. 

Olney says the television audience (including those looking at monitors in the live venue) shouldn’t be getting consistently superior looks at critical plays without a means for the umpires to utilize those same pictures.  Olney advances the “getting it right” argument which is easy on its face, but a little more complicated to execute. 

What Bud Selig and the sport’s purists are grappling with is replay’s risk of cumbersome delays and disruption of the game’s natural flow. 

The best idea I’ve heard is the addition of an umpire to each crew who does nothing other than watch game telecasts/replays.  The replay umpire would only step in when he alone felt it was appropriate.  His involvement would not be triggered at the behest of the manager who feels aggrieved, rather only when the replay umpire’s unbiased eye saw a clear blown call.  He would have to act quickly.  His aim would be to only step in when a replay offered near-immediate evidence of a badly missed call.  Nobody on the field could request his intervention.  His power would flow unilaterally from a soundproof replay booth with no audio on the broadcast he’s watching.  The replay ump would be wired into the crew chief on a one-way line and would only communicate an over-rule and a remedy on the over-rule.     

Even this idea has a major flaw.  Replays often don’t get played until after the action on the field has resumed.  It may be too late in many cases to correct a call.  But to do it any other way seems to invite delay and disruption. 

It’s for this reason that I oppose replay in baseball. 

-With a trial looming on drunk driving/manslaughter charges, Yankee great Jim Leyritz was selling his autograph at a card table in front of Stan’s on River Thursday night.  I realize a lot of prominent athletes sell their signature to fill post-career income gaps, but the sight of Leyritz on River Avenue was jarring when you consider his postseason accomplishments. 

-To see the Creatures do the roll call in a World Series game was intense.  There was no clowning around as it went around the horn.  The only guy who seemed to take time to bask in the chants of his name was Jerry Hairston Jr. who got the rare start in right to spell a slumping Swisher.

-Happy Halloween, especially to my two nieces and one nephew.  I’m told the eldest niece is dressing up as a pumpkin.

10-31-09 0145  

It's too late to write a recap right now, but for now I'll just say there was no "daddy."

Montclair Mike got me and Whitey into game two of the World Series and it was one of those tightly played affairs that turned on a huge, two-out 343-foot Matsui homer over the short porch in right. 

Mariano made sure there was no sweat to be felt from the short relief options and made 39 pitches over two innings to nail it down. 

It was one of those nights in the Bronx that it felt really good to be alive no matter what kind of fan you are. 

10-30-09 0230

When the fledgling United Football League ends its inaugural season with a championship game the day after Thanksgiving, I’d fully expect Todd Sauerbrun to be offered a punting job in the NFL soon thereafter. 

Sauerbrun’s UFL team – the Florida Tuskers – will likely play in and win the UFL title game.  The Tuskers have already played the league’s three other entrants and beaten each of them soundly. 

Sauerbrun has punted very well and appears to be in fine physical condition. 

I watched Sauerbrun and the Tuskers on television last week and it was clear the Punt King deserves to be playing on Sundays. 

Wearing thin blue arm bands just below the crook of each arm, Sauerbrun wore uniform number 10.  With two and a half minutes to go in the first quarter of last week’s game against California, the Punt King put his powerful right leg on display.  The Tuskers were in punt formation with the ball on their own 39.  Sauerbrun was standing on his own 24 and fielded the long snap.  He boomed it like he did during his Bears days.  The Versus play-by-play man and versatile broadcaster Dave Sims exclaimed “He nukes this one!”  Indeed, Sauerbrun did nuke it.  The ball flew all the way to the opposing six yard line.  It went in the books as a 55-yard punt and it actually traveled 70 yards.  Sims said the punt had a hang time of 4.7 seconds – which is excellent.  Sims noted that Sauerbrun was launching 70-yard punts repeatedly during warm-ups. 

Also noteworthy is the fact Sauerbrun handled all of the placements for field goal kicker Matt Bryant and masterfully pulled two bad snaps out of trouble for clean spots. 

Sauerbrun’s return to the NFL to add to his 889 career punts would seem automatic if it weren’t for the behavioral transgressions that led to his current exile.  Given some of the poor punting we’re seeing in the NFL this season, however, there is likely gonna be a chance for the Punt King.      
 
As long as I’m mentioning the UFL, let me say that the quality of play I saw in last week’s Florida/California contest was high.  This is entertaining football.  Few people are watching, unfortunately, but it is quality football.  Perhaps the most impressive player on the field from the game I watched was Tuskers linebacker Odell Thurman.  No doubt he’s a NFL-caliber player.  He was all over the field and dominated the play.  Problem is, he’s on indefinite suspension from the NFL for a series of transgressions during his time with the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Sims pairs with Doug Flutie on the Versus telecasts of the UFL.  Sims is great.  He’s enthusiastic and well-prepared. 

-I’d expect a rough go for Pedro in game two tonight.  The way his outings have been spaced the last month makes effectiveness difficult.  The cool weather will bother him.  At his news conference Wednesday afternoon, Pedro said his LCS performance in LA was done with guile and a less-than-optimum physical feeling.  That’s Pedro.  It’s all about trying to out-fox impatient hitters.  That’s not gonna happen against a loaded Yankees lineup that will work long counts and then smash the inevitable soft offering.  I’ll be surprised to see Pedro go deeper than five innings. 

10-29-09 0005 

Andy Pettitte was money in game six of the ALCS but a quote he made after Sunday night’s victory seems to reveal lingering frustration over the one-year deal he signed before the season.  Said Pettitte:  “Everybody knows I wasn’t really happy with the contract I took.  But I wanted to take it to come back here to have a chance to do this.” 

Pettitte has made a staggering amount of dough in twelve seasons with the Yankees.  If you include the $5.5 million dollar base he received this season, Pettitte has earned nearly $80 million in regular salary from the Yankees.  Throw in another $30 million plus from his three seasons with the Astros and you’re talking about a pretty good stack of cash.  Despite the low base, Pettitte’s 2009 deal will net him in the neighborhood of $12 million, since he’s reached nearly all the bonus thresholds. 

Remember, Pettitte rejected the Yanks’ offer of $10.5 mil guaranteed before the current season.  He had been paid $16 mil in each of the previous two seasons.  In the end, his incentive-laden deal with a low base this year made him a few bucks more than the guaranteed deal would have. 

The pinpoint control on display Sunday night – along with the influence and wisdom he shares with the rest of the Yankees pitching staff – likely makes Pettitte a candidate to return another season at $12 million plus.  Pettitte has been a pleasure to watch, especially in the postseason.  But I’m not sure I need to hear what sounds like a bit of a gripe on the night the Yanks celebrate a pennant.  

The pro athlete in this town who has a legit concern about his compensation is a guy laid up in a hospital bed out in California right now.  Leon Washington of the Jets suffered a severe broken leg against the Raiders on Sunday.  It was a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula and a rod and screws were used in the surgery.  What’s tough for Leon is that he was about to break the bank as a free agent at season’s end.  He flirted with the idea of signing an extension before this season, but talks with the Jets didn’t get anywhere.  Washington will make $535-thousand this season which is insane money to you and me, but this is a guy with such supreme football talent that he was in line to become a millionaire several times over.  There’s hope he’ll recover from the broken leg, and continue his greatness, but you never know.   

-Great job by Times sports reporter Greg Bishop for including a paragraph near the end of his Jets/Raiders game story in Monday’s newspaper that put a vivid image in the mind of the reader.  It’s an anecdote that many sportswriters may not work to find or bother to include in a game recap.  Wrote Bishop:  “After the game ended, the Raiders limped toward their locker room through a tunnel lined by fans.  They heckled (Richard) Seymour for predicting a playoff berth earlier this week.  They booed lustily and jeered loudly, pausing only to cheer the punter, Shane Lechler, and the backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski.”

10-27-09 0200

To my surprise, there has been a pretty loud chorus of calls for the resignation of my state senator Hiram Monserrate.   

Monserrate beat a felony assault charge here in Queens criminal court ten days ago but the release of a damning video at his lengthy trial has prompted observers to issue their own verdict:  The Senator is a bad apple.    

Prosecutors say Monserrate slashed his girlfriend’s face after a Christmas party last year.  Monserrate’s girlfriend said as much when she was taken by her “boyfriend” to an out-of-the-way emergency room to get stitched up the night of the incident. 

The problem at trial was that Monserrate’s girlfriend recanted her original claims when she was called as a witness.  She said the whole thing was an accident. 

Monserrate smartly requested a bench trial rather than a jury of his peers.  Judges are more clinical.  Less emotional.  More by the book.  Judges don’t look beyond the facts and don’t make instinctual leaps like maybe you or me might do on a jury.  Since the only witness to the infliction of the cut was the mixed-up girlfriend who ultimately wanted to protect her man, the judge had no choice but to acquit the Senator on the charge it was a felony attack. 

Fortunately, Monserrate’s Jackson Heights apartment building is rigged with a security camera.  It caught the Senator manhandling his freaked-out, bloodied girlfriend.as they left for the hospital.  The tape was pulled by police and admitted into evidence at trial.  It was played widely on television and is available on the internet. 

The tape wasn’t enough to convict Monserrate on the original attack that occurred behind a closed door, but it allowed the judge to issue a guilty verdict on a misdemeanor assault count for the brutish way the Senator hauled the victim out of his building.  More importantly, the tape has galvanized public opinion.  All of the major newspapers and several prominent politicians have asked Monserrate to quit the Senate. 

Even the Queens Democratic Party boss Joe Crowley wants Monserrate to go away.  Most normal politicians would honor such a request, but Monserrate is such a stubborn creep, he has vowed not to resign.  Remember, this is a guy who twice switched his political allegiances during the last legislative session.  The first switch paralyzed all senate business for weeks.  Monserrate is also under investigation for steering taxpayer money to a bogus agency fronting as a community assistance organization.     

Since Monserrate’s misdemeanor offense won’t result in automatic expulsion, the only way to get him out of the senate by force is for the body’s full membership to vote him out.  Considering the level of dysfunction in the state senate, it’s not clear that will happen. 

It could be that Monserrate hangs around until his two-year term expires at the end of 2010.  Surely, he’ll face opposition next fall if he’s not pushed out before then.  Thanks to the tape, he’ll never win another election.  The concern now is that the victim in this case says she’s gonna marry Monserrate once the restraining order is lifted.            

-Where else but inside MLB did the embarrassing leak about umpire CB Bucknor get sprung?  The Associated Press reported Thursday evening that Bucknor’s assignment to the World Series umpiring crew was revoked because of two blown calls in the Angels/Red Sox series.  The AP baseball reporter Ben Walker cited a single unnamed source for his information.  Since official news of the specific lineup of umpires for the World Series had not yet been announced, the omission of Bucknor wouldn’t have caused a stir without the additional news he was originally named to the crew and got yanked.  I’m guessing both Bucknor and the rest of the umpires are none too pleased with release of what turns out to be a very harsh rebuke.  Curiously, two days after Walker’s AP story, an unnamed “person in baseball” told the Times that Bucknor was “never scheduled” to work the Series.  It could have been a case of trying to cover tracks.  Does an unnamed source trump an unnamed source?  What makes me believe Walker’s story over the Times in this instance is the long tradition of MLB including at least one umpire who has never worked a World Series on the crew.  Without Bucknor, the crew for this World Series won’t include a first-timer. 

-A few minutes after Alabama’s exciting 12-10 win over Tennessee, Gary Danielson of CBS made a claim of foul that was off base.  After his booth-mate Verne Lundquist showered praise on Bama nose guard Terrence Cody for blocking Tennessee’s 44-yard field goal attempt at game’s end, Danielson threw a wrench in things.  “I don’t mean to be a curmudgeon, but Cody took his helmet off before the play was over,” said Danielson.  Had Cody been flagged, Danielson said it would have resulted in a re-kick.  Not true.  First, I understand the rule on not taking your helmet off on the field, but it was a good no-call.  Second, Alabama had possession of the ball after the block.  Let’s say the flag was thrown.  Since time had expired, a penalty can’t be assessed on the final play unless it’s on the defense.  Bama wasn’t on defense at the time of the alleged foul.  Game over.  

-The Times endorsed Mayor Mike for re-election Saturday.  In its 13-paragraph editorial, the Times patted Mayor Mike on the back for undoing the term limits law that served as the media mogul’s lone obstruction to a third four-year term.  It was an obstruction that had been previously approved by two city-wide votes.  In the same newspaper, the Times reported that Bloomberg has spent $85 million on the current campaign to date.  All said, Bloomberg’s campaign spending on three mayoral terms is expected to exceed $250 million.  A spokeswoman for Bloomberg’s challenger Bill Thompson called the mayor’s campaign spending “obscene.”  

10-25-09 0145

The annual CMJ festival is happening in New York City this week.  It isn’t what it used to be, but CMJ is this city’s scaled down and perhaps less important version of the South by Southwest party held annually in Austin, TX.  

Over five days and nights, hundreds of bands play abbreviated sets at dozens of venues that regularly host live music in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  In the good old days when record companies with a little bit of soul tried to sell recordings for profit, CMJ was an opportunity for talent-seekers to sign the up-and-comer.  Those days are gone, of course.  Cheap, stand-alone song downloads, file-sharing and a different set of expectations from the kid who listens to music on an I-pod have changed the equation.  Only a few so-called alternative labels are able to function in the black.  With rare exceptions, the rock and roll band trying to take a shot makes coin – if any at all – by doing gigs.  

