Aintgotnoband

Remembering

2011-12-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be able to make it to the memorial ceremony in Weymouth for former Emerson Wrestling Coach Jim Peckham last summer. I was pleased, but hardly surprised by the large turnout. The funeral home was overflowing with people wishing to celebrate a most extraordinary life.

There were certainly tears shed by most in attendance, but there were many more smiles and nodding of heads as a steady stream of people stepped to the front of the main room to share remembrances of a man who had touched their lives. There were former student-athletes from Emerson, people from the college who had worked with him, and people who knew him as Coach, Dad, Grampa or friend.
Most of the stories and anecdotes had memories of his humor, philosophy, but most importantly, his humanity. He was a man of immense humanity. There were stories of how he invited people into his home, gave them money, even if he had little more than they did, or simply listened to them with a keen and sincere interest in whatever it was they had to say.
The stories offered by former wrestlers that day contained the same themes, but more importantly, the same beliefs and principles taught by Coach Peckham, as he was teaching arm bars and half nelsons. He spoke with knowledge, and eloquence of the Greeks and Romans and often used examples from those civilizations in his pre-match talks to his wrestling teams. He seldom raised his voice, and never motivated with stock phrases. Instead, he used stories of the ancients, and those not so ancient, to inspire us to believe in ourselves and strive to achieve beyond what we thought was possible for each of us.
The stories always had a moral and enforced his strong beliefs in the virtues of commitment, sacrifice, loyalty and respect. He taught us all the importance of respect. Respect for your opponent, and others you encounter, and respect for yourself.
Emerson has certainly produced many outstanding Alumni and has been home to brilliant and accomplished permanent and visiting members of the faculty. Jim Peckham was as accomplished and as highly acclaimed in his field as any member of the Emerson family. His influence upon generations of Emersonians and those we will encounter and influence will be his most lasting legacy and something to be celebrated by the college and all those who knew him.

If you look hard enough, you can find good in almost anyone and sometimes you find greatness right in front of you.

You Got Some Splaining To Do Bernie

2011-11-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, so now Syracuse University Head Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim has to backpedal, eat his words and reluctantly admit that his long-time friend and assistant Bernie Fine may have done some nasty things and then let Boeheim look bad in public with some strong statements in favor of Fine when the news first became public.

So far this does not appear to be a cover-up as was the case at Penn State, but only time will tell. Boeheim’s initial comments in support of Fine when the story first broke appear to be a case of a friend and colleague supporting someone he felt was being wrongly accused. It now appears that Fine may be guilty of at least some of the acts alleged by more than one person. A taped phone call believed to have been between Fine’s wife and one of the alleged victims seems to support allegations of abuse. If true, you have to feel even more disgusted with Fine for letting his friend stick his neck out with some strong statements when the allegations first broke.

Are there more shoes ready to drop at SU and elsewhere? Let’s hope not. Can it get any uglier? Don't answer that; please.

Woe is Us

2011-11-21T12:58:00.001-05:00

Senator Pat Toomey, from Pennsylvania was on CBS’s Sunday Morning yesterday and he showed why this Congress and it’s Super Committee are jokes and have to go. It is time to vote them all out and bring in anyone, and I mean anyone, that will begin to work towards reforming the rule of the elite we now have. Just look at the Republican field of presidential candidates. If you can raise enough money, anyone can get in the race and be a factor; at least temporarily.

Senator Toomey reflects the feelings of most of the members of the Super Committee. Do nothing and the cuts in spending will automatically take effect in 2013. That gives them plenty of time to change the balance of the plan. It was supposed to be 50% defense cuts and 50% to discretionary expenditures. Senator Toomey, and others trying to protect the defense contractors, have already begun talking about changing the formula of the agreement so that the defense budget would not be severely impacted. Stay tuned and you can see how this is going to develop.

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have lined up against the other side and do not want to listen. This Super committee didn’t even meet in the same room. The Dems met in one room and the Republicans in another. They hammered out some proposals they know the other side couldn’t accept and then had them delivered by some junior staffer running back and forth between the rooms. Neither side wants an agreement.

The Nough Boys in the GOP are afraid of the far right fringe and their big-money supporters so they won’t even consider a fair and balanced approach to solving the crisis and keeping the country sane and the economy afloat. The Democrats have already made significant concessions and feel that they can’t move any more, at least until the Republicans give in at least a little, or they will piss of their supporters. Both are rigging the argument. It’s all about spin and blaming the other side right now.

The bottom line is, most people in this country know that there has to be a reasonable accommodation between the two extremes that requires cuts and new revenues. Most of the politicians have not come around to that realization yet. Why are they always behind us? They are more afraid of losing their job than actually governing, that’s why.

Though they blame it on the Democrats, it is the wacko right of the Tea Party, and the talk radio zombies that have created the current state of what they like to call class warfare. This Occupy (plug in a city) movement is not well organized or particularly effective at doing anything other than getting people arrested right now, but if we don’t get some kind on sanity and leadership out of Washington soon that could change. If the elite well-heeled class thinks that it can win a protracted class war, they may want to read a little history. Look what happened in France in the late 18^th century, Russia in 1917 and the Arab world this year. I don’t care how much money you have or how strong you build the walls around your castle; 99% against 1% wins every time, if the 99% get hungry enough. I don’t even want to think about where an escalation of the bickering and posturing we have now could lead us.

Money is the Root of All

2011-11-17T09:31:00.000-05:00

This relates to my previous post. It's all about keeping the money flowing in.

Gillibrand's Food Fight

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand blasted fellow lawmakers yesterday for blocking the Department of Agriculture's plan to increase the number of fruits and vegetables served with school lunches. The proposal would have cost the federal government $6.8 billion over five years. “This is just ridiculous, period,” said Gillibrand, who has fought for healthier food choices in public schools. “When we should be taking steps forward to combat the childhood obesity epidemic, Congress just took a step backwards.” Coca-Cola, the National Potato Council and the American Frozen Food Institute opposed the proposal.

McCain Slaps Fellow GOPers

2011-11-16T17:52:00.000-05:00

Hooray for John McCain. The Arizona Senator took some of his own party’s presidential candidates to task for endorsing waterboarding and saying that it is not torture. McCain said unequivocally that it is torture; it doesn’t work; and it is morally and legally wrong. Seems pretty simple, straightforward and right.

Then why are so many of these wackos and dipshits running for president being given so much credence? I wish I knew, but suspect that it is due to all the money pumped into these campaigns along with the lack of attention paid to the process by the general electorate. It's all about winning so you can help those who finance your campaign. The hell with effective governing.
Too many people on both ends of the political spectrum listen only to others who think, and I use that term very loosely here, like they do. There is very little give and take on ideas and policies. It seems to be just people shouting back and forth and accomplishing nothing. The country is going to hell, and nobody has the balls to reach out and try to find solutions. At least John McCain provided us with one very brief peek at what political sanity looks like.
In light (or is it lite?) of all this, Aintgotnoband is officially endorsing Kinky Friedman for President of the United States. If we can't have sanity in our national politics, we can at least have some fun and make some people very uncomfortable. :0

Fish or Cut Bait

2011-11-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

Both the Senecas and the Mohawks have stopped paying gambling proceed payments claiming that their exclusivity protections have been violated. - From the article at the link below.

How can New York State violate the exclusivity clause of any agreement with the Senecas? The Seneca Tribe claims to be an independent nation. New York does not plan to open any casinos on Tribal Lands. The State would like to operate gambling facilities on land belonging to the State.

The Seneca nation wants it both ways. They are sovereign and independent when it suits them and they are part of the state when that is beneficial. New York should tell them to make a choice. If you are an independent nation we will treat you like our friends in Canada. There will be free trade, border crossing checks, etc. You can run your own country any way you see fit. We will not, however, provide any government services. You are now and forever sovereign, independent and on your own. We will have ambassadors and consulates and all the other stuff of international relationships, and we will be friends. Open all the casinos you want. Sell cigarettes for 12 cents a pack if you want, but build your own government, educate your own kids. You would likely do a much better job than the poorly funded public schools most of your kids currently attend now.