CMJ says it expects 120-thousand attendees this week but only a fraction of that number (assuming the number CMJ is citing is accurate) will buy the $495 badge.  Really, you don’t need the badge.  Only those able to find enrichment in the speeches and panel discussions (including one titled “How Will I Get Paid?  Reimbursement in a Digital World") should bother.  There are so many shows, the badge doesn’t really give you an edge in terms of admission to all but a few of the gigs.  The shows that do require a badge are probably ones you don’t want to be at, anyway. 

I spent at least three or four hours looking at the rundown of Tuesday night shows and punched in band names on MySpace to hear what the various outfits sounded like.  In the end, I settled on a show that wasn’t even listed on the schedule at the CMJ website.  Webster Hall was the host site of a lineup that included Beach Fossils, Woods, Here We Go Magic and Titus Andronicus.  It was billed as a CMJ show but didn’t appear on the CMJ schedule.  Go figure.   

Admission was ten bucks, but if you RSVP’d to one of a couple web sites that sponsored the show, your name was added to the guest list.  When I arrived, the woman working the door was waving people in who said they were on the list without actually checking the list.  

By far, the best band on the bill was Woods (pictured above).  They were amazing.  You always hope to get your socks knocked off when you go to see a band for the first time, but it doesn’t always happen that way. 

Not since the now-defunct Prairie Spies made my knees buckle has a band blown me away like Woods. 

Based in Brooklyn, Woods is fronted by Jeremy Earl (above left).  His high-pitched voice is a more tolerable Tiny Tim.  His guitar is Neil Young.  The rest of his band is amazing. 

Most unique is the deployment of G Lucas Crane who sits on his bent legs at stage floor level.  Crane is responsible for the tape effects that play at times underneath (sometimes above) the guitar/bass/drum/vocal levels.  You can’t see Crane unless you’re right up on the stage.  From my view, I could see his hair flopping as he rocked back and forth to the drumbeat.  At times, through a brief opening in the crowd in front of me, I could see that Crane was wearing what looked like an elementary school-issued set of head phones.  But instead of wearing the phones over his ears, he had one of the two head phone cups over his mouth.  It appears the device was rigged to be a microphone.  He sang into the cup over his mouth.  It was kind of eerie looking.  When the band got into these beautiful extended jams, Crane’s movements were intense.  If only I could have seen them better.  Next time I’ll get in better position. 

Also unique is the old-school Green Bullet microphone used by Earl.  I can’t properly explain the technical effect, but the mike seems to clarify or distort in a good way Earl’s high-on-the-scale voice.  

Kevin Morby and Jarvis Taveniere alternated on the bass and drums and the two seemed equally proficient on both.  Morby appears more natural as the bass player, although it was cool to see them pull the switch.    

I’ve been wrong about this kind of thing a hundred times before but Woods is so good it seems a cinch they’re gonna be a big band if they stick around.  Earl is so wildly talented, he’s gonna draw crowds. 

When Woods wrapped up on a small side stage, the New Jersey band Titus Andronicus (pictured above) took over on Webster’s big main stage. 

If it weren’t for the fact I had just witnessed such greatness, I would have probably better soaked in the enthusiastic punk sound of Titus A.  But at that point, I felt such triumph from seeing Woods, I couldn’t really concentrate on what was before me.  I ordered a beer and got a kick watching the rowdy fans who gathered in the front.  But I had seen enough rock and roll at that point.  I stuck for the balance of the set and left. 

10-21-09 1745

Jets kicker Jay Feely needs a tighter grip on his emotions when his holder makes a mistake. 

Four minutes into overtime of Sunday’s Jets/Bills debacle at Giants Stadium, Feely had an on-field temper tantrum after journeyman Jet punter/holder Steve Weatherford mishandled the snap on a fifty-yard field goal try. 

Once it was clear Weatherford would be unable to get the ball down for a clean attempt by Feely, Weatherford got up and heaved the ball into the air in a desperate attempt to make a play.  It fell into the hands of Buffalo safety John Wendling and went in the books as one of six passes intercepted by the Bills in the game.   

Weatherford was trying to make something out of a botched play.  His inability to execute didn’t warrant the kind of reaction Feely displayed. 

Feely flailed his arms, whirled around a couple times, pouted and hung his head before exiting to the sideline.  He was showing up Weatherford. 

Feely’s body language was basically saying to Weatherford:  “Get the snap down and I would have made the fifty-yarder to win the game.” 

Kickers and punters are in the same fraternity.  Feely and Weatherford are teammates.  Feely needs to cool his jets in that situation.  He’s a good kicker but the carrying on after a mistake is uncalled for.      

Earlier in the afternoon, Feely set a Jets team record for consecutive field goals made (23) when he nailed a 23-yarder in the first quarter.  Pat Leahy had held the record for 23 years.  Feely would add to his new record with a 41-yarder through the uprights on the west end in the second quarter.  Just before the half, Feely’s record was halted at 24 consecutive when he missed a 44-yarder wide left on that same west end.  The wind blew out of the dead north all game but for some reason didn’t push Feely’s ball north to south on the miss like it did on the previous attempt.  

The five picks by Sanchez have to be a concern.  Yeah, the wind was blowing but it was 20 mph out of the north which is common deep into any football season at the Meadowlands.  Sanchez floats his passes in ideal conditions so when the wind is whipping, the balls get lifted and turn into jump balls.  Rex Ryan says he’ll stick with Sanchez but there was hesitation in his voice in the post-game news conference.  It could be that one more bad game puts Sanchez on the bench 

-Fourteen months after Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s departure to satellite radio brought an abrupt end to two decades of the Mike and the Mad Dog show, the two reunited on the air last Friday.  The duo appeared together - first on Mike’s WFAN show and then later on Dog’s satellite radio program.  “This will put the kibosh on the idea we hate each other,” said Dog during the one-hour segment on ‘FAN.  Both Mike and the Dog were at Yankee Stadium Friday for game one of the ALCS.  Russo’s 50th birthday celebration was the ice-breaker that led to the warm get-together.  “I miss talking sports with you,” said Russo to Francesa.  Listeners miss the two together, too.  Neither is as entertaining solo as they were together.  Russo made several cracks about the relative obscurity he toils in at Sirius XM.  And Mike said he searched for but has given up on finding a replacement partner.  Russo still has four years left on a Sirius XM contract that pays him $3 million annual, so barring a Sirius collapse the two will likely remain solo.  For one day though, it was great to hear them as a duo, talking sports and enjoying each other’s company.          

10-19-09 0230

The lead editorial in Saturday’s Times called for a total ban on a new type of drilling for natural gas in the upstate watershed supplying New York City’s drinking water.  The critical issue has been woefully under-reported in the Times to date.  The newspaper’s firmly-worded editorial comes just six weeks before the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation closes the public comment phase of a process that would set the stage for issuance of drilling permits.  Those permits would allow a technique known as “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking” to extract natural gas from reservoirs deeply embedded in the Marcellus Shale formation located across large portions of the state.  There’s no consensus, but environmentalists contend the fracking technique can ruin drinking water supplies.  The state has scheduled four public hearings on the issue.  The only one in the immediate vicinity comes November 10 in the auditorium of Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School.    
 
-The Yankees have pulled the plug on the great Irish tenor Ronan Tynan and his regular postseason performances of God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch.  Tynan admits making an anti-Semitic comment to a prospective apartment buyer in his Manhattan building.  The target of the remark (a female pediatrician) contacted the Yankees who in turn called Tynan.  A Yankees spokesman told the Times that Tynan verified the woman’s account of his remarks.  Tynan told the Yankees he was joking and later apologized to the woman.  The Yankees say Tynan will not perform at any postseason game the balance of the season.

-The Fox microphone that captured the ninth-inning, game-one ALCS conversation between Yankees manager Joe Girardi and home plate ump Tim McClelland gave viewers one of the more entertaining “sounds of the game” clips I’ve seen.  The score was 4-1 Yanks at the time.  After the top half of the ninth inning ended, Girardi went out to home plate to tell McClelland he was inserting Mariano Rivera into the game.  “Who?” said McClelland.   Girardi smiled.  “It’s this new guy we got,” said Girardi.  . 
 
-I suppose some Notre Dame supporters will feel good about the late fight in the Irish, but the seven-point loss at home to USC Saturday makes Charlie’s ND record against top 25 teams 5-11.  Weis is five seasons into his reign.  At what point does he face a big must-win game to save his job?

-81-year-old Vin Scully is doing the first three and the final three frames of Dodgers postseason home games on the radio.  During the regular season, Scully does all nine on TV (home games only) with the first three innings simulcast on radio.  He vows to come back in 2010 but his future is unclear beyond that.  I listened to Scully on the KABC-AM feed through satellite radio Friday afternoon.  I used the DVR to synch the television picture with Scully’s voice - and what a pleasure it was to hear his account.  What I like best about Scully is the consistent optimism he projects about the beauty of what he’s looking at.  He has sixty seasons in the booth under his belt yet has the enthusiasm of someone just beginning a love affair with the game.

10-18-09 0120

I’ll have a lengthy reaction to the verdict in the Hiram Monserrate trial when I get some time, but for now let me just say that I’m not at all surprised he was acquitted on the felony assault charges.  

As I flipped among the cable news networks carrying the dramatic live pictures of the rudderless balloon-craft thought to be carrying a young boy over rural Colorado Thursday, I settled on Shepard Smith’s program on Fox News. 

Smith brilliantly compared the appearance of the floating, helium-filled craft to a Jiffy Pop popcorn container. 

As he narrated footage shot by Denver news helicopters of the balloon’s wild ride, Smith was awestruck.  “It’s one of the strangest things in the history of my television career,” said Smith. 

It turns out there was no child found inside the plywood cab after the balloon made a soft landing.  Smith’s narration before the discovery was careful to leave open the possibility there was nobody along for the ride.  In fact, Smith seemed to sniff out the ruse that eventually played out.  After it was clear from the live video that the kid wasn’t in the balloon or its attached box, Smith suggested authorities look underneath the child’s bed at home. 

-Take USC and give up the ten points on Saturday.  You'll know at halftime that you've won the bet.  USC has clobbered the Irish six times in the last seven meetings.  The gap between the two teams remains wide.  The line in this game should be 21 and a half.       

10-15-09 1845

The pizza joint serving the best slice in Queens has been doing it now for fifty years.  Rizzo’s on Steinway in Astoria is best known for its Sicilian pie.  It has a thin, crispy crust.  The tangy/chunky sauce made from whole tomatoes is what makes it so great.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped in Wednesday afternoon for two squares ($2.50 each) and a soda.

Man, was it great.  Not to sound like a commercial for the place, but Rizzo’s pizza is so good, I think I could eat their pizza every day and never grow tired of it.  As it is, it takes some work for me to get over there, so it’s just a once every couple months treat. 

-Mike Francesa’s commute got tougher, but WFAN’s relocation to a new studio in Manhattan from Queens is a clear upgrade in digs.  Francesa seems to like his new, customized space and viewers on the Yes Network get a cleaner HD picture as Mike does his program in a brightly lit studio with a faux granite table top.  One noticeable difference in the new studio is Mike’s ability to punch up and dump callers without the hand signals he’d make to his producer in the old building.  Now, Mike uses a touch screen set to his left to handle those who call in.  The new studio is on Hudson Street just below Houston on the West side.  WFAN had operated in the basement of the Kaufman Astoria studios building in Queens for two decades before last weekend’s move to Manhattan.  One other significant change that occurred during the relocation is the phone number used by those who call in to WFAN programs.  The old number used a 718 area code.  Now, callers are asked to use a toll-free 877 number with a different prefix.  The change has confused all ‘FAN hosts (including Francesa) who have had a hard time avoiding recitation of the old number.              

10-14-09 2230

I’m not sure many readers of this site have ever watched a political debate moderated by Dominic Carter of the local cable channel NY1, but he’s a guy who has a real knack for staging informative and entertaining candidate forums.

On Tuesday night, Carter hosted the first of two NYC mayoral debates before a lively crowd at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem.  The election is just three weeks away.  Incumbent mayor Mike Bloomberg will defeat comptroller Bill Thompson by double digits.  When he starts his third four-year term as the city’s mayor in 2010, Bloomberg will likely have spent $115 million of his own dough on this campaign alone.  The total spending of Thompson’s campaign will end up being about $10 million.

About halfway through an otherwise serious discussion of the issues facing the city, Carter steered the debate into what he calls the “lightning round” segment.  You’re starting to see the “lightning round” during national political debates, but Carter really makes it entertaining and often gleans enlightening responses and funny facial contortions from the candidates.  Carter fires a combination of serious and trite questions at the candidates and wants simply a “yes” or “no” response.   

Here’s what Carter asked Tuesday night during the lightning round (with the candidate’s responses):

1.  Do you exercise daily?
Bloomberg: “Yes”
Thompson: “No”

2. Would Rudy Giuliani be a good governor?
Thompson: “No”
Bloomberg: “Yes” (audience boos)

3. Have you ever cheated in golf?
Bloomberg: “Never”
Thompson: “No”

4. Should there be a public option in any national health insurance plan?
Thompson: “Absolutely.  Yes.” 
Bloomberg: “Yes”

5. Should more troops be sent to Afghanistan?
Bloomberg: (The mayor is clearly perturbed by this question.  He pauses, takes a deep breath and scolds Carter) “Yes, but that’s not a topic for a one-word answer.  There are lives on the line here.  This is not cute.” 
Thompson: “Yes”

6. Is Pedro Espada a better majority leader of the state senate than Joe Bruno?
Thompson: “Yes”
Bloomberg: (laughs dramatically and scowls at Thompson’s answer) “No!”  (audience applauds)

7. Should film director Roman Polanski be in prison? 
Bloomberg: “Yes”
Thompson: “Yes”

8. Does a Big Mac have more than six-hundred calories?
Thompson: “No”

Bloomberg: “I’ll go along with Bill.  No.” 