Let's end this constant battle that drains money and attention from other problems in New York. New York and the Seneca Nation need to decide once and for all, is the tribe part of New York and the United States or are they a separate nation. The situation is ridiculous, for both sides. If they must remain sovereign by federal treaty, then build the border barriers, cut off all government services and open an embassy in Salamanca. What we have now does not work; for either side.

http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/85834/senecas-hold-off-on-sharing-casino-proceeds-for-cities/

Getting Ready To Fire The Coach

2011-10-09T10:27:00.002-05:00

Most of us having been watching the growing "Occupy Wall Street" movement the past few weeks. It is a lose-knit group of people mainly venting the frustration felt by the majority of Americans concerned about the inability of our financial and public institutions to solve the economic problems that have put millions out of work and sapped our savings and even our will to believe in the American Dream.

The protesters, and many other American across the country, are frustrated and angry. We are frustrated and angry over the lack of any real solutions, but I don't think that alone is fueling the protests in Manhattan and other American cities. What has finally gotten the great silent majority (Remember that term?) of Americans to take notice and raise their voices is the disconnect between the general population and the people in Washington, New York and our state capitals.

Even President Obama doesn't get it. He has made attempts to make us think he understands, but it is all too obvious that he doesn't. He is busy campaigning for his take-it-or-leave-it "jobs bill" when what most of us want is for him to find a way to work with the Nough Boys in the Republican Congress.

The Republicans want to continue the status quo for Big Business, while Obama says he wants to use a balanced approach of budget cuts and new taxes to try to dig us out of the current jobs and financial disaster. That makes sense to many of us. The problem is, he is not addressing the issues many of us see as critical to regaining the support and trust of what the protesters refer to as "The 99%."

Many of the financial problems seem to stem from the melt down of the housing market caused by the deregulation of the banking and financial industries started by Bill Clinton and continued under the Bush Administration. Obama continues to employ several of the same people who helped strip away many of the regulations that protected the middle class. This has allowed big banks and financial firms to bilk millions of Americans out of their homes and retirement savings with reckless, immoral and illegal schemes.

We have the fox guarding the hen house. He needs to clean house and get some new faces with new ideas into his inner circle. Next, he needs to demand that the institutions that we bailed out with our tax dollars stop doing business the same way. The people who caused the problems continue to make big profits, pay big bonuses to their executives and sit on large amounts of cash while the rest of us struggle or even sink into the financial abyss. The President and Congress do nothing to right this wrong. We wonder why nobody has been put on trial for this huge immoral transfer of funds from the masses to the corporate robbers. The president says most of what they did was not illegal. That means he believes that some of it was illegal. Go after those who committed the crimes you think you can prove; put them in jail and take back the looted funds. How hard is that to understand?

Mr. President, it is time to shake things up. You are a sports fan and understand that if the team is not achieving its potential you have to make changes. Fire the assistant coaches, or we, the owners of this country, will fire you. We believe that the game is rigged and is working in favor of the new Robber Barons.

This is becoming class warfare, but it is a war being created by the business elite and their cronies in government. They claim that we want to steal from the rich and give their hard-earned money to the rest of the people. That is, of course, not true. We want to stop giving billions of dollars to major corporations and make them stand on their own. The business and government elites don't understand this. They yell class warfare, when all we want is a square deal.

The politicians are only trying to maintain their status and their place in the food chain, and the place of those who keep them well-fed and in office. We want a fair economy; capitalism not cronyism. Don't believe the robbers who say that we can't take the advantages from the "job creators." We have been funding them for decades. Where are the jobs? They are sitting on the cash they got from our taxes and living the high life, while much of the rest of the country struggles to stay afloat. That's not fair and the American people are starting to figure that out.

Beware awakening the sleeping dog. It's bite can be very painful, just ask the former leaders of Egypt.

Sucking us Dry

2011-09-21T18:20:00.001-05:00

News Report -
* At a Brooklyn hearing yesterday of the legislative task force on redistricting, several local Democratic lawmakers got into testy back-and-forths with capital region Assemblyman Jack McEneny, a fellow Democrat who co-chairs the redistricting panel. Councilwoman Letitia James scolded the panel in testimony for not having any African-American members, then made an inaccurate point about the panel, which prompted McEneny to blurt out, “You’re wrong.” That led James to compare McEneny to Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, of “You lie!” fame. Later, Assemblyman Nick Perry groused that the public could not attend the hearing because it was held at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. McEneny responded that nighttime hearings would end at 3 a.m., telling Perry, “What if everyone went over the five minute limit – as you did? … Maybe we’ll just have to end with elected officials next time.”
Isn’t it long past time for Jack McEneny a double-dipping, almost invisible dinosaur to just go away? Let’s hope that the Democrats of Albany County blow this guy out of the water at the next election. He should be the poster boy for those who want to institute Recall in NYS.

this the the Assemblyman that you almost never see or hear anything from who retired from the NYS Assembly a couple of years ago and began collecting a full pension, then went right on holding onto that Assembly seat, collecting a full salary and benefits on top of a pension for the position from which he retired. He sees nothing wrong with ripping off the taxpayers of NY in this shameless money grabbing tactic.

It Shouldn't Be This Hard

2011-09-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

If the Republican Nough Boys would just shut up for a minute and listen, some of the proposals put out by President Obama, like reforming the tax code (I know, I’m dreaming) and the way we deliver and pay for healthcare make sense.

The Tea Partiers are wagging the Republican Party’s tail by demanding that there be no tax hikes; at least for their friends and supporters. They really want us to believe that adding a couple of thousand dollars to the amount of taxes paid by folks making a lot of money will cause them to move and stop creating jobs. So, remind me, how many jobs did those Bush tax cuts for the rich actually produce? Most people, and banks, are just hanging onto that extra cash. Add the costly, stupid and maybe criminal incursion into Iraq, stir in the deregulation of the banking and financial industries begun by Clinton and continued by Bush and Obama and you have the makings of the economic meltdown.

Raising the income level for tax increases to $500,000 and tweaking Medicare and Medicaid to reduce those costs a little seem to make sense to most of us. I think if you picked about 100 citizens at random and put them in a hotel with some of those $16 government corn muffins and they would probably come up with a decent package of cuts and revenue enhancements. Then we could have Rambo, Dirty Harry and MR T deliver it to Congress and glare at them until the dweebs sign it, resign and go home; in that order. We can elect a bunch of new people and give them a shot at some graft and free limo rides for a while.

Pissed off does not begin to express the disgust with which I view this ugly, rotten, dirty and self-serving political climate in this country. I am willing to be I am not alone, but will we have the balls to push the people we send to D.C. and our various state capitals to stop selling their asses to whoever will pay for the reelection to do what is right for the country? I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath.

It's Only Fair

2011-06-10T16:50:00.002-05:00

The news below was reported by Jacob Gershman in the Wall Street Journal.

Lawmakers in Albany say they're tired of being treated as punching bags. One is taking those concerns literally.

State Sen. Eric Adams, a Democrat from Brooklyn, wants to adjust the penal code so that sentences for assaulting elected officials are harsher than for attacking regular civilians.

He's proposing to establish the felony offense of assaulting an elected official. Those convicted of such a crime would face up to 5½ years—more than double the maximum term normally handed down.

"If we're holding elected officials accountable for their role as public servants," said Mr. Adams…

Wait, what did I miss? When did we start holding elected officials accountable? Politicians beat up photographers, slap staffers, betray the public trust, hide their dealings with people doing business with the government, misuse public property, and yet seldom seem to suffer any legal ramifications. Hey, we are usually too dumb even to pay attention to what they are doing after we elect them let alone vote the bad ones out of office.