9. Do you consider a family that is worth more than $1 million to be rich? 
Bloomberg: “Yes”
Thompson: “Yes”

10. Have you ever had a manicure or a pedicure? 
Thompson: “Not recently, but yes.”
Bloomberg: “No.  I don’t think so.  I do it myself.” 

11. Has President Obama done enough for gay rights?
Bloomberg: “No”
Thompson: “He’s been there nine months.  Yes.” 

In the end, Bloomberg won the debate.  Thompson blew the lightning round question on Espada and Bloomberg’s effort to learn Spanish has clearly paid off.  He gave a lengthy answer in Espanol to a question from a NY1 Noticias reporter while Thompson made no such effort. 

I can’t vote for Bloomberg because of his selfish and sneaky maneuver to overturn term limits.  It was done solely so he could prolong his reign.  Once he executed and cleared legal scrutiny with that action, Bloomberg proceeded to buy the upcoming vote.  He scared off prospective opponents and ultimately overwhelmed Thompson with obscene spending. 

That said, his wealth has allowed him to act independently and pragmatically once he’s secured power.  You can see from his lightning round answers he’s no less progressive on social issues than his democratic party opponent.

Unfortunately, the next and final mayoral debate two weeks from now will be held in a sterile television studio with no live audience.  Also unfortunate is the fact channel 7 anchor Bill Ritter will moderate it rather than Carter. 

10-13-09 2201

As said here a couple times in the last few years, it’s only a matter of time before Tim Bogar becomes a MLB manager.  Just a day after Bogar completed his first season manning the first base box for the Boston Red Sox, his name surfaced in connection with the Astros skipper vacancy.  He’s one of several candidates who will interview for the job this week.  Don’t be surprised if the Indians also include Bogar in their process to select a new manager. 

-The first of two fake punts by the Jets Monday night was among the prettiest, most surprising ones I’ve ever seen in a NFL game.  It was fourth and six for the Jets on their own 34.  They were down a quick TD and their first offensive possession had stalled when Leon got stuffed for a loss on a third and three out of the wildcat.  Punter Steve Weatherford took the snap and fully sold his intention to launch a boomer.  Instead, he saw an open patch of land to his right and galloped with confidence.  He eluded a tackler and ended up with a 26-yard gain.  On TV, Jaws said it appeared Weatherford freelanced the fake but there’s no way.  Ryan and Westhoff likely called it and planned it with an option to punt.  It was gutsy, well-executed and a thing of beauty, regardless.  As for Braylon’s debut, what can you say?  He’s a go-up-and-get-it guy who clicked with Sanchez big-time.  I know he has a butterfingers rep but if Edwards can settle into a good citizen routine, he’s gonna make life a lot easier for the rookie QB. 

10-13-09 0145

Should a declining, poorly-run professional sports team be left alone to their own devices?  That’s the question NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is likely mulling as the once-proud Oakland Raiders franchise sinks further and further into chaos. 

When this subject has come up in the last couple of years, I argued against league intervention.  But two egregious developments in the last month have me hoping Raiders owner Al Davis is at least forced to cede substantial power to a credible general manager. 

The final straw came when I read the exhaustively researched piece about Raiders coach Tom Cable on the Yahoo Sports web site this weekend.  It’s no wonder the Raiders got creamed by the Giants Sunday afternoon when you read the Yahoo report.  According to the piece written by Michael Silver, three current assistant coaches on Cable’s staff have provided statements to law enforcement which corroborate claims by former assistant Randy Hanson that he was viciously assaulted by Cable a month before the season started.

The Yahoo story not only suggests the legal boom will soon drop on Cable but details an amazing amount of behind-the-scenes disorder in the Davis/Cable organizational orbit.  This is all in the wake of the Lane Kiffin fiasco from just a year ago. 

Add to that the ridiculous Richard Seymour trade and Goodell is gonna have to step in before the black and silver unravel further.  I realize Seymour is an exceptional talent, but trading what will be a high number one for a pending free agent soon past his prime is not a move best made by a team that needs to hold its high draft picks. 

What you saw on the field at Giants Stadium from Oakland on Sunday makes perfect sense when you consider the franchise is operating without a legitimate overseer.  The disorganization is plain to see.  Goodell has no choice now.  Cable’s troubles mean another ugly mid-season coaching change is likely and there will be a lot of losses on top of the 25-76 record accumulated in the last six-plus seasons. 

In a league of cap-induced parity, Goodell can’t let the Raiders continue to be a joke.  I realize it sets a bad precedent to intervene, but it’s reached a point now where the best interest of the NFL comes into play. 

-Because of the funky Metrodome lighting, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada painted the fingernails on his right hand with correction fluid for the game three win over the Twins.  The bright white color enabled Yankee pitchers to better see Posada flash the signs.  Twins catcher Joe Mauer didn’t do the same and it appeared Carl Pavano was squinting when he looked in for the signs.

10-12-09 0200

Phil Cuzzi’s brutal mistake down the left field line in the eleventh inning of Friday night’s Twins/Yanks thriller could have been worse, I guess.  It could have been a blown call to end the game – or it could have been a flub that definitively altered the outcome.  It didn’t do that.  Cuzzi’s foul call on the Mauer double cost the Twins at most a run.  It’s a one-run advantage that would have been wiped out with the Teixeira homer and who knows what happens after that.  It was a bad call, yeah.  It looked really bad because Cuzzi was right there.  It’s impossible to understand how his brain instructed his arms to motion foul when the baseball was so clearly on the fair side of the white line.  The umps’ crew chief Tim Tschida came into the media room after the game to acknowledge the mistake.  He talked about how umpires aren’t really fine-tuned at working the lines since four-man crews are used during the regular season.  Cuzzi wasn’t a part of that news conference, but he gave an interview to Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger Saturday night and it’s clear Cuzzi feels like shit about how it went down.  Cuzzi is making no excuses and has no explanation for why he blew the call other than to say “it happens” and “it happens at the worst possible time.” 

It seems likely Cuzzi will be excluded from LCS and/or World Series assignments.  Beyond that, you hope Cuzzi can recover mentally and return next season with a mind that clearly processes what the eye transmits to it. 

I don’t feel the same way about two other umpires given merit-based assignments in the divisional stage of the postseason.  CB Bucknor is working the Boston/Anaheim series and Angel Hernandez is working Phils/Rocks.  Both are horrible umpires.  I base that assessment on several years of watching them do games involving the Mets.  Both Bucknor and Hernandez have accumulated enough bad calls to notice them.  I grimace when I see them working any station other than third base.                  

-It’s hard to imagine the new United Football League lasting beyond this season, if it even gets that far.  The league’s internet/media/marketing effort is horrendous for an entity trying to pull in fans.  I have reason to care about this only because Todd Sauerbrun plays for the Florida Tuskers, one of four teams in the new league.  Sauerbrun and the Tuskers played their opener in Orlando Saturday night and I had no immediate access to information on it.  The game was televised on HDNet, which isn’t available on my cable system.  There was no radio coverage and the Tuskers web site had zero scoring/stat information during the game and as late as four hours after it was done.  All of the high-traffic sports web sites are ignoring the UFL, too.  Really, why should ESPN or Yahoo bother if the league itself isn’t doing the simple things to give fans access to league activity?  A couple of days before the Tuskers opener, Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz reported that the team had sold just one-thousand tickets and had distributed another 13-thousand freebies.  I hope Sauerbrun has a good season and I’ll watch his remaining games televised on the Versus network, but it’s pretty clear the UFL is gonna go the way of all the other football leagues that tried and failed.  The only difference here is that it seems like the UFL flat-out doesn’t seem to know basic PR strategy.    

-Times hoops writer Howard Beck said in a story printed Saturday that the number of Knicks players with expiring contracts makes the team a “collection of place holders – temp workers hired to keep the locker room warm for (Lebron) James.”  Six of the team’s top players (Lee, Robinson, Harrington, Duhon, Hughes and Milicic) come off the books next July, leaving enough cap space for Donnie Walsh to go after Lebron and/or another member of the finest free agent crop in memory.  Beck says the high number of Knicks in their walk year could lead to a squad that lacks dedication to the team concept.  “It makes for smart bookkeeping, though not necessarily great esprit de corps…With no guaranteed stake in the Knicks’ future, the short-timers may have little incentive to pass the ball, set a good screen or take a charge…It is generally understood that players on a contract drive will pad their own statistics first.” 

-Just because he threw two interceptions in a loss to Nebraska, don’t lose faith in the greatness of Mizzou quarterback Blaine Gabbert.  The sophomore signal-caller had his right ankle twisted and smashed just seven minutes into the game and courageously hobbled through the rest of the rain-soaked contest.  It was a second and 19 play on Missouri’s second offensive drive when Gabbert got hurt.  He took the snap in a deep shotgun and ran a freeze option with three receivers running down the right sideline and a running back to his right.  The play was well covered.  Gabbert probably could have flicked it to the back for a five-yard gain, but he got flustered by an oncoming pass rushing beast surely headed to the NFL next year.  Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamuking Suh blew by a Tiger blocker, stripped the ball from Gabbert and proceeded to fling the big QB to the ground like a rag doll.  Nobody could block Suh all night.  Gabbert’s right ankle appeared to bend at such an extreme angle I thought it may have been broken.  Gabbert ended up playing the rest of the game with a pronounced limp.  Both of his interceptions in the fourth quarter led to Nebraska touchdowns.  Gabbert refused to link the injury to his poor performance but what should be taken from this game is the kid’s toughness, not some declaration that he’s anything less than the real deal.   

10-11-09 0155 

The new, elevated “High Line” park on the west side of Manhattan has been all the talk here in New York City since the first section of it opened four months ago.  The urban pathway runs nine short city blocks on concrete trestles holding what were abandoned railroad tracks.  The High Line currently terminates at 20th Street at its northern-most point but eventually will extend all the way to 34th Street. 

Tourists have been flocking to the High Line – and since New Yorkers love their park space - the city’s residents are showing up too.  I can’t locate official attendance numbers but I’m told it gets so crowded on the weekends that people are turned away.   

I had wanted to hit the High Line ever since it opened on June 9, but was waiting until the buzz on it died down a bit. 

My Mom’s annual 48-hour trip to the big city this week provided the perfect opportunity.  We entered the High Line at its southern-most point on Gansevoort St. late Tuesday afternoon.  It’s a two-flight climb up a stairwell.  No admission.  No turnstile.  It’s kinda like the climb you’d encounter getting on an elevated subway train.   

The path that awaits you runs parallel to the Hudson and sits roughly above 10th Avenue.  Wooden planks give it a boardwalk feel.  The wild plant life that grew unchecked when the railroad tracks sat dormant for thirty years remains intact, although it appears a good amount of additional colorful vegetation has been added. 

There are plenty of places to stop and look downward and/or outward from the sides of platform/path. 

There are wooden benches everywhere.  Some of them even have a chaise lounge design.

The views of old buildings to the east are far more interesting than the meatpacking plants and river enterprises to the west.  Chelsea Piers is flat-out ugly. 

It seemed like an equal amount of people walked the path north to south as those who did it south to north. 

I guess what I’m most curious about after having done the High Line once now is to see what the experience would be in the dark of night. 

Approved vendors reputable in the community sell sandwiches, cupcakes and other snacks.  

In the outerboroughs, there are plenty of places to look at the city from on high.  Rooftops and elevated subway stations seem easy to access.  But in Manhattan, where the city hums hard at street-level, a view from above is hard to obtain.  The High Line satisfies this vantage point albeit in Chelsea.  The longer the path gets, the better it will be.  The next ten-block extension is slated to open sometime next year. 

Guide books will no doubt tout the High Line, steering big numbers of tourists its direction.  But with Gansevoort locked in as an end-point, it takes some work to get to or from the High Line if you’re walking it one-way.  That may help hold down crowd size.  The immediate neighborhood at Gansevoort and Washington streets isn’t no-man’s land but it’s a long way from the ESPN Zone is Times Square.

If you wanna make a trip of it, I’d recommend a stop at the Ronnybrook Milk Bar inside Chelsea Market.  Get a milkshake or a scoop of ice cream and then make the quick walk down 10th Avenue to Gansevoort to the High Line. 

Briefly, here are some of the other stops made on my Mom’s 2009 trip to visit me and New York City. 

-Artichoke Basille’s on 14th and 1st.  We grabbed a regular slice, a square and an artichoke/spinach slice and took it across the street to O’Hanlon’s.  There’s no place to eat at Artichoke really, so O’Hanlon’s is a convenient and hospitable pub to carry-in.  This is seriously great pizza.  The artichoke slice is too rich for my taste, but I’m not sure there’s a better margherita slice out there right now. 

-William Greenburg Jr. Desserts on Madison at 83rd – We picked up two black and white cookies ($3.50 per) at Greenburg’s for our Wednesday lunch picnic in the park.  This is said to be the top black and white in the city, and I don’t think I can argue with that after splitting one with my Mom.  Look to the cookie!