All that said, I think Senator Adams is right. Politicians are sometimes targeted because of their notoriety, so the law is a good idea and probably should be enacted. However, It should not even be considered until the Legislature passes an ethics law that will actually hold elected officials accountable for their actions while in office. The ethics law should also make them reveal who they and their outside business entities do business with and how much they earn from those dealings. The law must also make sure that there will actually be proceedings against legislators who violate the public trust and the law of the land. The recently passed ethics legislation will not do that.

One more thing; this Legislature must also outlaw the outrageous situation that allows members of the Legislature, like Jack McEneny, to retire from their job as a Legislator and collect their retirement while also collecting a salary and stipend as a full-time Legislator.

No wonder so many people want to punch these dickweeds.

Great Day

2011-05-15T11:25:00.001-05:00

This is reposted from early 2010 since it blew up with an earlier blog.

Okay, I'm sure it wasn't as big a deal for her, but yesterday was special for me. I drove my youngest daughter to an open house for accepted grad students at a college about 90 minutes from home. She's been accepted at two good schools and wait-listed at another. Smart kid.

The morning began with breakfast at a diner before we hit the road. She was dressed in business casual clothes and had on real shoes and makeup. She looked great. No big deal you think for a 21 year old college senior. Oh contraire. This is a kid who wore almost nothing but sweats, sneakers and flip flops for the first 18-19 years of her life. She played basketball and soccer through high school and then continued soccer in college, so had lots of athletic wear, but not a great deal of variety in street clothes.

I always pictured her older sister, also an athlete for most of her life, as the hard working serious student. She will graduate from Optometry school fourth in her class in June. Take a closer look dummy (nickname my brother gave me). Little One (my nickname for her) is entering a serious Masters program and is already looking ahead to doctoral programs at other institutions. Wait; when did the quick-as-a-cat athlete with the brains to generate grades without an outward appearance of hard work, turn into a serious student with a definite career plan? Long before I was smart enough to recognize it, I assure you.

Life hasn't been too bad for me so far. I will always have doubts about some of the choices I've made regarding career - such as it is - and some of the bizarre personal decisions in my portfolio, but there is no doubt that seeing these two terrific young women grow up has been a privilege. I say with no false modesty at all that their mother, and their own strength of character, is the reason they have become who they are. I am thankful to have been along for the ride.

I sometimes think about how fast it has gone and will often tell them both how much I miss them when they were younger; and I was smarter and more relevant. I then think of something my mother said late one night when my brother and I were having one of our after dark talks. She told us how much she enjoyed being around us as young adults. We could discuss books that contained words of more than one syllable and form opinions about important topics. That has now happened with my girls; and is not such a bad thing after all. They have discovered most of my faults and, shall we say, idiosyncrasies by now and accept them for what they are. We sometimes have those interesting conversations I remember having with my mother and brother. They will always roll their eyes at some of my words and actions, but are becoming more tolerant of the weirdness as they get older.

I'm still not prepared to be a responsible member of society except when absolutely necessary, but I certainly don't mind being known as my daughters' dad. When they turn out as well as these two have, it is certainly good for the image to be associated with them, rather than some of the people and experiences before they came along and changed my life.

The Real John McCain Stands Up

2011-05-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

This is the John McCain I remember and respect. His voice is the most credible in the Senate on this particular issue. He is absolutely right when he says we are supposed to be better than this. I believe this is exactly the kind of stance most Americans would point to as an example of what they consider to be American Exceptionalism.

Most Americans don’t want us to be the world’s police officer or the bully on the block. They want us to be on the side of right in every fight; not the side that will benefit us most economically or politically. Many Americans still view America as an ideal. America stands for opportunity, fairness, righteousness and the rule of law.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43007276/ns/politics-more_politics

BE VEWWY, VEWY CAREFUL

2011-05-10T17:48:00.001-05:00

New system will allow government to supersede all cell phone traffic to blast emergency messages. Read more here…
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/09/2011-05-09_new_yorkers_soon_to_get_emergency_cell_phone_alerts_in_what_bloomberg_calls_quan.html

This is a great idea, but must be watched closely to make sure that cell service is not interrupted to prevent people from communicating or getting information when they want or need it. This should be used only in times of an extreme and imminent emergency. If I'm in the midst of an obscene phone call, I don't want somebody reminding me about alternate side parking or to remember to pay my taxes. I fear that it is only a matter of time before some dimwit in the legislature or Congress decides to sell time on this system to businesses for commercial messages. We do have a shortfall in revenue, you know. Paranoia runs deep.

Where do we go from here?

2011-05-08T09:28:00.000-05:00

What now after the death of Bin Laden? Where do we go with the large military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq? Where do we go with our relationships with repressive and often inept regimes in nations friendly to us? Will we continue to hold our nose and help prop up brutal and corrupt governments in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, etc., etc., etc.?

We, the people of the United States, must pay attention to what our government is doing in our name. Are we made safer by our strategy? Apparently, at least in the short term. What is the cost? Are we leaving our national legacy as the moral leader of the world behind in our quest for our own safety? And, are we destroying our economy by investing so many trillions of dollars, so many young lives and so much of our focus on this strategy at the expense of so many needs at home?

Killing Bin Laden was necessary and the right thing to do. The question now is, will we refocus, rethink our plan for the future? Is it time to begin to invest in our own land and our own people?

Who?

2011-05-07T22:35:00.000-05:00

Wait, Animal Kingdom wins the Kentucky Derby? I didn't see that one coming. Not many did as the freakin' horse paid $43 to win. I narrowed my choices down to seven, then boxed three of them in and exacta. Not even close. Oh well, it was a fun time watching the lead up and then the race itself.

Cut the crap

2011-04-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

President Obama's commission on gas prices is a great political move, but won't accomplish much. He is a terrific communicator and a skilled campaigner, but has trouble getting things done to benefit regular folks. How’s the appointment of GE’s CEO to his advisory group working out? GE pays no corporate income taxes and ships 28,000 good jobs oversees and this is the guy that is supposed to help us out of the recession? Almost makes you want Neutron Jack back in charge at GE, eh?

Then of course there are the financial and banking gurus we bailed out with our taxes who are pulling down those large salaries and bonuses but not sharing. Any of those clowns ever go to Kindergarten? Remember, all these tax breaks for the rich are supposed to create millions of jobs. Big profits announced by Microsoft and the oil companies this week, yet we put another 400,000 people on unemployment insurance. Happy Easter.

The Feds want to extend tax breaks for the well to do and NYS wants to give the fat cats even more tax breaks. Both levels of government are cutting and slashing Medicaid, Medicare and other entitlements with no plan to deal with the issues in the long term and the business lobby and most political wonks think these are good moves for the nation. Okay, but who will pick up the costs when these people get really sick and end up in emergency rooms or nursing homes?

Who is going to pay for the long-term care for all the casualties of all these freaking wars we keep starting, with no plan to end? We know that the VA and the military don't want to provide the long-term care and financial support these folks the politicians are so quick to praise as heroes will need when they come back home. Ask some of these homeless vets or the ones who can't work because they are so fucked up from the things that happen to them while overseas if they feel like heroes when nobody seems to care if they live or die.

My heart is breaking and my head is going to explode. I'm not a bit religious, but I'm starting to think that we need a guy like Christ to come along again about now and bitch slap us all.

Second City

2011-04-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

I just made my first trip to Toronto and came away quite impressed. It is a very cosmopolitan city with the same European feel as Montreal, though with a touch more NYC. It has vibrant cultural and entertainment districts and is also a terrific sports town. Downtown is alive with a variety of restaurants, pubs and bars.