-DBGB Kitchen and Bar on the Bowery just above Houston – This was our out-of-the-way pre-theatre dinner spot Wednesday night and it was the perfect place to go before a show.  We both got burgers and fries.  The patties are the perfect size (6 ounces) and have great grilled flavor.  The dining room is really cool.  All of proprietor Daniel Boulud’s friends have donated copper cookware for the dark-stained shelving set up on the perimeter of the room.  The service is high-end (as you’d expect from a Boulud enterprise) and the sound system plays the rock and roll loud and clear.

The final event of my Mom’s visit was a performance of Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre on 45th Street.  We sat in the upper deck for the nearly three-hour show and I was actually kind of disappointed with the experience.  I mean, I always get a thrill going to a big show under the bright lights with my Mom, but I walked out of there wondering how this musical has come to be the best Broadway has to offer.  Billy Elliot cleaned up at the last round of Tony awards and is routinely sold out.  Technically and artistically it’s solid.  The dancing is great.  The music is penned by Elton John and is performed by a legit orchestra.  Maybe I’m weird (I’m certainly a theatre novice), but the cast is dominated by people who are not even in high school yet.  It’s 10:45 PM on a Wednesday and a dozen “ballet girls” who can’t be older than 10 or 11 are performing for a well-heeled crowd mostly in their 40’s and 50’s.  There’s something off about that.  Add to that a script with a good deal of profanity and more than a passing consideration of a young character’s sexual identity and – I don’t know – it just felt unfair to the young cast.  I know these kids rotate in and out of the cast and are likely wise beyond their years but it seemed like they were way too young to carry a Broadway show that dabbles in adult themes.  Several Broadway web sites advise against taking children to attend Billy Elliot yet children fill the stage?   The guy who played Billy is 13-year-old Alex Ko.  He was great.  But he is on stage for two and a half hours.  It seems like an awful lot to ask of a kid his age.        

Before my Mom and I parted ways Thursday morning, our E train came to a complete standstill for 25 minutes en route to Penn Station.  The subway car was packed.  The delay was blamed on “debris on the tracks.”  At some point during the stoppage between stations, I hummed the Billy Elliot song “Solidarity” in my head just in case an evacuation was necessary.  It wasn’t. 

We still had time for an egg and cheese sandwich at Penn before my Mom caught the 7:53 to Newark Airport. 

Thanks for coming, Mom. 

10-8-09 1705

Mizzou quarterback Blaine Gabbert should be included in the Heisman Trophy discussion if he plays a big game on national television Thursday night.  Gabbert has been great in four games to date, throwing eleven TD passes with zero interceptions. 

At six-foot-five, 240 lbs., Gabbert looks like a pro quarterback and he’s fleet of foot.  Yeah, the schedule has yet to throw a big test at Gabby but if he can lead the Tigers to victory against the Huskers before a revved-up crowd under the lights in Columbia, he’ll be on the periphery of the Heisman talk.  He has looked that good. 

Should the Tigers (a 2.5-point dog) knock off Nebraska, they’ll take an undefeated mark into Stillwater nine days later and then get Texas at home a week after that.   

I’m expecting the game Thursday to be a tight battle.  The kicking game could prove important, which is good for Mizzou.  The Tigers have both a solid punter and a great field goal kicker.  Jake Harry punts with the best of them and Grant Ressel has been perfect on both field goals and points after. 

-This upcoming Saturday marks the return of Todd Sauerbrun to professional football.  The Punt King will be launching boomers for the Florida Tuskers in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl Saturday night.  It’s the Tuskers opener against New York’s entry in the new United Football League.  It’s not clear from the Tuskers web site what uniform number Sauerbrun has been assigned.  In fact, all of the UFL’s internet offerings are pathetically lacking in information.  I won’t be able to watch the Tuskers opener, either.  It’s being televised on HD Net, a channel which was recently dropped by my cable provider.  If Sauerbrun sticks with the Tuskers the duration of the UFL season, the closest he’ll get to New York is a November 12th re-match against New York at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.  

-The news that Eli Manning has plantar fasciitis has the potential to be a huge problem for the Giants.  The painful foot inflammation can be a persistent condition – and isn’t typically fixed by surgery or anything other than rest.  If I’m Tom Coughlin, I’d strongly consider sitting Eli against the Raiders this Sunday and save him for bigger battles down the road.     

-What a beautiful theft of the football by Clay Matthews of the Packers from Adrian Peterson late in the first half of the Monday Nighter.  Matthews used serious brawn to snatch the ball out of Peterson’s grasp and then ran fast down the sideline for a TD.  Matthews celebrated by firing the ball at least thirty yards up into the Metrodome seats.  The son and nephew of two NFL legends, Matthews was taken by Green Bay with the 26th pick of the first round in this year’s draft.

-The first fifteen minutes of David Letterman’s Monday night program seemed to serve notice that the talk show host won’t be walking away from the Late Show.  The tabloids had run front page stories about Letterman’s office romances four days in a row before Monday’s taping.  It had some speculating Dave may opt to either go on hiatus or be pressured to leave the show completely.  Instead, he delivered a compelling combination of self-mocking humor and serious, sometimes defiant discussion of the controversy he’s at the center of.  Late in the program, Letterman seemed a bit flustered and off his game when he was joined by an attractive female guest (Lea Michele).  His long-time tendency to repress matters sexual on the show makes the current brouhaha all the more awkward for him I suppose. 

-My Mom comes to town Tuesday for her annual 48-hour visit to the big city.  We have tickets to see Billy Elliot Wednesday and there are plenty of sights to be seen.       

10-6-09 0200  

All three of the New York area’s NHL teams played their home openers Saturday night but the hockey fan in Queens could only listen to two of the games on terrestrial radio.  Islander night games are carried on the 2600-watt station WMJC located at 94.3 on the crowded FM dial.  With studios in Farmingdale and a transmitter in Smithtown, I can’t pull in WMJC on my radio at either work or home.  Yeah, my satellite radio gives me the full slate of NHL contests – and yeah – the Islanders make their radio broadcasts available via the internet – but it says something about the fitness of the franchise that its broadcasts don’t reach the five boroughs. 

To add insult, the Islanders aren’t even producing true radio broadcasts.  The team is instead running audio feeds of its television broadcasts.

Both the Rangers and Devils are carried on stations with far reach and both teams use broadcast talent sitting in separate booths both at home and on the road.

-It’s worth mentioning a few more details that have sprung to mind about my pal Scooter’s wedding in Vegas ten days ago.  This first anecdote is gonna show you how little I know about popular music but here it goes:  As wedding guests neared the end of cocktail hour in a stunningly beautiful outdoor space overlooking the Bellagio’s swimming pool, they were asked to enter the main reception hall for dinner.  The bride and groom entered with traditional fanfare from another entrance at that point but what happened next was something I had not seen at a wedding.  Rather than ringing the dinner bell, the DJ spun the tune “I Gotta Feeeling” by the Black Eyed Peas.  It was loud and it was catchy.  There was a powerful celebratory outburst as guests clustered in the center of the hall to let off steam before sitting down to eat.  It wasn’t a first dance really as much as a group warm-up and frenzied cheer for a good night.  A good, good night - as the Peas would say it.  I wasn’t familiar with the song ahead of time, but I’m now aware it’s the number one song in the land and has been since the middle of the summer.  I’m not sure it would work at all weddings as a pre-dinner blast, but it garnered quite a reaction a week ago Friday night.  The other thing I should mention – and don’t mistake this for name-dropping or gawking – but there was a borderline famous guest at this wedding.  The television actress Brooke Burns is a friend of the bride and offered a toast after dinner.  There were many beautiful women among the assembled wedding attendees (including the bride) but Burns had a glow and presence so exceptional it made the room spin.      

10-4-09 0200

Some odds and ends after wrapping up the two-city trip out West:

Among the wedding guests assembled in Vegas last Friday, my friend Paul and his wife Suzanne had far and away the wildest air travel adventure.  The pair booked $300 round-trippers on the budget carrier Allegiant Airlines.  Their 2:15 PM departure last Thursday left the gate promptly from Peoria (IL) International Airport.  As the airplane was being pushed by ground equipment to its launching point on the taxi-way, it was pushed off the tarmac and its landing gear ended up in the soft ground.  Efforts to remove the airplane from its stuck position were unsuccessful.  Passengers were removed and eventually Allegiant ferried in a replacement MD-80 from Orlando.  In the end, Paul and Suzanne's flight left a full seven hours late.     

-The parents of the groom along with the groom's two brothers made the 1700-mile trip to Las Vegas from Chicago via automobile.  

-The airport in Las Vegas is a complete madhouse.  From the moment you're dropped off for your departure until the time you board your airplane, it feels like you're still on the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard.  It's chaotic and crowded and you get the feeling passengers are trying to flee a burning building.  One nice aspect of the Las Vegas airport is the free wi-fi.  Few airports offer it.  The Sea-Tac airport says it will launch free wi-fi the first of next year.

-About twenty-minutes after my Southwest flight to Seattle took off from Las Vegas Saturday afternoon, many of the customers on board screamed in horror as the 737 was first tossed side-to-side and then experienced what felt like a free-fall that lasted about five seconds.  I had never experienced such extreme air turbulence in all my flying days.  I looked at the guy sitting next to me to see his reaction.  I didn't love it when he said:  "Hey, if it's our time to go, it's our time to go."  Interestingly, the cockpit crew made no announcement subsequent to the episode which had clearly shook up many of those occupying the cabin.    

-The dining area in the middle of the main food court at Sea-Tac airport is a sight to see.  Located just past security in the central terminal, there are dozens of tables with views of the outdoor airport operation and its surroundings.   What makes the space so cool are the clean, glass windows that I'm guessing go a hundred feet high by 200 feet wide.  It's beautiful.  There are several excellent seafood and coffee options.  I'd advise getting to Sea-Tac early to enjoy a snack before your flight.    

-The Seahawks have a specific and overly strict photography policy so it wasn't a telephoto lens that captured the Hester image seen here a couple days ago.  It was pure luck.  My Dad and I were just three rows up from the end line and Hester ran right at us on the winning score.  The Seahawks tell fans via their web site that lens size is limited to 200 mm.  The lens I typically use for sporting events isn't all that fancy but exceeds the 200 mm limit.  At Qwest Field, security had little interest in my camera as I walked in and it was clear I could have violated the policy had I chanced it.  Instead, I left the telephoto lens back at the hotel.  Many pro sports teams and/or venues that host them have overly-restrictive policies on photography and what drives me nuts is that enforcement at the gate is unpredictable and inconsistent. 

-I failed to mention the other day that the tickets we sat in for the Seahawks game were purchased through the team's "Ticket Exchange" site which allows season ticket holders to sell unused seats.  The game itself was sold out.  Most of the tickets sold on Stub Hub were hard, paper tickets and since I took the purchase down to the last few days, I wanted to download the tickets and print them at home before I left.  With fees, the pair sold for about $260.  I would offer two tips on purchasing tickets on the re-sale market for sold out football games.  One:  wait as late as possible.  Prices decline in the final days prior to a game.  Two:  don't be afraid to sit in the end zone of the newer football venues.  Often, the cheapest tickets on the re-sale market are end zone seats.  People have the mistaken belief that it's the worst place to be.  That may be true in many of the old football stadiums, but the newer ones have made it a pleasant place to sit.  In Seattle, the first deck of end zone seats is elevated at least 25 feet.  A giant video board on the opposite end helps when action is near the other goal line.  I believe the end zone is an excellent and underrated place to watch a football game.       

-An unscientific poll in the Seattle Times asked readers what they thought of those lime green alternate jerseys worn by the Seahawks on Sunday.  58-percent of the 3537 respondents said they "hate them."  26-percent said they "love them" and 16-percent "don't care."

-I ended up leaving Seattle a day early so I could get back home to see the doctor.  I'm not sure if it was all the heavy, late-night partying in Vegas, but I can't get the motor running and need to get checked out.  As my Dad and I passed Safeco Field on our ride to the Seattle airport to get out of town, I felt bad for missing the ballpark on this trip.  It looks beautiful.  I vow to return.   

-I have a new routine now when I take long airplane trips.  I download the day's major newspapers to my Kindle 2 and fritter away several hours at a time without the chore and bulk of bringing newsprint on board.  It's especially convenient when sitting in a middle seat.  No elbow bumping while page turning and no ink-stained digits.  One of these days I'll do a full review on the Kindle 2 and the three books I've read since getting it, but for now I'll simply say that I love it.   

-I've also been meaning to write up Chicago's chances of getting the 2016 Summer Olympics but haven't had a chance.  The decision comes down Friday in Copenhagen and much has been made about President Obama's decision to get on a plane to personally lobby IOC membership assembled in Denmark.  The Wall Street Journal reporter Elizabeth Williamson said Obama is taking a "political gamble" and "risks criticism" by taking time away from the big issues of the day (health care, Iran, Afghanistan).  To that, I say hogwash.  Take the 2008 presidential race as evidence of the power of multi-tasking.  When the Wall Street crisis hit its peak late in the campaign, McCain wanted to skip a big debate and "suspend" his campaign.  Obama said calmly that he could juggle multiple issues.  Obama risks nothing by being in Copenhagen to seal the selection of Chicago for 2016.  He is a rock star among the dozen or so crucial IOC delegates from the continent of Africa and a trip to press the flesh may prove vital.  To those who say the Olympics are a waste of time, money and effort, I hear you.  But Chicago mayor Richie Daley wants the games bad, and Obama knows he can help make it happen.  Obama can caucus with the best of them.  Assuming the IOC's selection process is cleaned up from the days when it was rigged or subject to undue influence from bidding cities, it's likely gonna come down to Chicago and Rio.  My pal Mike says a significant difference in the two city's ability to generate TV revenue will be the biggest factor in tipping the vote in favor of Chicago.  I do think it's interesting that regular Chicagoans are split in their desire to host the games.  I believe many who oppose the Olympics in Chicago are rightly cynical in fearing Daley's cronies will profit in the run-up while schools, public transit and forgotten neighborhoods south and west realize no gain.  Like New York's 2012 bid, I support Chicago's '16 effort simply because I want to be there to see it.                  