We hit a great sports bar called Shoeless Joe's with some very impressive and talented bartenders and waitresses. There is also a neat Irish pub in the former Irish Embassy. The Loose Moose is a great local pub for after the game and the English pub Elephant and Castle has a very nice menu and one of the best selections of draft beers anywhere.

The people of Toronto are friendly and seem to be very fit. There are places serving healthy food every five feet and the locals walk, run and bike all over town. Everyone seems to be young and fit and there are more beautiful women than I have seen in any town outside of Boston or NY. This is a city I could grow to really enjoy.

Big Beast Looks Bad

2011-04-13T12:14:00.001-05:00

Big East Conference Pulls the Plug on Villanova Football

http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-12/sports/29410179_1_john-marinatto-football-members-big-east-conference

What an utter embarrassment for the Big East. The league tried to strong-arm Villanova into upgrading their football program. Now that the school appeared ready to make the move, the Big Beast pulls the rug out from under a charter member and solid citizen of the league.

Why did they pressure Villanova into undertaking this exhaustive study and never mention Georgetown or Notre Dame? Both those schools are in much better financial shape than Villanova and Notre Dame is already an established Division IA Football program with all the facilities and other supports in place. Why not tell ND to get in for football or start looking for another league for your other sports?

Never mind, I get it. Money; specifically TV money. Once ‘Nova saw how lucrative the Big East Football TV package is, they decided they could make the move and not lose money, just as UConn did. Did some Big East Football schools decide that since TCU has come in with another top 10 TV market that the league doesn’t need Villanova Football anymore and doesn’t want to share any more of the TV revenue? That is a likely scenario. The stadium won’t bring in much revenue, they won’t gain much of a TV share of the Philadelphia viewing audience, at least initially, and Villanova will take years to develop enough of a football following to make a significant contribution to the league coffers with merchandise sales, additional TV revenue, ticket sales and Bowl appearances.

On the surface this makes the Big East look very bad. Even Tim Higgins and Jim Burr can see that.

Feudal or Futile?

2011-04-06T22:05:00.005-05:00

I need some help understanding just what is going on here. In New York, and nationally, there is strong support for policies that continue to pile the weight of the economic downturn on the shoulders of the middle and lower echelons of American society while extending more benefits to those who need no help.

In New York our legislature and governor voted a tax break for individuals making over $200,000 a year and couples earning more than $300,000 a year. This on top of the Federal tax break these same people received last year when Congress handed them a tax cut by voting to continue the Bush-era tax breaks. This is done, they say, to stimulate the economy and create jobs. How many jobs have the folks on Wall Street, who put us in this bind and are receiving big salaries and big bonuses created in the past two years? More than they destroyed in the previous two? Nope!

How about multi-national firms ,like GE? Well, we know that they have created hundreds of jobs in their tax evasion departments. Their job is to find loopholes in the tax codes and exploit them for the benefit of the company. It is all legal, and something that virtually any organization would do, if it had the resources. GE paid no U. S. corporate income taxes last year. No taxes on billions in profits. Why? Because they can. They employ lobbyists and political contributions to influence how the tax laws are written and then hundreds of accountants and tax experts to use those laws to their benefit. Ah, if only the thousands of former employees GE fired over the years because their jobs had been shipped overseas had the same kind of influence and power.

Bill Bradley said it well on MSNBC's Morning Joe today when he said that if we don't address Social Security, health care, military spending and taxes at the same time, we will never get the deficit and the cost of government under control. The trouble is, both extremes of the political spectrum want only to confront one or two of those issues to play to the myopic views of the base of their respective parites. Why? Because they care more about staying in office and helping to enrich themselves and their supporters than about solving our problems. It is easier to pontificate, do little of substance, and reap the benefits of office than to attempt to find long-term solutions to complex problems and risk being voted out.

The gap between rich and poor continues to grow in the land of the free, while the politically brave are missing in action. I often blame the American public for not paying attention and continually electing the same boobs and crooks when it is really not our fault. Dave Matthews was right when he wrote in Waiting On The World To Change - It's not that we don't care, it's just that we know the fight ain't fair".

I always said that this current generation is smarter than the Boomers. We beat our chests and banged our heads against the wall and changed little about our society. This group takes a more Zen approach and goes with the flow, knowing that the rapid rush of water that yields to the rock and diverts around it, will eventually prevail and wash the boulder away, winning out in the end.

This grasshopper needs a beer.

Great Music

2011-04-02T23:26:00.000-05:00

Austin City Limits is still the best music show on TV. Just got home and popped it on to find Jimmy Cliff live in concert. This guy has been producing great music for at least 40 years. And this show has showcased great musicians for at least as long.

I would love to get to Austin and see that music scene. I remember watching this show when I lived in Dallas in the early 80's and they had great acts like Asleep at The Wheel, Tom Waits and others from all around the state that played in Dallas clubs like The Filling Station, The It'll Do Club, The Bronx Club, just off Dealy Plaza, and others. Between those clubs and the dance clubs on Northwest Highway there was a wild and vibrant music scene in the Metroplex. It was a great time to be young and working in the clubs in the Dallas area.

Pushing the season

2011-04-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

Just got a call from Jimmy-James. It's breezy, 50 degrees and most of the snow is gone. Time for golf. Got a tee time in 20 minutes and then it's off to one of the local establishments to watch Kentucky and UCONN in the felon bowl. I think John Calipari is a better cheater than Jim Calhoun, so I'm gonna go with Kentucky. The VCU magic continues as they will beat Butler.
FORE!

Yankees Rule

2011-03-31T17:29:00.001-05:00

Okay, I have a lot more to say about the thugs, thieves and boobs running this state, but for now; baseball is back. The Yankees are in first place after an opening day win over Detroit and they have a half-game lead on the Red Sox with just 161 games to play.

Also, by this time next week Strikealinethruit (SALTI) will be back in NY and getting ready to start the 2011 thoroughbred racing season. Life is good; sorta. I need a change of scene. Maybe I'll go back to Boston for reunion weekend in June and play a little golf and drink a little single malt scotch, or hang out at the Sam Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain and drink some of their craft brews. It's hard to beat Boston in June; except maybe in May or September, or even October.

We need a change

2011-03-30T10:43:00.001-05:00

The state is discriminating against upstate residents with poorly designed school aid programs that favor the more affluent districts (see the Times article below). Our governor and state legislature have also imposed huge cuts to Medicaid that disproportionately impact people with disabilities and the working poor while allowing some legislators to collect both their pensions and their legislative salaries. On top of that, they are giving a tax cut to affluent people who already received a federal tax cut last year when the Bush-era tax increase was allowed to expire.
The gap between rich and poor and upstate and downstate continues to grow with the help of government policies.

We don’t need more taxes. We need a fair and equitable tax system that people can actually understand, fair and sane redistricting that doesn’t ensure that the same people get elected time after time, full disclosure of who our legislators work for and where they get their outside income and ethics legislation that will actually punish those who abuse their office and snub their noses at the people they are supposed to serve.

Whew. I'm done. That was a little over the top, eh?

From the NY Times - Saturday, March 26, 2011
Rich District, Poor District

To balance New York State’s budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to cut a record $1.5 billion from the $23 billion budget for grades K-12.

The cuts would scarcely affect wealthy districts that rely primarily on local taxes to support lavishly appointed schools. But they would be catastrophic for impoverished rural districts that have been starved of state aid for decades and are still reeling from cuts levied last year when David Paterson was governor. Already struggling to furnish even basic course offerings, the poorest districts would need to cannibalize themselves to keep the doors open and the lights on.

The fundamental inequity of the cuts, as currently proposed, can be seen in how they would affect two of the state’s school districts: Ilion in the economically depressed Mohawk Valley, and Syosset, a wealthy town in Long Island’s Nassau County.

ILION

CURRENT BUDGET 2010-2011: $25 MILLION

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 1,600

CUOMO PROPOSED CUT: $1.1 MILLION

The system is one of the poorest in the state. More than a third of its 1,600 students are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches, and that figure would no doubt be higher if some families whose children need free lunches to eat nutritiously were not too ashamed to apply for it.

Impoverished districts like Ilion, which has an eroding tax base and relies on the state for more than three-quarters of its budget, were supposed to fare better after a 2006 court ruling that ordered the state to give each district enough money to provide every child with a “sound basic education.”

Under a new formula created by the Legislature, some of the poorest districts were promised as much as an 80 percent increase. The increases were to be phased in over four years in steadily larger amounts. Ilion, which had been promised a 35 percent increase, got a modest boost in the first two years. But then the state ran into fiscal trouble; funding was kept flat in 2009 and cut in 2010. Like many other poor districts, Ilion retrenched. It laid off teachers and backed down from plans to expand its course offerings.

Thanks to an ambitious school building program carried out by the state, Ilion’s low-rise brick high school is in great shape and indistinguishable from similar buildings even in wealthier communities. The course offerings tell another story. The school offers only one foreign language, Spanish, and is unlikely to offer any others until and if the economic climate improves. As a result, a transfer student who was seeking a third year of French has had to take the course online.

The school offers only four of the possible 34 Advanced Placement courses, which allow students to earn college credit in high school. The Advanced Placement course in biology was particularly hard won: school officials said they had to “steal nickels here and there” to buy microscopes and other material necessary to run the course, which is certified and overseen by the College Board.

Under the Cuomo administration’s proposal, Ilion would be asked to absorb a new $1.1 million cut, on top of the $450,000 cut it took last year. That would not even come to a rounding error in the state’s richest districts. But for Ilion, whose budget is about $25 million, the new cut, combined with the $1.3 million the district is obligated to pay for raises, benefits and other costs, produces a deficit of about $2.4 million.

Mr. Cuomo has left the impression that school districts like Ilion could weather cuts by tightening their belts and winning pay freezes through negotiations with their employees. A pay freeze would save Ilion only $600,000, leaving a huge deficit of $1.8 million. The district could save money in the long term by getting teachers to contribute more to their health care costs. But that will not happen, if at all, until the current contract expires next year.

Moreover, pension expenses, which will cost the district more than $1 million this year — and about 2.5 percent more next year — are locked in by the State Constitution, which makes it illegal to reduce benefits for workers already enrolled in the system. Proposals that would create less expensive pension plans for future employees will take decades to produce significant savings.

Ilion is seeking to save money by merging with three districts nearby. But the results of a merger feasibility study will not be known until the fall. The only short-term way for Ilion to cut costs is to lay off teachers while savaging academic programs that are already inadequate.

SYOSSET

CURRENT BUDGET 2010-2011: $188 MILLION

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 6,600

CUOMO PROPOSED CUT: $1.4 MILLION

Meanwhile, prospects remain bright in affluent districts like Syosset in Nassau County, which has a rich local tax base and, according to the most recently available statistics, gets only about 12.6 percent of its budget from the state. The district’s course catalog runs more than 130 pages. It offers students Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Latin, American Sign Language and Mandarin Chinese. College-bound students, which is to say, just about everyone at the high school, have access to a dazzling array of almost 30 Advancement Placement classes that include different levels of calculus, physics, economics, environmental science, music theory and studio art.

Signs outside the low-rise building that houses the high school proudly proclaim that the United States Department of Education has cited Syosset High for the excellence of its academic programs and that the system’s arts education program was ranked first in the nation in 2002. Whereas most Ilion students end up at local community colleges, Syosset launched nearly all of its graduating seniors into four-year colleges last year. A significant number of them enrolled in schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Cornell.

The district could easily raise enough through local taxes to support its entire $188 million budget. Despite its lavish programs and a budget more than seven times that of Ilion, Syosset would get roughly the same cut under the Cuomo plan, about $1.4 million.

Districts like Syosset also benefit from loopholes in the state funding formula that drive hundreds of millions of dollars each year toward wealthy and moderate-income school systems that could do without it.

The most obvious of these is the so-called high-tax aid provision that reimburses wealthy and moderate-income districts that tax themselves heavily to fund high-end school programs. By state estimates, this provision inflates the school budget by about $200 million per year. Another provision that deliberately underestimates the poverty levels in the poorest districts has cost those districts millions in aid. Yet another provision that allows districts in wealthy areas to have a larger portion of basic education funding covered by the state siphons off even more money.

No one should begrudge wealthy districts like Syosset their wonderful course offerings. But the state must do more to improve and better fund public schooling in economically depressed parts of upstate New York.

Governor Cuomo has made revitalizing these areas a priority. But the region stands little chance of attracting high-skill jobs if its schools are allowed to deteriorate. Instead of swallowing the Cuomo proposal whole, the Legislature should fashion a fair system that cuts out the givebacks to the wealthy while driving more money toward the starving, poorer districts that so desperately need it. By helping those districts survive tough times, the state is also looking out for its own best interest.

Wheeling and dealing

2011-03-28T08:31:00.001-05:00

The NYS Budget is in and though many are happy with it, it is a case of the politicians taking care of their own and ignoring many of the most vulnerable and powerless among us.

The governor allowed the legislature to restore some of the cuts to education, removed the medical malpractice suits limit and gave a tax break to those making over $200,000 a year. The winners are the teachers' unions and trial lawyers. The big losers are people with disabilities and the working poor. Cuts in Medicaid, Early Intervention and other programs will result in the loss of sevices and the loss of thousands of low-paying jobs. The loss of those jobs means more people on unemployment and public assistance and increased costs to the taxpayers.

Meanwhile the people making over $200,000 a year will get a tax cut. The powerful media commentators on the righ are calling this a refusal to raise taxes, and of course that is a lie. The tax was in place. This is a tax cut for the rich and powerful at a time when the state can least afford it.

The budget is done, now it is time to see if Cuomo and the Legislature deliver on their promises to redistrict fairly and pass meaningful ethics legislation. Don't hold your breath.

Connections

2011-03-27T12:36:00.001-05:00

I guess it's true that we are all only six degrees removed from anyone else in the world, at least on facebook. A friend mentioned that she stalks friends friends' lists to see who they know and to view interesting photos they may have posted on their pages.

That's not something that especially appealed to me, but if she thought it was interesting, who am I to judge? Hey, my life is not all that interesting, so I don't need to see other people's lives, either to feel good because they are even bigger losers than I am, or to send me into a funk because I find hundreds of people with lives full of fun, adventure, romance and sex. I have plenty to do just trying to keep my own little corner of the world intact without digging into the daily activities of others.

I did do a search of the list of people that facebook says I might know and found that interesting. If you browse that list, you will see many names of famous, or semi-famous people, because they are one of the 1,357 "friends" of one of the peolpe on your friends' list. I found the photos of broadcasters, actors and politicians on the list, simply because one of the people on my friends list who happens to collect friends has a connection to the famous person through one of their contacts.

I'm now in the process of going through my list of friends and eliminating anyone who has friended more than 100 people. I will keep family members that may have more than that on their list, but the rest must go. Facebook is not a contest to see how many people I will never meet I can add to my list. If I want to stalk someone, I'll do it the normal way, by hanging around their house after dark or following them to the local pub and rummaging through their car while they are inside having a drink.
Where's the excitement in looking through stuff people actually expect you to find?

Blowing Smoke

2011-03-13T09:40:00.001-05:00

Richard Iannuzzi, the head of the very rich a powerful New York State United Teachers union made some very good points in an op-ed piece published in yesterday's Albany Times-Union. He also left some very important points out of his piece, as you might expect. After all, he is fighting for the status quo, which right now favors the public employee unions. The pendulum always swings back and it will begin towing back towards equilibrium in relations between government and public employees unions very soon.