9-30-09 2130

The first stop on the off day in Seattle was the University of Washington campus.  It took two public buses (the MT5 and the MT44) and about 45 minutes to get up there from the downtown hotel.  The main gates at the 89-year-old Husky Stadium were open so we just walked in. 

Capacity is 72,500 and there is a wonderful view of Lake Washington on the open end of the field.  The main plant is in disrepair.  Many of the wooden benches in the lower bowl are starting to rot.  A seat on the wood looks like a splinter waiting to happen.

The upper level seats on both sidelines are aluminum benches stacked steeply upward.  The compactness is impressive to the eye but likely uncomfortable for the fan.  A large roof above each upper deck is said to contain the noise.
 
The closed end of the stadium backs up to beautiful and spacious university campus filled with large redwood, cherry, cedar, oak and elm trees (among others). 

Students strolled along picturesque pathways between classrooms and the air was brisk and clean.  It seemed like the kind of place that promotes advanced learning.

After seeing Husky Stadium, we jumped on the MT43 bus for the return trip downtown (fare is $1.75).  We took it to Fourth and Pine and walked west to Pike Place Market. 

The clam chowder at Market Grill inside the market was insanely good.  I could eat it every day it was that good.   

After a full look at the tourist-filled market scene, we headed down to the water and got two dozen Bald Point oysters at Elliott's on Pier 56.  Elliott's has a happy hour deal that makes the per oyster price contingent on the time of day.  At 3 PM, it's 50-cents per oyster.  At 3:30 PM, it's 75-cents per - and so on.

You never know what type oysters will be served on a given day, but the ones we had were just how I like them.  They were sizable, meaty and had a good bit of flavor sharpness to them. 

A storm is predicted to roll in tonight.  It'll be 60, windy and rainy on Tuesday.  I guess it wouldn't be a true Seattle experience without a little dreary weather. 

This may be an odd perspective given the excellent, fresh seafood served up and down the waterfront, but Seattle's Puget Sound (pictured above) looks a little like the Port of Newark as you face it.  It's a body of water that seems largely used for commerce and I can't say it's breathtaking in its beauty. 

The downtown area is hilly, hippy, trippy and similar to parts of San Fran in terms of attitude and approach.  The public transit we've used so far has been spotty and sporadic.  The bus operators have all been super helpful and friendly but their equipment seems out of date and the timing of their runs has not matched what's been billed on the timetables.   

The emphasis on recycling and pro-green procedures is way ahead of the curve here.  Why is that?  Those who live in the big cities of the West appear to be so much more gentle to their surroundings than those of us in the rest of the country. 

Tuesday is the Mariners game at Safeco and then we try to find an empty airplane seat for the trip home on Wednesday. 

9-28-09 1900

I told my Dad all Sunday afternoon that the Hester deep route was a guaranteed easy score. 

The Bears never tried it.  But Cutler found Hester open on a slant pattern just after the second half's two-minute warning for a 36-yard go-ahead TD score (pictured above).

Hester was in single coverage the whole game, yet Lovie and the Bears seem reluctant to take the wraps off their newly-acquired stud QB after the opening night Cutler flop.   

If it weren't for two missed field goals from the washed-up Seattle field goal kicker Olindo Mare, the Bears could quite easily have fallen short of beating a team missing their starting QB and almost half their starting defense. 

The final was 25-19 Bears. 

If it hasn't happened by the time you've read this, it sounds like Seahawks coach Jim Mora will release Mare (pictured above) sooner rather than later. 

My Dad and I sat in the north end zone at Qwest Field.  The decibel level when the Seahawks are on defense is louder than any football venue I've ever been to.   There have been claims by some visiting teams that the noise is beyond capable of being produced by humans.  I don't know.  I couldn't detect any means of artificial importation of sound but I know my ears hurt early in the contest when the Seahawks were on defense.   

Seahawks defenders aren't at all shy asking the fans for volume by raising their arms.

Cutler seemed rattled by the noise early in the game and lost track of the play clock a couple times.  But somebody must have told him to just stick with the original play and keep the snap count simple.  His poise definitely grew as the game went on. 
  
The key moment of the game may have been an overturned Forte fumble with two and a half minutes to go in the first half.  Forte reached out for the goal line and got the ball knocked loose.  The play was called a fumble on the field, but a replay reversed the call and kept the ball in the hands of the Bears.  A nifty fourth-down TD pass from Cutler to Olsen two plays later seemed to blunt the Seahawk momentum.   

Far and away the best player on the field for either team was Seahawks linebacker David Hawthorne.  The undrafted second-year player from TCU made his first career start because star middle linebacker Lofa Tatupa went down with a hamstring last week in San Fran.  All Hawthorne did against the Bears was register fifteen tackles and a big interception.  After a while, I started to isolate Hawthorne visually.  I was impressed by both his speed and nose for the ball.  He would seem to be a star in the making. 

The Seahawks wore their alternate third jersey, a lime-colored get-up that my Dad likened to what an indoor football team would wear. 
 
Before the game, we had an intensely flavorful cup of coffee at Zeitgeist just a block north of the stadium.

Afterwards, it was a wonderful dinner at the Steelhead Diner near Pike Place Market.  We had Totten Inlet oysters and an amazing huckleberry tart for dessert.  Both are famous local creations. 

The weather is wonderful as is the vibe here. 

This is one seriously cool city. 

9-28-09 2130

Leaving Las Vegas brought a welcome reprieve after three nights of hearty celebrating up and down the Strip. 

I'm now in Seattle with my Dad.  We're staying in a quiet part of town a few blocks east of the Space Needle. 

Bears-Seahawks is tomorrow followed by an off day to see the sights. 

I have much to say about Las Vegas but haven't had the energy to write it up.  These vacations are tough, I tell ya'. 

9-26-09 2045

TSR says hello from Las Vegas, NV.  I’m here in advance of my pal Scooter’s wedding on Friday evening.

I’ve only been to Vegas one time before.  I joined many of the same guys who are assembled here now back in 1996 to watch the first round games of the NCAA basketball tournament.  What little expendable dough I had at that time, I blew on the first night.  I stayed for three.  So, I guess that partially explains why I haven’t been rushing to come back.

The main reason Vegas doesn’t have the pull for me that you’d think a gamblin’ town would is because there’s really nothing interesting I can’t do at home in Queens that’s available here in Vegas.  Since I don’t really have any skill at table games, Sin City to me represents a cumbersome five hour flight to the Times Square of the West.

At my apartment, I can bet on sports through an offshore book and I can bet on the horses either by phone or internet.  If I lose, I can get on with my life from the comfort of my own home. 

If you lose your rump in a blurry evening turned to morning in Vegas - and your stay extends another day or two, you feel kinda trapped.  You can grind out some fun in the great lounges.  The people watching is somewhat interesting.  But if your budget is tapped, the ringing bells and shrieks of victory remind you of the action you’re missing.

This trip is all about the wedding.  If you don’t know Scooter, I’ll give you a very brief history.  Like me, he’s 43 years old.  We go all the way back to junior high school and made many trips down the Kennedy Expressway to see the Chicago Blackhawks at the old Stadium. 

Scooter has never been married.  He met a beautiful and intelligent woman from LA on the job a few years back and the two have decided to make their union official.  Early Friday evening, the rings will be exchanged and the vows will be taken at a chapel inside the Bellagio Hotel. 

I’m staying across the street from the Bellagio at Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall (formerly known as the Barbary Coast).  The price is right as is the location.  $50 a night.  Everything about the joint screams neglected dive.  The water is slow to disappear in the bathroom sink and there is a mild stench of who knows what left behind by previous guests.  The sheets are clean and shower works well which prevents the place from being a deal-breaker. 

I arrived at the Las Vegas airport via Cleveland at about 5:45 PM local Wednesday and took a shuttle van  that made several stops on the strip.  The cost was $6.50.

The internet hookup here at the hotel is twelve bucks a day.  Budweisers at the bar at Caesar’s are seven bucks a pop if you’re not gambling.  It wasn’t my intention to gamble at all Wednesday night but I met up with several members of the wedding party and the next thing you know we were  all sitting at a blackjack table at the Bellagio.  The minimum play was $10 and we sat there for at least a couple hours.  You really do lose track of time.  My pal Photo was seated to my left at the table.  He along with the other guys counseled me on when to “double down” and  when to “split” cards of the same type.  The dealer we had the most fun with was a middle-aged man named Jerry.  He rotated in an out of our table and was very flexible in dealing with my less-than-professional approach to the game.  A cocktail waitress kept the drinks coming at a clip that would have produced a huge tab if they weren’t on the house.  

I stumbled back to Bill’s at 3 AM local and when I counted what was left in my pocket, I found myself to be just a tad in the black if it weren’t for the tips and a couple of silly slot sessions. 

I somehow locked myself out of the bathroom this morning and was forced to call the front desk for assistance. 

At mid-day, I played the final four races at Belmont and Monmouth and laid down wagers on South Carolina (plus-4.5) and the baseball Giants (-105). 

I ordered a BLT from room service for late lunch and I’m not exaggerating when I say there was at least three pounds of  bacon on the sandwich. 

I leave Saturday for Seattle.  I’m meeting my Dad there for Bears/Seahawks on Sunday and Mariners/Athletics on Tuesday. 

I like Mizzou minus-7.5 on Friday night.  The kickoff comes at the same time the wedding starts.  This being Vegas, there’s probably gonna be outlets to gamble at the reception. 

I’ll end by using a variation of the over-used slogan this town made famous:

“Here at TSR, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas.  It’ll be reported here.” 

9-24-09 1545

The Jaguars loss to Arizona Sunday was the NFL’s lone contest in week two to get blacked out in the home team’s television market but it wasn’t the only game with lots of empty seats.  Half of the league’s sixteen teams with home games struggled with ticket sales leading up to their week two kickoffs. 

Tonight, you’ll see empty seats in Miami when the Fish play the Colts.  There will be no TV blackout, but it will be with a wink and a nod that the NFL allows Miami to skirt the blackout rule.

Here’s a look at the other seven buildings that had significant numbers of empty seats this weekend: 

Jacksonville - paid attendance: 46,520 / capacity:  67,164
Detroit - paid attendance: 56,529 / capacity: 65,000
San Diego – paid attendance: 66,882 / capacity: 71,294
Kansas City – paid attendance: 69,169 / capacity: 79,451
Buffalo – paid attendance: 70,318 / capacity: 73,967
Atlanta – paid attendance: 67,313 / capacity: 71,228
Washington – paid attendance: 87,780 / capacity: 91,704

Big, exciting wins for the Jets, G-Men and Bears were played in venues that were full. 

Bill Belichick again appeared pained and aggravated when approached to shake hands with Jet principals.  It was especially funny to see Mark Sanchez extend a hand to Belichick and get a look like:  “Who are you, kid?” 

The recovery of Matt Forte’s fumble by Greg Olsen late was huge.  It was remarkable Olsen was even able to be playing in the game at that point after sustaining two punishing hits earlier in the contest.  And how ‘bout Robbie Gould?  He’s been pretty much automatic in big spots.  When you look around the league, I’m not sure there’s a kicker who’s better in clutch situations right now.

9-12-09 0119

It’ll be another two weeks before the Board of Elections officially certifies the results of last Tuesday’s primary in New York City but there’s no reason to wait until then to say voter turnout really stunk.

Assuming the recanvass of all the city’s ancient voting machines squares with the preliminary totals, turnout in the Democratic Party primary was just 11-percent.  There are about 3.1-million voters with active Democratic Party registrations city-wide and about 352-thousand bothered to show up to push the lever and turn the knobs.  For comparison’s sake, the Koch/Dinkins mayoral primary twenty years ago attracted 1.1 million registered Democrats to the polls.      

Just four years ago, the city’s Democratic primary (Ferrer/Miller/Weiner/Fields) drew 18-percent voter turnout.  It can be argued this year’s mayoral primary lacked relative luster (Thompson vs. Avella) but both the comptroller and public advocate races were compelling campaigns with four big-name participants each.  Add to that, there was an important and intriguing three-way battle for Manhattan D-A. 

Here in Jackson Heights, Queens, voter turnout in the 25th City Council District was 15.7-percent.  The exciting upset by Danny Dromm in the primary pretty much clinches him a seat on the council since his GOP opponent is unknown, underfunded and associated with a political party that is all but ignored in local races. 

I’m happy for Dromm and believe he’ll be a dynamic advocate for Jackson Heights.  But the turnout data shows you how few voters decided his coronation.     

Dromm garnered about half of the 6473 votes cast in the primary.  His victory will be certified with about 3300 votes in his name.  Considering the district he’s about to represent has 64443 registered voters of all stripes, Dromm essentially won his seat with the backing of just 5.1-percent of the district’s electorate. 