Snow Job

2011-02-24T16:38:00.001-05:00

Okay, so this winter has gotten so long, so cold and so snowy here in the great Northeast that I actually asked a friend to let me go snowshoeing with him this weekend. I like walking; I like being in the woods and I like working out, but walking in the woods at 12 degrees is not usually my idea of fun. But we were three or four beers into the night and I was whining about the long winter and somehow I'm going snowshoeing this weekend.

The last time I went out in the snow with this yahoo we were in Lake Placid and he decided he would teach me how to cross country ski. I'm a bowlegged, beat up old wrestler whose knees aren't even in the same zip code. I was fine after I ignored his suggestions about how to ski down hills, but walking is more my style.

Anyway, Sunday in the woods should at least build up a good thirst and there is plenty of single malt scotch in my cabinet. You always need a goal.

Helping out with Polar Bear

2011-02-15T19:19:00.000-05:00

So I'm heading north to Canton in the morning for one of my favorite events, the CP of the North Country Polar Bear Golf Classic. This is an anti-cabin fever event I helped our Affiliate start 12 years ago. They have built it into a major fundraiser and one of the pillars of the Winter Carnival in St. Lawrence County.
I just observe, glad-hand some of the sponsors I helped bring in and MC the banquet now. In the first few years of the event I used to go out on the driving range of the golf course at the University and help set up the nine-hole course. They cut the holes in the fall and lay large swatches of all-weather carpet for the greens. Each hole is between 50 and 90 yards and it takes about an hour to play the course.

It is like summer golf; most people playing just to get thirsty and win some of the prizes. It is a fun event and the food and beer afterward is always good. We have seen some interesting weather over the years. One year we had rain and mud in February, 10 miles from the Canadian Border.

I recall one year setting up the course at dawn - 7:00 am in Canton in February - and it was 22 below zero. There was a crystal clear sky, no wind and a beautiful sunrise. We finished setting up the course in two feet of snow that had fallen a couple of days before. The golf pro wanted to see if the storm had damaged any trees on the back nine, so we jumped on a pair of snowmobiles and flew across the open fairways at something in excess of 70 miles an hour. We traversed most of the course, passing deer foraging for breakfast, a fox trying to get out of our way and various other critters wondering what the hell we were doing disturbing their peaceful morning. We stopped along a partially frozen stream about a mile from the club house and spent a few minutes just taking in the scene. It was pristine and beautiful; breathtaking actually. An amazing morning and not a bad way to start your day.

Really?!!?!

2011-02-10T18:52:00.000-05:00

Wait, let me think this through. New York State is facing a $10 Billion deficit this year alone, and even more in the next couple of years. New Governor Andrew Cuomo is promising no new taxes and is planning on cutting and slashing state spending with the support of most legislators and so far, most of the citizens of the state. We are going to see painful cuts in public school aid, Medicaid, aid to local governments and on and on. Across the board cuts, and no new taxes you might believe.
Not so fast. Last week we learned that something close to $75 million dollars remains in the state budget to support the purchase of land and other costs associated with a new downtown Albany convention center that is projected to cost in excess of $200 million. The history of big construction projects in the Capital City suggests that it will actually cost much more than that.

The project has been pushed by Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and other politicians and some business leaders in the Capital District, but many people are still confused as to why this project is moving forward.
There are options, such as putting much less money into the convention center across the street from the Capitol or not building this potential White Elephant at all.

Come on Governor, does this make sense? You are proposing huge cuts in aid to schools and localities and 10% cuts to Medicaid, but we are going to continue to move forward with this folly in downtown Albany? Really?

Nothing but blue sky

2010-08-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, today was one of those picture perfect mornings at the Saratoga Race course. I was in the backstretch with a coffee in hand by 9 am. There were dozens of horses and riders on the main track. Fans, owners, trainers and locals walking their dogs mingled along the rail and beneath the big shade trees soaking in the early morning sun under a cloudless, deep blue sky.

Strikealinethruit's trainer was out with one of his other charges and we chatted for a moment. After about 45 minutes I walked half way round the racing oval to the Clubhouse to meet my daughter Marissa and we sat overlooking the track and the infield and enjoyed a few minutes of quiet conversation before she started her work day in the second-floor restaurant. All in all; a great way to start a summer day.

Now, if I could only go on a winning streak...

Congress to NY Heroes - "Go To Hell"

2010-07-30T09:03:00.002-05:00

Congress failed to pass the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act this week, raising doubts it will ever pass. The bill would spend billions on health care and compensation over the next 10 years for people sickened from their exposure to the toxic smoke and debris of the shattered World Trade Center.

Okay, I get that some members of congress think that this bill is bloated and too expensive and should be scaled back. The Dems should negotiate it down to something closer to what the White House wants and get it passed. The members of the GOP (Goofy Old Pea brains) who oppose it should be ashamed of themselves for the rhetoric they are spewing about the initiative to provide help to the people injured in the rescue and clean-up efforts following the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

From the NY Daily News - Texas Republican Joe Barton, leading the debate for his side, said the GOP would back a smaller program, such as the $150 million a year the White House would like to spend. But he said the rest of the country should not bear the brunt of helping New Yorkers cope with the aftermath of the terror attacks. "We support it, without raising taxes on the rest of the American people," said Barton (R-Texas), who recently won infamy by apologizing to BP.

Would Representative Barton also oppose having Texans pay for the care of New York veterans returning from the idiotic Iraq war that the leader of his party started and he voted for? Why do we keep electing these dim-witted crooks? Tro da bums out – starting with Rep. Barton. Of course Californians should be equally embarrassed by the egomaniacal Nancy Pelosi who supported a rare procedural move to box in the GOP on this issue.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg slammed the failure, calling it "outrageous," and blaming both sides. "It was wrong for the overwhelming majority of Republicans to vote against the bill, and it was wrong for Democrats to bring the bill to the floor under rules that made passage so much more difficult," he said.

These people in congress have way too much time on their hands. They spend most of their time and energy dreaming up ways to make their opponents look bad, make themselves look good and rake in more money for themselves and their friends. Gotta go! I need a shower.

Great Day

2010-07-29T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is reposted since it blew up with an earlier blog.

Okay, I'm sure it wasn't as big a deal for her, but yesterday was special for me. I drove my youngest daughter to an open house for accepted grad students at a college about 90 minutes from home. She's been accepted at tow good schools and wait-listed at another. Smart kid.

The morning began with breakfast at a diner before we hit the road. She was dressed in business casual clothes and had on real shoes and makeup. She looked great. No big deal you think for a 21 year old college senior. Oh contraire. This is a kid who wore almost nothing but sweats, sneakers and flip flops for the first 18-19 years of her life. She played basketball and soccer through high school and then continued soccer in college, so had lots of athletic wear, but not a great deal of variety in street clothes.

I always pictured her older sister, also an athlete for most of her life, as the hard working serious student. She will graduate from Optometry school fourth in her class in June. Take a closer look dummy (nickname my brother gave me). Little One (my nickname for her) is entering a serious Masters program and is already looking ahead to doctoral programs at other institutions. Wait; when did the quick-as-a-cat athlete with the brains to generate grades without an outward appearance of hard work, turn into a serious student with a definite career plan? Long before I was smart enough to recognize it, I assure you.

Life hasn't been too bad for me so far. I will always have doubts about some of the choices I've made regarding career - such as it is - and some of the bizarre personal decisions in my portfolio, but there is no doubt that seeing these two terrific young women grow up has been a privilege. I say with no false modesty at all that their mother, and their own strength of character, is the reason they have become who they are. I am thankful to have been along for the ride.