Since individual voter records documenting participation are publicly accessible, I would think the smart campaign in this era of low turnout devotes much of its attention to folks who are known to vote.  I don’t know much about how the Dromm campaign operated, but I do know they called my landline a few times prior to the primary to ask what my intention was.  That’s not to say Dromm neglected to do a whole lot of traditional, time-consuming glad-handing outside churches and neighborhood gathering spots.  He was everywhere and his effort likely energized a portion of the disengaged. 

-The guy driving my city bus to work on Saturday was new to the route.  He drove tentatively.  At stop signs, he gazed at the route map on the back of the bus schedule to determine which way he should go.  As we approached the airport, he asked me to come to the front of the bus.  I’m not sure why he selected me for his inquiry.  Perhaps I look like a regular rider of the route.  I am.  “Can you tell me which way to go?” he asked.  “Of course,” I said.  I grabbed my book bag from the seat near the back and moved to the seat closest to the driver.  Normally this seat is reserved for the elderly or disabled.  But on this day it was suddenly reserved for me.  I was the co-pilot.  The abstract signage, dissolving traffic lanes and rush of taxis on the airport road encircling the terminals made me feel nervous for the driver as we together attempted to complete the route.  “Make a soft left and stay to the right,” was my instruction as we approached the Delta terminal.  As riders stepped on and dropped quarters in the box, I felt good.  I had customers getting on my bus.  I exited at the last stop and wished the driver well.  “This is the end of the line for me,” I said. 

-All you need to know about how the Knicks will do this season can be found on the front of the postcards and brochures being mailed to prospective season ticket holders.  Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are pictured with the headline:  “Don’t Miss Out on the 2009-10 Season!” 

9-20-09 0150

My Dad and I walked into Wrigley when the gates opened Tuesday night and watched BP from a bleachers bench about twenty-five rows up from the basket in right field.  Despite a brisk wind blowing straight in, Prince Fielder of the Brewers put four balls on Sheffield Avenue.  A bright, setting sun made it hard to follow the path of most of the baseballs being hit, but Fielder’s moonshots were easy to pick up.  They soared slow and high and passed over head.  Grown men with baseball gloves snatched them up when they bounced on the street. 

Cubs skipper Lou Piniella seemed to be in good spirits as he laughed frequently in animated conversations with his third base coach Mike Quade - and later with new Brewers pitching coach Chris Bosio.  Piniella held court in the deepest part of center field.  As deeply frustrating as this season must have been for Piniella, I thought as I watched him standing there that he has one of the most coveted jobs in baseball.  He’s standing there on a beautiful late afternoon in Wrigley Field.  It is not a bad place to be in the twighlight of one’s baseball career. 

Piniella will likely manage one more year in a Cub uniform.  I can’t really comment on the job he’s done this year.  You look up and down the Cub lineup and see a lot of underproduction.  I heard Dan McNeill on the radio Wednesday morning and he was saying Sweet Lou waited until it was too late before he started managing his personnel problems proactively. 

Among the several Cub underachievers this year have been Milton Bradley and Aaron Heilman (both pictured above).  Bradley has been a disappointment on the field and a bit of a basketcase in the dugout and clubhouse.  He leveled less-than-specific racism charges against the Wrigley fans and had a blow-up with Lou early in the season.  The Cubs had to know what they were getting when they unloaded 30 mil for Bradley.  His offensive output and erratic defense would seem to make him a candidate to be moved at season’s end. 

Heilman, what can you say.  His fastball is still above-average but it doesn’t look like he’s regained the sharp movement on his slider and he’s walking too many guys.  I really wonder where he ends up next year.

Before the game, my Dad and I had dinner at Wrigleyville Dogs on Clark.  Across the street from the Metro (prominent Chicago rock club), Wrigleyville Dogs stays open all night and likely draws a big bar crowd.  Their hot dogs are solid and cost $2.45 without fries.          

At the ballpark, I searched high and low for Old Style.  Several vendors in the bleachers said there was a stand that sold it, but I couldn’t find it.  One guy at a stand told me:  “Get a Pabst.  PBR is the new Old Style.”  If only the guy knew my level of adoration for the Old Style product, he wouldn’t have uttered such nonsense. 

-Jackson Heights will have a new city councilman.  Danny Dromm pulled off an inspiring upset by a margin of 621 votes over incumbent Helen Sears.  Next up, Dromm will square off in the general election against Mujib Rahman.  Little is know about Rahman.  His web site offers little in the way of biographical information.   Rahman's most recent campaign finance report lists dozens of ten dollar donations but no activity since July of this year.   

-Bettors have jumped on the Jets after the line for this weekend’s game against the Pats opened as high as plus-six in some books.  The line has now started to settle at plus-3.5.  One game isn’t enough to declare the Jets and Sanchez fit to handle the Pats but smart money is what moves lines typically.  The loss of  Jerod Mayo is a negative for New England, but it’s hard for me to be confident about Gang Green in this spot.   The Hooded Sweatshirt will have his team ready after hearing Rex Ryan’s cocky battle cries all summer.  I’ll predict a two touchdown victory for the Pats. 

9-16-09 1859

Where’s the pennant race? 

I joined my Dad and two brothers in the right-field bleachers at Wrigley Tuesday night for Cubs/Brewers. 

When I bought the tickets months ago, I thought for sure the game would play a part in the outcome of the NL Central.  The Cubbies still have a prayer I guess but it doesn‘t look good and the Brew-Crew has been a bust.  Still, it was a perfect night and it was the first time we got all four guys in a ballpark in at least a few years. 

After a late night at work Monday, I rose early Tuesday to vote in New York City’s primary election.  There’s a hotly-contested race for city council in my neighborhood (discussed here on TSR a few days ago) and I wanted to make sure I punched in for the challenger.  The Times expected voter turnout to be in the 15-percent range city-wide.  My polling place was pretty quiet.  I vote at a charter school two blocks from my apartment and when I arrived at about 830 AM, the poll workers outnumbered voters three to one. 

After signing a registrar, I entered the ancient voting machine to slide the lever and turn the knobs.  The room was dimly lit and it was difficult to read the names of the candidates.  I’d imagine an older voter lacking optimum eyesight would have a lot of trouble seeing who’s who and what’s what. 

My ballot looked like this:

City Council :  DROMM
Mayor: THOMPSON
Public Advocate: GREEN
Comptroller:  WEPRIN

All of the primary races require the winners to net 40-percent of the vote.  Since both the Public Advocate and Comptroller races included four legitimate, well-funded candidates, it’s likely both of those battles will require a run-off election between the top two finishers. 

After casting my ballot, I wandered through the school a bit unchecked.  One classroom filled with enthusiastic youngsters could be heard counting numbers in the upward direction. 

I hustled to the E train bound for Penn Station and passed PS 69 on the way.  The elementary school in the heart of Jackson Heights is a busy polling place on election day.  A man with a thick Irish accent approached me and asked me to vote for Dromm.  “Dan is your man for the city council!” he said. 

On the perimeter of the no-electioneering frozen zone outside PS 69, both Dromm and the incumbent Helen Sears were there in the flesh trying to rustle up votes.  As was the case two days earlier outside St. Joan of Arc, Dromm seemed to take delight in the human interaction part of his campaign while Sears looked miserable. 

I caught the 9:42 out of Penn Station to Newark Airport.  The monorail connecting the airport’s rail depot to terminal C was running on only one track which added about fifteen minutes to the process. 

At terminal C, security checkpoint C-3 had been shut down completely which left checkpoint C-2 overwhelmed by a big crowd of anxious travelers.  The length of the line snaked a good hundred yards into a distant corridor.  It was amusing to see those entering the line grumble in frustration.  “This is ridiculous!  I’m gonna miss my flight,” was the oft-repeated moan - or something to that effect.  It was a solid 40 minutes to get through security.  A businessman in front of me was pretty level-headed as he told me he was going to miss his flight to New Orleans.  “I travel out of this airport all the time and I’ve never had to wait more than fifteen minutes.  Somebody must be on strike,” he said. 

My flight left on time at noon, so the extra time to pass through the metal detector did nothing more than cut into my pre-flight coffee break.  The ride was uneventful and arrived at O’Hare fifteen minutes early. 

I’ll hang with the folks out here in Huntley, IL on Wednesday before returning early Thursday.  I’ll try to check election results at some point, but for the sake of a prediction, I’ll say Sears gets it done with 46-percent with Dromm pulling in 44-percent.  You can’t beat the machine. 

9-16-09 0100

If someone asks me in the next few days to explain in simple terms how Roger Federer lost to Juan Martin Del Potro in the thrilling five-set final Monday in Flushing, I’m not sure what I’d say. 

I’m so used to Roger winning all the time – especially at Ashe – I’d be inclined to blame it on a bad day for Roger.

He couldn’t get his first serve in, and he struggled with Del Potro’s blazing forehand lasers that had eyes for the line.  Roger also seemed agitated and out of sorts.  He got uncharacteristically angry with the chair umpire during a break and he could be heard speaking about Del Potro in a disrespectful way.  Roger also was distracted at times by crowd movement which is something I can never remember him being bothered by. 

There were several rallies of fifteen shots or more.  It was beautiful tennis.  Del Potro is six foot six and has long arms.  His serve is a blur at 130 mph plus but as the match went on, Del Potro started to fool Roger with deliberately slow first serves.  It’s the first time I’ve seen a tennis player effectively use a “change-up” on first serve.  One one point, Roger expected heat and got the change-up and nearly fell over in surprise.    

Dick Enberg emceed the post-match trophy ceremony and did the Q and A with both players.  It was really weak.  Del Potro, an Argentine, had to ask Enberg three times whether it was ok if he spoke a few words in Spanish.  Good thing Enberg finally allowed it, because it produced a priceless, emotionally-charged moment and a thunderous response from Del Potro’s large contingent of Spanish-speaking supporters at a packed Ashe.  Enberg never bothered to ask Roger how or why he lost or anything specific about the match. 

This year’s Open produced two great champions.  You had a classy woman from Belgium who walked back into the game as great as or better than she was when she walked out of it to have a baby.  And you had a physical giant of a young man from Argentina who dethroned the greatest player of our era.  

-A lengthy front page feature story in Monday’s Times about Israeli settlements in the West Bank was accompanied by an amazing photo worthy of Pulitzer Prize consideration.  The color picture appeared along side the story’s jump to page A8 and was shot by photographer Rina Castelnuovo.  It shows a young Jewish settler with an untucked shirt throwing wine at a Palestinian woman as the two pass each other on a street in Hebron.  It’s a disturbing photo and one that must have taken a good deal of effort by Castelnuovo to obtain.  I find photography in the newspaper portion of the Times to be hit or miss, but this one really blew me away.  It shows hate, disrespect, violence, toughness, callousness, among several other human conditions difficult to capture in a real and unstaged way on film. Castelnuovo likely uses a digital camera, so I don’t mean film in the literal form.  But you know what I mean.  To see the online version of this photo, click on the link below:       

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/13/world/20090913SETTLERS_6.html

9-15-09 0133

New York City’s primary election is Tuesday and there is great anticipation in my neighborhood about who will win the local race for city council.  The incumbent is 80-year-old Helen Sears.  She’s seeking a third term and has the backing of the entrenched and powerful Democratic party machinery.  In normal times, Sears would be a shoo-in to seal another term. 

But this city election cycle doesn’t set up as normal.  Not in this council district. 

Because the existing city council majority conspired with Mayor Mike Bloomberg to adopt legislation overturning the publicly-supported two-term limit for elected city posts, there is an undercurrent of resentment within a segment of the electorate.  It’s not a rabid or widespread backlash – but there’s something there for sure. 

In the case of Sears, she’s viewed by those who some who pay attention to politics in my neighborhood as more interested in her prolonging her own ineffective political career than heeding the will expressed in two separate city-wide votes on term limits.    

Sears won her two previous elections in part because the machine delivered on behalf of an anointed candidate in low-turnout affairs.  In the last eight years in office, Sears has been nearly invisible in my neighborhood.  She’s used big chunks of her campaign cash to disburse to family members.  On one of the biggest issues during her tenure, she voted against congestion pricing despite the fact relatively few people drive cars in my neighborhood.  On at least three occasions, I’ve sent inquiries to her city council office and have never received a response.   

So along comes 53-year-old Danny Dromm, a public school teacher and affable Democratic party foot soldier.  Dromm has paid his dues as both a community and union activist and expected his 2009 run would be for an open council seat.  When Sears voted selfishly to extend her own career (and Bloomberg’s), Dromm stayed in the race.  He has run a vigorous, well-financed campaign.  The last report I saw showed he had raised six-figures.    

A third candidate, Stanley Kalathara, is a 64-year-old lawyer and former restaurant owner who likely will do nothing more than siphon off a few votes from Dromm. 

There has been no publicly released polling data but I believe Dromm has a shot to unseat the powerful incumbent.  For several years now, you can’t walk down 37th Avenue (one of my neighborhood’s main drags) and not regularly see Dromm engaging citizens in discussion of neighborhood issues. 

When news of two arrests deep in Dromm’s past surfaced in mailings sent by an unidentified party, it suggested somebody was taking his campaign seriously.  The two arrests go way back.  The first came in 1972.  Dromm was popped on a prostitution charge.  He was sixteen at the time and said he was smooching another guy in a car.  When cops got involved, Dromm said he told them it was an act of prostitution because he was afraid of acknowledging for the record that he was gay.  The second arrest came in 1988 for drunk driving.  Dromm said he quit drinking two years later.             

Yesterday, Dromm and Sears both stood outside St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church on 35th Avenue.  As parishioners filed out of 12 o’clock mass, the two candidates distributed campaign fliers to whoever would take them.  Dromm wore a blue, short-sleeved shirt, a blue striped tie and tan slacks.  Sears wore a long, black sweater-gown over a black shirt and black pants.  Her long, black hair fell into her eyes protected by black sunglasses.  One candidate appeared to enjoy the process of interacting with voters, the other looked like she was there because she had to be.   

In between campaign banter with church-goers, Dromm would peer over at Sears and vice-versa.  They kept their distance.  On Tuesday, it will be interesting to see who racks up more votes.  I’m hoping it’s Dromm. 

-My football viewing Sunday was limited to glances at the tube while working.  Sanchez looked pretty good and the Jets ran a diverse set of offensive plays to get the opening day win.  Schottenheimer is said to be delighted to have the Mangini harness removed and it showed.  The Jets now have one more win than I would have predicted among the first five games on the schedule.  Next up is the hated rival.  I loved the fake field goal by the Skins against Big Blue.  Chris Canty looks like he’s gonna be huge for the Giants.  If the G-Men can somehow build a big lead against the Cowboys next Sunday night, I’d love to see Feagles launch a boomer into one of those video boards during the game.  Not sure how it’s possible Patrick Mannelly has the freedom to call a fake punt, if that’s what happened.  Yowza.   

9-14-09 0200

I’ve had health insurance coverage through my employer for all but a couple months since the fall of 1988.  Before that as a youngster, I was covered by a policy through my Dad’s employer. 

I don’t really know what it’s like not to have health insurance. 

When I get sick, I go to the doc and give the receptionist a 20-dollar bill for the co-pay.  When the doc prescribes a pill, I pay the pharmacy a fraction of the pill’s cost (if anything at all).  My employer deducts about fifty-bucks a month from my check to help offset the much larger monthly tab for the policy that covers me and the rest of the workers who participate in the plan.

The security I feel from having that Aetna card in my wallet is nice.  But I gotta say, I want to run away as far as possible from the folks with insurance cards in their wallets who are shouting down the President’s attempt to cover some of the fifty million people who go without health coverage in this country.   

To me, opposition to government’s attempt to intervene in a fixable domestic crisis is selfish and uncaring.  When the per capita spending number on health care in the US doubles that of many advanced nations - yet leaves 50 million of its own people in the lurch – there’s something seriously wrong.    

Yeah, some of that high per capita health spending number comes from advanced procedures, cutting-edge equipment and well-paid professionals combining to care for the sick.  But almost one-third of each health care spending dollar in the US is eaten up by for-profit private health insurance companies.   

Since it’s deemed politically impossible to dismantle the powerful for-profit insurance industry that’s running and ruining our system, Obama is trying to tweak it.  He’s trying to go not even half-way to a single-payer system used by countries that deem health care a right, not a privilege.  Those countries may not have the finest medical care in the world, but what they do have is made available to all their people.  Not just those who can afford it.  Or those who have to wait to get so sick they end up in an emergency room.        

Yet even Obama’s modest effort to expand coverage is getting shouted down.  Who are these people shouting?  Are they people with insurance cards indifferent to the plight of those around them?  I don’t get it.          

I heard Robbie Barish on WBAI last week talking about his health care coverage.  I think it’s a good example of the spiraling nature of the crisis.  Barish has been self-employed for nine years and buys a standard no-frills HMO policy out of his own pocket.  He has a $15 co-pay and must stay within a network of health care providers.  Nine years ago, he paid $350 a month for his coverage.  Now, with the same coverage, he’s paying $1300 a month. 

That $1300 a month is just for Barish.  One person.  He says the family plan with the same type coverage is $3700 a month.  Multiply that by 12 months in the year.  Who, other than the bloody rich, could possibly pay for that? 

If it’s distrust of Obama that is the holdup on health care reform, he can stay out of the room when it’s nailed down.  All he’s doing is pushing for a fix.  He doesn’t own the fix.  He just wants it fixed on his watch.  Perhaps Obama deserves a little blame for being unable to articulate the fix.  The bottom line is that those who don’t have employer-provided health care coverage need to go to the doctor every once in a while.  We know from the math that we have the money on a per-capita basis to pay for it.  Like a doctor who cuts out disease from a body, a scalpel is needed to remove profit-motive from health care.  

-The angry outburst that ended Serena’s semi-final US Open match with Kim Clijsters late Saturday night caught CBS completely off-guard.  Just two points from a two-set defeat, the line umpire sitting to the left of Serena called her for a foot fault on her second serve.  The call put Serena one point away from defeat.  Serena was justifiably rattled by the call and approached the line ump in a menacing way with a tennis ball in her hand.  The CBS audio was sketchy, but a reading of her lips supplemented by the faint volume sounded like Serena said something to the effect of:  “I’m gonna take this tennis ball and shove it up your fucking ass” among other pleasantries.  The line ump looked like a picked-on schoolkid running to tell the teacher when she scampered over to the chair ump to report Serena’s comments.  Serena was still fuming when the line ump returned to her post.  She approached the line ump a second time with more scolding indecipherable on TV.  That prompted a meeting at the chair that included both the line ump and the tournament’s referee.  It was determined in that huddle that Serena’s verbal lashing of the line ump (along with an earlier racket-smashing episode) merited a one point penalty.  Since the penalty occurred on match point, the match was over.  Serena awkwardly walked over to a befuddled Clijsters and offered congratulations.  Clijsters seemed embarrassed and appeared as if she didn’t want the match to end this way.  On CBS, the sequence was too quick for the production crew to sort out.  What hurt the broadcast most was the complete lack of a shot showing where Serena’s foot fell on the serve in question.  John McEnroe said confidently there was “no foot fault” but all viewers saw at home was an inconclusive shot from a camera directly behind Serena.  Dick Enberg said the foot fault call was “over-officiating, for certain.”  Mary Carillo was the only one of the trio in the booth who blamed Serena’s outburst for the ultimate outcome.  “It’s a pity this (outcome) was marred for Kim Clijsters,” she said.   Much time was devoted in the post-match coverage to the controversy.  CBS ran a tape of Serena’s news conference after the match which turned laughable when a reporter asked her if the weather had made her irritable.  Because McEnroe had a career filled with such on-court outbursts, he was the perfect analyst to discuss what happened.  Unfortunately, McEnroe seemed curiously without strong opinion other than declaring the foot fault a bad call.  “What do you want to know?” he asked Enberg when he tried to prompt a discussion of emotion.  I suppose what I’d say is that you don’t call a close foot fault in that spot and you don’t end a semi-final of a Grand Slam match on a penalty point.  Clijsters probably would have won anyway – and yeah Serena was wrong for losing her temper - but it was difficult to see such a wonderful and important woman’s tennis player walk to the locker room in defeat without actually losing the tightly-contest match on a contested point. 

9-13-09 0230

Given the number of media outlets in this city, there are few big news stories that slip the through the cracks.  A developing story impacting lots of people typically gets a full examination and discussion in the Times – or one of the few other dozen or so print or broadcast operations in this region.  

But there’s a pretty big story that’s been brewing for a couple years now that has gone largely unnoticed by big media in the big city.  It’s the story of New York’s vast natural gas reserves upstate and what appears to be a massive corporate effort to begin environmentally destructive processes to tap the gas. 

Acquisition of land atop the gas has been going on for years.  Farmers unable to make a reasonable go of it have been unable to resist lucrative lease offers by big gas companies (including a company called Chesapeake) prepping for the profitable removal of a giant pool of energy.  What’s of greater concern at the moment is that the regulatory/government entities in place to protect the air and water are now facing crucial decisions on the issue without what seems like full public awareness of what the extractors will leave behind while they’re sucking out the gas and after the resource is tapped.    

To be fair to the Times, a few stories have been written on the subject but I haven’t seen a mention of it since last year. 

The only place I’m hearing about the issue consistently is on WBAI’s great free-form program Radio Unnameable hosted by Bob Fass. 

Near the end of the Fass graveyard shift show early Friday morning, a guy named Fred Pecora from Sullivan County phones in weekly to discuss in detail the method used to extract the gas deep in the ground.  It’s called “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking” and it’s the process drillers would use if New York allows the gas to be mined.       

Aside from the concerns of those living in the wide swath of extraction land a hundred miles northwest of New York City, the biggest problem here is what it could do to New York City’s drinking water. 

As it stands now, New York City has what’s considered the cleanest, cheapest drinking water in the world.  It tastes great.  Seriously.  It’s unfiltered and comes to us from pristine, protected reservoirs and lakes in two big (Croton and Catskill/Delaware) watersheds upstate.  It’s the water in the Catskill/Delaware watershed that’s considered at risk from the widespread fracking that would occur when the natural gas is pulled to the surface.

Drillers say fracking is environmentally safe.  Problem is, Halliburton-backed clean water legislation signed by President Bush in 2005 maintained an exemption for hydraulic fracturing from federal regulation.  It leaves oversight of fracking’s impact on the water supply out of the purview of the US Environmental Protection Agency.  Yeah, state regulators can put their hooks into the issue, but it’s often the feds that can be most effective at safeguarding us from ourselves.  

So, if and until Congress removes this so-called Cheney loophole with what you’d expect to be Obama’s approval, the clock is ticking on the start of widespread fracking near the Catskills watershed with Governor David Patterson a key decision-maker on the matter. 

Pecora says Patterson’s statements and actions to date suggest he’ll “encourage drilling” to boost state revenue.  Since Pecora says the prospect of a green light for drillers in the Catskills has been hidden by a “news blackout,” he calls WBAI each week with findings of his research.  He shares stories of fracking’s impact on water and land where gas drillers have operated in other states.  “If enough people wake up, this will not be allowed,” said Pecora last week. 

The center of concern about the fracking method comes down to the chemicals used in the fracturing fluid that combines with a water/sand mixture to stimulate the flow of gas to a well.  The gas industry embraces and touts a 2004 EPA study saying the fluids used are harmless and pose zero risk to drinking water.  But environmentalists beg to differ.  Not only do environmentalists say gas drillers play it coy about the specific contents of the fluid it uses to frack, they point to examples of clean drinking water supplies getting contaminated by fracking.   

Just this week, the small town of Pavillion, Wyoming received confirmation that several of its water wells are contaminated with arsenic, barium, cobalt and copper.  No linkage has been made, but the EnCana Corporation had a big fracking operation in Pavillion for a period between 2004 and 2006.

The more I hear Pecora speak about fracking in the Catskills on WBAI, the more I wish it was higher in the pecking order of discussion topics here in New York City.  As green as the current Mayor has been, he’s been curiously quiet on the subject.  There seems to be enough anecdotal evidence to at least pause all consideration of fracking in the Catskills until there’s more complete consideration of impact on the area’s vital watershed.     

-The new Knitting Factory music space in Brooklyn opened officially Wednesday night with a gig by Les Savy Fav.  To celebrate its launch, the folks running the new venue swung the doors open a night earlier with a party open to all.  There was no name-checking at the entrance and the free open bar was generously condition-free.  Our pal Whitey is booking the Factory’s near-nightly entertainment and led a guided tour of the sparkling, small live music portion of the venue.  Music fans may recall the previous incarnation of the Knitting Factory space was called the Luna Lounge.  It flopped from poor attendance.  The new setup at the same address on Metropolitan Avenue is totally different.  Nearly half of the space is devoted to a classy lounge separate from the performance area.  Capacity for rock shows will be limited to a number a little over 200.  The lounge area serves as a great place to escape the sound contained in the performance space and planners hope the bar will be a destination drinking spot even when the live music takes a night off.  A large picture window between the lounge and performance space allows those waiting to see a particular band to gain an easy visual cue.  In a neighborhood loaded with music venues and popular lounges, no doubt it’ll be tough for the Factory to compete.  Rock and roll is a tough business.  The Knitting Factory brand is considered strong from a great twenty-year run at two venues in Manhattan.  That will help.  And don’t underestimate the importance of Whitey’s booking prowess.  The calendar he fills at the new venue is bound to include the kind of acts that will be worth jumping on the G-train to see time and again.  It doesn’t hurt that the great barbeque place Fette Sau is across the street.  Good luck to Whitey and the new Knitting Factory – Brooklyn.       
 
9-9-09 2259

Rachel Alexandra’s hard-fought win over top older male horses at Saratoga Saturday was likely her last race of 2009.  It ran her record to eight victories in eight races this year and guaranteed she’ll win the prestigious Eclipse Award given to the top American horse of the year.  

Rachel became the first filly to ever win the Woodward Stakes (the race has been run annually for 56 years) this past weekend when she fended off Macho Again in a stirring stretch duel.  Rachel eked out the win by a margin estimated officially to be the length of a horse’s head. 

Her victory was not unexpected given the brilliance she has displayed since she knocked the socks off racing fans with a 20-length romp at Churchill Downs the day before the Derby.  But it was still amazing on several fronts.  First, the pace at which she ran the first half of the Woodward was so fast it prompted those attempting to match her early strides to basically cry uncle and quit the race. 

Two horses who sat out the speed duel (Macho Again and Bullsbay) had the distinct advantage of making a late run at Rachel – and finished second and third.  Macho Again actually caught the super-filly and would have passed her if she weren’t so freakishly talented and determined to win. 

After the finish line, Rachel galloped out ten lengths ahead of her two main challengers and pranced back to the winner’s circle as if she were ready to run another race.  Most horses would be hunched over and panting with their head down after such an effort.  Not Rachel.  And remember, this is a three-year-old filly.  Both her age and gender are supposed to be considered a huge handicap when facing older, bigger, more physically-developed males.    