I sometimes think about how fast it has gone and will often tell them both how much I miss them when they were younger; and I was smarter and more relevant. I then think of something my mother said late one night when my brother and I were having one of our after dark talks. She told us how much she enjoyed being around us as young adults. We could discuss books that contained words of more than one syllable and form opinions about important topics. That has now happened with my girls; and is not such a bad thing after all. They have discovered most of my faults and, shall we say, idiosyncrasies by now and accept them for what they are. We sometimes have those interesting conversations I remember having with my mother and brother. They will always roll their eyes at some of my words and actions, but are becoming more tolerant of the weirdness as they get older.

I'm still not prepared to be a responsible member of society except when absolutely necessary, but I certainly don't mind being known as my daughters' dad. When they turn out as well as these two have, it is certainly good for the image to be associated with them, rather than some of the people and experiences before they came along and changed my life.

Great site

2010-07-29T15:56:00.000-05:00

If only those so eager to send our military forces into dangerous situations without a clearly defined objective and a reasonable chance of effecting positive change would read these comments, maybe; just MAYBE they would avoid wasting lives and money in the future. Well, a nice thought anyway. Enjoy the website. It is very moving.

http://www.100facesofwarexperience.org/portrait-gallery/100-faces/3050703

Thinking about it

2010-07-25T09:05:00.002-05:00

have mixed emotions about this one. When I was young and stupid, I would’ve said yeah, let’s make this sport legal and give people the choice. I still think that is the right decision, but part of me agrees with the people who oppose legislation to make it legal in New York. It is barbaric and brutal. Should we be legitimizing another form of entertainment that caters to the worst side of human nature? On the other hand, we allow football, hockey and other brutal forms of recreation and entertainment. Where do we draw the line? This is a debate worth having before we move forward.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=937635&category=REGION

Don't Need Him

2007-05-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Sparky; ya shoulda stayed in the cave a while longer. I think the sun has gotten to you. Mariano will be fine and the Yankees will have enough in the Pen. Their starting pitching will be fine and is already back to about 85%. They will outscore most teams most nights, so they only need decent pitching. The Sox have not had any significant injuries yet and the Yanks are getting healthy. It will all come down to September.

As for The Rocket; well he should help, but most Yankees fans know that he is no savior. Hey, George would pay $3 million a month for Samuel Clemmons, so what he paid for Roger is no big deal. It's not my money, so I don't care. You are great at talking now, but let's hear from you if the Sox do their usual swoon in September.
Stu

Rocket this

2007-05-08T07:27:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Yeah, dummy, I'm back. And you can thank the Rocket for that.
I just love the way all you Yank-me fans are getting fired up about getting the 45-year-old steroid freak back. Let's put this in perspective, numbnuts. First off, he's not going to pitch for another month or so, by which time your beloved pinstripers will be about a million games out. And when he does decide it's warm enough to pitch, what do you think he's going to do, pitch every day? The rest of the staff will be the same old stiffs, and the way Mariano is serving up batting practice, he won't have the pen to rely on.
I'd like to personally thank The Boss for making life interesting. God, how desperate have you become when you pin your hopes on a guy who should be sitting in a rocking chair on his porch in Texas?
The only thing dumber than a Yankees fan is a whole bunch of Yankee fans.
That's enough for one month.
Sparky

Box the Sox Pox

2007-05-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

Man; Red Sox fans are not only annoying, they are the most insecure and neurotic bunch of people on the planet. I know Boston is one of the best sports town anywhere. hell it's one of the best TOWNS anywhere, but why are Boston fans so uptight and insecure. Actually, I don't think it is the fans in Boston so much as the Sox fans that live elsewhere.

Anyway, why the big stink over Tom Brady walking around Manhattan with a Yankees hat on? he doesn't play for the Boston Red Sox, he plays for the New England Patriots. Not only is it a different sport; it's a different town. It's not even a suburb of Boston, like say, East Rutherford is to NYC.

Maybe Tom is buddies with Jeter or Chin Ming Wang and they gave him the cap. I'm a Giants and Yankees fan. I couldn't care less if Eli Manning walked around Back Bay wearing a Red Sox cap. If he played like Brady and won a couple of Super Bowls he could wear Manny's Dreds for all I care. By the way, would there be this kind of stink if it was Manny wearing a Colts, or Jets, or Dolphins cap? Hey, this is just Brady being Brady.

Stu

Are ya kiddin' me?

2007-04-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

As long as there are attorneys like Mary Olive Pierson, lawyers will have nobody to blame but themselves for the bad jokes and general distaste for their profession. Pierson is the attorney for former LSU women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman. Chatman quit late in the season after rumors about improper relationships with some of her players. The university revealed yesterday what most people had suspected all along. Chatman allegedly had "inappropriate sexual relationships" with former players. If they were former players at the time of the alleged sexual relationships, then they were probably not inappropriate. If she had relationships with kids who were playing for her at the time, they can't be anything other than inappropriate. So, why doesn't LSU just said she was futzin' around with players and they are going to prosecute her for rape or fire her ass or something, or that she had sex with former players who are no longer at the university and it's none of their damn business. But, the administration is taking advice only from attorneys, so they talk around the issue until nobody knows what anybody means or what anybody did. How 'bout this; just tell the truth.

Then there is the aforementioned M.O. Pierson. What a maroon! According to the NY Times, her defense consists of the following statement:
"LSU has no written policy governing relationships between teachers and students and between coaches and athletes. I don't know that you can say something is inappropriate when no rule makes it so." BRILLIANT!
They probably don't have any written rules against having sex with a sheep at center court at halftime either. I wonder if Ms. Pierson thinks that is okay.

I need to find a cave and get away from the amoral assholes of the world for a bit before my head explodes. Oh beer babe; another tankard of ale please.
Stu

Bush Leagues

2007-04-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Today we are answering an often asked question about sports in the Capital Region, posed this time by blogger Dave Lucas http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com. It was asked in a more comprehensive and thoughtful manner than sometimes in the past. This issue has been analyzed, dissected and debated for years. Why can’t sports teams- and we think he means professional sports teams- grow and thrive here?

Much as it pains me to say this, Sparky made some good points in his answer. Sometimes the product is simply over priced. His first point is probably the most important one. This is a minor league town. Arena Football, arguably a borderline major league, did thrive here when the Firebirds first hit town, but that was largely due to the novelty of the then new sport and the exceptional marketing job done by that organization. The same can be said for the original Albany Patroons.

Sparky also hits on another part of the equation when he talks about his preference for big-time college football and basketball in nearby Syracuse as opposed to minor league teams like the Patroons. People in this area have long been strong supporters and ardent followers of Syracuse football and basketball, as well as the major professional sports teams in New York and Boston. With fairly easy access to the venues in those cities, many people would prefer to see a few major college and professional sporting events each year than support a local minor league team on a regular basis. Dave also mentioned how fans in this area love the local college teams, though he forgot to include RPI men’s hockey, and that there is also a large and loyal group of high school sports fans in this area. Siena men’s basketball averaged just over 5,800 fans per home game this year, followed by RPI men’s Hockey (3,715) and UAwbany men’s basketball (3,175).

The succession of minor league teams in this area that have lasted only a few seasons faded into memory for various reasons. Some were poorly funded and had awful marketing plans, while some didn’t have the fan base. A few, like the Diamond Dogs, were the victims of a bad or inappropriate facility. In some cases, there were just too many teams competing for too few fans and too few entertainment dollars. Some weeks during the winter season you have UAwbany and Siena, basketball, RPI, River Rats and Union hockey and dozens of high school basketball games going on in a four or five day span. There are just not enough days in the week and not enough sports fans with the time and money to support everything.