What makes Rachel’s spectacular set of 2009 winning performances especially cool is that they’ve happened at seven different race tracks.  Her current owner Jess Jackson has done a wonderful job picking progressively more difficult challenges to heighten the excitement – and he’s done so by selecting different venues.  It was a Rachel Roadshow.  Jackson is exposing the horse to as many fans as possible – and that’s really important considering the struggles of the sport.   

The Daily Racing Form reporter David Grening wrote that Rachel’s victory in the Woodward generated noise and energy in the Saratoga stands not seen in years at the historic horse racing venue.  On Saratoga’s TV feed Sunday morning, Grening repeated that assertion.  "Simply put, it's the best day thoroughbred racing has had in a long time.  Everything went right.  It was tremendous.  This (Saratoga) is where it's supposed to happen and it happened."  

Grening said he believes Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen will now allow Rachel to rest and recharge the rest of the calendar year.  "I don't think there's anything else to prove.  I don't think there's anything left on the schedule that will tickle their fancy." 
 
Jackson has said he hopes to run Rachel in 2010.  A logical stop would be Churchill Downs during Derby week.   

-It’s never been given to a horse, but Rachel really ought to win Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman (or woman) of the Year” award for 2009.  The award’s criterion doesn’t seem to specifically exclude horses and puts emphasis on both achievement and sportsmanship.  Rachel has demonstrated both.    

-The top official at the entity operating New York’s three top thoroughbred horse racing tracks said two architects have been retained to design viewing stands for the training track at Saratoga.  NYRA President Charlie Hayward told viewers of the OTB television channel he hopes to have the platforms in place on both the front and back sides of the Oklahoma training track before the meet starts next year.  It’s an excellent idea.  Fans often gather at the training track in the morning to watch horses work out.  To gain a designated spot with viewing in mind makes a lotta sense.   

-The first day of classes in New York City public schools is this Wednesday.  It’s probably nice for kids to start the school year after Labor Day until they consider the last day of school isn’t until June 28th of next year. 

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A few observations on the first weekend of college football: 

-The two-touchdown win by Oklahoma State over Georgia was aided in part by a horrible personal foul flag and a brutal spot job by the Big 12 officiating crew.  The bad spot came on Okie State’s first drive of the second half.  Georgia trailed by three and stopped Cowboys running back Kendall Hunter stone cold on fourth and one and a half at the Bulldogs three yard-line.  It was clear to the viewer at home and the ABC broadcast crew that Hunter failed to get the first down.  The guy wearing stripes placed the ball a full yard ahead of where it was stopped.  When the chain was stretched - sure enough – it was a first down for the Cowboys.  Two plays later, OSU scored a touchdown.  Later, the Cowboys got more help from the officials.  Up seven early in the fourth quarter, Okie State quarterback Zac Robinson fired a long pass over the middle to Justin Blackmon.  Georgia defensive back Reshad Jones had the play covered and perfectly timed a punishing two-arm tackle on Blackmon to assure that the ball would not be caught.  It was a clean play that should have put OSU in a tough 3rd and 11 situation.  Instead, flags came in and Jones was called for a personal foul.  Okie State scored another touchdown three plays later.  ABC play-by-play man Sean McDonough couldn’t believe Jones was flagged.  “They might as well go play touch football,” said McDonough.  Better yet, NCAA football games with opponents from different conferences should be worked by officiating crews without affiliation to either conference.      

-It looks like Mizzou has another serious quarterback.  Sophomore Blaine Gabbert is the new starting signal-caller and he looked great against Illinois.  Gabbert follows two legendary Mizzou quarterbacks (Chase Daniel and Brad Smith) and possesses both a strong throwing arm and a dangerous ability to run.  Against an Illinois team thought to have a solid defense, Gabbert was error-free.  He threw three touchdown passes and ran for another.  On Mizzou’s first two possessions, Gabbert had beautiful downfield scampers of 14 and 11 yards.  He’s six-foot-five and appears very poised facing pressure.  While Daniel and Smith were uniquely suited to succeed in the college game, Gabbert’s size makes you assume he has NFL potential if he continues to perform like he did against Illinois.  It’s noteworthy that Gabbert is from Parkway West High School outside St. Louis.  He was heavily recruited by several big programs but opted to stay close to home and play for the Tigers.    

-To promote sportsmanship, the NCAA and the organization representing college football coaches asked all teams to meet at midfield before their first contest for a pre-game handshake.  It was a one-time, voluntary initiative and seemed like a good idea but Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy threw a wet blanket all over it.  A few days before Okie State’s opener, Gundy said a pre-game handshake with players from Georgia could spark an outbreak of bad behavior.  Rather than insist his team act like good sports, Gundy rejected the initiative and said none of his players would be shaking hands with opponents before the game.  His team ended up winning, and plenty of handshakes occurred as the teams walked off the field but it’s easy to be a good sport after a big win.  A few nights earlier, I listened to the Oregon radio feed of its game at Boise State.  The Oregon announcers complained that a pre-game handshake between opponents was awkward and out of place before a football game.  You know what happened after the game.  Oregon’s star running back LeGarrette Blount punched Boise’s Byron Hout in the face.  Hout taunted Blount as the two teams left the field and was on the receiving end of Blount’s bare right-hand.  It was a violent blow to Hout’s chin.  It dropped him briefly.  The next day, Blount was suspended for the season.  Sportsmanship weekend was anything but. 

-The hit that injured Sam Bradford at the end of the first half of Oklahoma/BYU was borderline clean, but effectively killed OU’s hope of an undefeated season the moment it happened.  Bradford’s throwing shoulder was toast and he sat out the second half.  The Oklahoma backup was lost during a key sequence on the BYU goal-line late in the game and he was not effective on the Sooners’ final drive.  The decision by Stoops to attempt a 54-yard field goal rather than go for it on fourth and 14 wouldn’t have looked as bad as it did if his kicker would have launched it within 15 yards of the crossbar.  Bradford will be ok in a month, but he’s probably wondering if he made the right decision to forego $40 million guaranteed to play another year of college football.  

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The 40-year-old actor/writer/comedian Patton Oswalt plays an obsessive football Giants fan from Staten Island in the starring role of Big Fan, a pretty decent flick that opened last Friday at the Angelika in Manhattan.

I’m not sure if or when it will gain a wider release, but the buzz on this movie has been strong.  I caught the 11:40 AM showing Wednesday.  I was intrigued after hearing Foxsports.com writer Pete Schrager tout it enthusiastically on Scott Ferrall’s radio show.

Ferrall has a key part in the movie, playing a New York City sports talk radio host (in the pre-satellite radio era).  You never see Ferrall’s face but Oswalt’s character Paul Aufiero is a frequent caller to Ferrall’s (Sports Dog) overnight show. 

Aufiero works in a Manhattan parking garage.  He sits in a small booth and collects payment from customers exiting the garage.  During lulls in his work shift, Aufiero listens to sports talk radio and writes prepared comments for use when calling the radio station from his bedroom that evening.  He lives with his mother.  He rides a city bus.  He loves pepperoni on his pizza.  His closet is filled with nothing but Giants garb.      

Oswalt (pictured above in the promotional poster) appears in every sequence throughout the film.  His demeanor and facial expressions bolster the realness of this forty-something guy who is happy with his life but considered to be a loser by his family.

Big Fan is written and directed by Robert Siegel, the same guy who wrote the screenplay for The Wrestler. 

I can’t say Big Fan is as good overall as The Wrestler, but Siegel is clearly a talented script-writer and possesses special ability to create characters of the type often ignored by Hollywood. 

This film was made on a peanuts budget.  The real-life Ferrall has said on the air he was the only one of the movie’s entire cast who was paid for his work on the film.  The spending crimp allowed Siegel to do the project without interference typically incurred when a film is backed by a major studio.  There are moments in the movie when I suppose it appears to look low-budget visually, but I’m long past being bothered by that. 

I won’t give anything away, but the film’s final thirty minutes build to a pretty dark scene at a sports bar followed by what I would describe as a hopeful ending.

It should be noted that the comedian and Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange is saying he was considered for the role of “Philadelphia Phil,” but pulled out of consideration because of time constraints.  Philadelphia Phil is instead played by the fine actor Michael Rapaport who doesn’t appear on screen until the aforementioned scene at the sports bar. 

There were only eight movie-goers inside auditorium three of the Angelika when I saw Big Fan. 

Admission was $12.50.     

-ABC is doing right by college football fans in New York, opting to air Georgia/Oklahoma State in the 3:30 PM slot this Saturday.  78-percent of the country will get that game on ABC rather than Michigan/Eastern Mich or Baylor/Wake Forest.  Before the coverage map was released, I was concerned ABC would get cute and attempt to justify a more regional preference instead of showing what’s clearly the best matchup of the weekend.  

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If the inevitable NCAA investigation confirms published claims the Michigan football team far exceeded NCAA limits on practice and workout time, it should lead to the immediate termination of head coach Rich Rodriguez.  It should also void what’s left of his six-year contract.  Once Rodriguez went into full and frothy denial mode at his Monday news conference, he lost any chance at saving his job should the Detroit Free-Press revelations (backed by interviews with six current or former Michigan players) prove true.

Those who are justifiably cynical about the NCAA and its hypocritical mission of promoting the notion of “student-athlete” while cashing in on them may argue all football factories skirt the rules limiting practices and workouts.  But here you have a case where young men inside Rodriguez’s program are claiming the coach was working them all day on the Sunday after a Saturday game, well in excess of the four-hour daily limit on practice.  That’s ugly.  Rodriguez says it didn’t happen.  Six of his players told the Free-Press it did.  So it’s now simple.  If it’s proven the all-day Sunday sessions occurred, Rodriguez is a liar in addition to an obsessive and ignorant win-at-all-cost pile-driver. 

Rodriguez likely feels betrayed by his accusers.  But the NCAA rule is designed to incorporate time for academics in the middle of an otherwise chaotic team routine.  Enforcement of this rule is important if the NCAA’s stated mission is to have a shred of credibility.  Since the denial from Rodriguez was so clear-cut, the integrity of Michigan’s storied football program is very much at stake here too.  

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Hurricane season has The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore in chase mode.  His on-the-spot live coverage of the big weather story is always excellent.  With Tropical Storm Danny churning off the east coast Saturday morning, Cantore was doing his reports from what looked like a marina in Chatham, Massachusetts.   Betty Davis and Kelly Cass were co-anchoring from the Weather Channel studio and tossed it to Cantore with frequency.  During one segment late in the morning, Cantore could be seen scribbling in a small reporter’s notebook when he was introduced.  Heavy rainfall was pounding down on Cantore, yet he held up the notebook during his report and appeared to read notes from it.  The sequence sparked intense curiosity.  How is in the world is Cantore’s notebook not getting ruined in the rain?  Luckily, Davis noticed what was going on and asked Cantore about the notebook.  “It’s waterproof,” said Cantore.     

I had no idea such an item existed.  I want one. 

-Digger Phelps sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch of Cubs/Mets at Wrigley Saturday.  Phelps is the only non-Cub to sing the tune at least once every single season since Harry Caray passed prior to the start of the 1998 season. 

-The new Meadowlands football stadium set to open next fall has booked some decent college football matchups and is said to be working on more.  Already locked up:  Notre Dame-Navy (2010), Syracuse-USC (2012) and Syracuse-Notre Dame (2014 and 2016).  The Star-Ledger has reported that the private partnership that owns the new stadium has offered Rutgers $2.7 million to move its 2010 home game against Army to the Meadowlands. 

-The merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines gained a visible sign of progress at LaGuardia this week when Northwest signage was removed from the terminal housing the two air carriers.  Delta and Northwest have long shared the stand alone terminal on LaGuardia’s eastern edge.  With the marriage of the two airlines into a single entity set to become final by the end of the year, the process of re-branding the company has started in earnest.  Ugly brown markings remain in the spots where the Northwest signs were removed at LaGuardia.  One would assume a coat of paint is coming soon to complete the job.

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The US Open tennis tournament doesn’t formally kick off until Monday, but they’re playing qualifiers all week at Flushing Meadows.  I live just five subway stops away so I went over to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center Thursday afternoon.  It was a beautiful day in New York City with sunny skies and low humidity. 

I went with the intention of seeing Scoville Jenkins play a second-round qualifying match and instead settled in at Court 4 and got a real thriller of a women’s singles match.

25-year-old Shenay Perry (pictured above) won a hard-fought three-setter over University of Florida freshman Lauren Embree, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4.

The fascinating subplot of the match was the fact Perry basically played the entire match on one leg.  It appeared her right knee was causing her intense pain.  She grimaced and limped from beginning to end and spent most of the match on the baseline just flicking precise shots over the net.  Perry picked occasional spots to unleash impressive winners but she did so only occasionally. 

Her mobility was extremely limited but her forehand power and court savvy was enough to pull out the victory. 

Embree didn’t seem to know how to capitalize on her opponent’s clear handicap.  Just about every time Embree was able to lob a short shot over the net, it produced either a point and/or heightened her opponent’s physical suffering.  Curiously, Embree chose not to exploit the short-shot strategy with any consistency.

In what seems like an impossible task, Perry must win one more time Friday to gain entry to the tournament’s main draw.  She’ll play Pauline Parmentier of France who has breezed through her two qualifying matches thus far.  The two will play at 11 AM Friday on court 11.  I’m working, so I won’t be able to get over to see it, but I’ll be pulling for Perry to gut it out one more time.