One final and very important reason why this area has not been able to support professional sports on a regular basis is the make up of the local economy. This area has a strong and stable economy because we rely on state and local government and higher education for a much higher percentage of our jobs than many other comparably sized markets in the country. This is the capital with huge numbers of government employees. We also have a lot of colleges and universities employing thousands more people. We simply don’t have the corporate base to provide the advertising dollars and to buy large blocks of season tickets. I obviously don’t have research on this, but my guess is that a lot more individual people (Joe and Jane six-pack and their kids) buy tickets to events in this area than do in similar metropolitan regions elsewhere in the country. This is Awbany; it’s not Buffalo, Baltimore or Orlando. Hey, it’s not even Providence, Rochester or Syracuse.

Next issue: How come the capital city doesn’t have a decent facility for football, soccer and other events? Until Uncle Joe Bruno gave HVCC a bunch of our money to put his name on the baseball stadium in Troy, we had no decent outdoor facility of any size.

Stu

small-timers

2007-04-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yo, putzes
There's a good reason fans in Albany don't support professional sports. Because Albany can't come to the realization that it's a small-time market.
Don't forget, the Patroons that are playing now aren't the Patroons that were playing two weeks ago. The new Patroons are the USBL team, which is like watching pickup basketball at a playground. How else do you explain Craig Forth playing professional basketball? Give me a break.
The Rats only draw when they give half of the house away on promotional nights, and rightfully so, because $10 to park, $13 for a ticket and $6 for a beer are big-market prices, not Albany prices. And here's the clincher that this is a small-time market. The powers that be at the Times Union Center didn't even block off dates for possible Rats playoff games! The Rats have to play their home playoff games at the Glens Falls Civic Center, and then have the audacity to charge $17 per ticket!
At least when I go to the Carrier Dome, I know I'm going to see bigtime athletics, even if Syracuse is bad. I'd rather pay to watch Iowa-Syracuse football or DePaul-Syracuse basketball than waste money of the CBA or, God forbid, the USBL.
This isn't a big-time market, and fans shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to see mediocre sports.
Sparky

The Bastards!

2007-04-12T21:29:00.000-05:00

Another view
http://warrenwashingtoncountyobserver.blogspot.com/

He's ALIVE

2007-04-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

Oh shit, that's not necessarily good. Stopped by the cave tonight and it smelled like my dorm room in 1973 after we lit up a couple of dozen sticks of incense to freshen up the place; yeah that's right; freshen up the air a little; yeah.

You're right Sparky, it is indeed sad if I spend more than a few seconds thinking about where you might have wandered off to, but I was briefly sober and Kimmie did ask about when I had last seen you.

Oh well; A-Rod is off to a terrific start, but most of the Yankees pitching staff is on the disabled list, along with Matsui, so April and May could be interesting. The UAwbany LAX team continues to be ranked in the top three in the country and the Stanley Cup playoffs have finally started. The sports calendar is hitting another hot month so things should heat up in the cave, eh?

Imus got screwed

2007-04-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

I'm an Imus fan and believe that what he said about the Rutgers team was wrong and hurtful and he should pay a price. I don't believe that he should be fired and am sorry that he will not be on MSNBC or CBS. He will surface elsewhere.

Steve Capus, MSNBC and the NBC family of companies should be ashamed. Capus and NBC caved to pressure and fired Imus because sponsors began to pull their support. For Mr. Capus and NBC to say otherwise is shameful and dishonest. He and his board caved to pressure from the sponsors and to a lesser degree to the rants of some members of the NBC staff. Capus and the other leaders of the NBC family of companies made a gutless, shameful and wrong decision to abandon Imus and it will cost them. I, and I believe many others like me, will not watch any NBC news product anytime soon.

Capus and the other leaders of NBC who allowed liars and hypocrites to influence their decision and demonstrated that they are cowards and care only about the bottom line. This was purely a business decision and I understand that. For Capus and the other leaders at NBC to contend that it was anything else is insulting to us all.

Ask Al Sharpton if he has said he was sorry for the hurt and the lies he spewed during the Tawana Brawley case. he was a small-time huckster who made his career on the back of a lie and nobody has ever held him accountable. He has no credibility; and for corporate executives to bow to him is truly shameful.

get a life

2007-04-12T08:04:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
If all you have to do is worry about where I am, you're living one sorry life.
Can't believe the way they're taking the I-Man over the coals. Anyone who listens to Imus knows that it's one of the more irreverent shows on radio, and calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" is probably one of the tamest things he's said. But then Rev. Sharptongue jumps in and all hell breaks loose.
I find it pretty ironic that on the same day MSNBC says it's dropping the Imus simulcast that all charges are dropped against the guys from Duke who were accused of raping a black stripper/hooker/crack ho. Where's Rev. Al and Rev. Jesse in that one? Why aren't they demanding a public apology from the lying bitch who took down the whole Duke lacrosse program? Oh, that's right. She's black, and the victims were white.
You jus' can't make this shit up.
No wonder I stay in the cave. Heading back...
Sparky

Yoo Hoo!

2007-04-05T18:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's been a week with no word from Sparky. He is officially AWOL. Probably locked himself in the cave again and can't find his way out. He'll figure it out when he finally runs outa beer and Depends.

Will the local yokels please get offa the Will Brown band wagon. Come on; Mike Lonergan gets an extension to his contract at Vermont and these clowns can only talk about how the Willie Loman of America East got more. Stop, already. The guy with the goofy haircut held up UAwbany and is going to stay around another year or two. He will sell out for money the next time he has a good offer from a legit DI team (St Bona doesn't count). Do we have to have a Will Brown story or two every week until they start running them every day next fall? This ain't God we're talking about, or even Ditka. It's Will freakin' Brown. Remember how Virginia ran his pups outa the gym in the first round of the NCAA? This guy is human and may only be the third or fourth best coach at his university. Let's not over look the job Scott Marr has done with the number two LAX team in the nation. Then of course there is Vives (track) and Bob Ford (football) who have been there and had success for decades. Let's not make Brownie the second coming of Doc Sauers just yet.

Fock the Socks

2007-04-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

So ten minutes into opening day I get an e-mail from Sparky about A-Rod making an error in the first inning of the first freakin' Yankees game of the season. The baseball season is 10 minutes old and shit hook is dumping all over Mr. Sincerity already. Come on, give the guy a little slack. So then The Rod Man whiffs in the bottom of the first and the boo birds are in full plume in duh Bronx and Sparky is probably struttin' around the cave naked, except for his Manny Ramirez Dreds Wig, and singing warm up the bus; not realizing that the Yankees are playing at home. But a few facts - and 26 World Titles - never stopped a red sox fan (read loser) from enjoying even a brief moment of pain in Yankeeland.

The Yankees make three errors, but bang out 12 hits, including a pair of home runs and win the game 9-5. My prediction stands. The Yankees will out-hit and out-pitch the American League and win 95-100 games and the pennant. A-Rod will hit .140 and make four errors in the playoffs, but the Bombers will win another World Series. The red sox will win about 90 games and lose in the first round and Manny; well Manny will be Manny and hit about .432 with 12 home runs against the Yankees; and then it will be football season and we can make fun of Eli for not comin' and Tom Coughlin for not goin'.

Surf's up, time for some golf. Oh, Beer Babe...
Stu

Tag Schmag

2007-03-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Sparky - You are gonna love this! (He won't leave the cave for days - just sit there drinking beer and shaking his head)

Okay, this blog has been tagged by a good friend, so I will return the favor. I have to tag it forward, in this case by nominating five more bloggers worthy of the award. Here’s how the originator of the concept puts it:"If you choose to carry this meme forward, remember to tag only those bloggers who stimulate your cortex....or something like that. Please make sure you pass the rules to the blogs you are tagging."
Rules; I hate rules - The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award'.

Thanks Bud, and the WTIT Blogger gang and we are passing this along to:

This first one is Neil. He is a little nuts and occasionally funny. He says he is a writer and web producer living in Los Angeles who writes about the humor of personal relationships and pop culture. Okay, whatever. Enjoy
http://citizenofthemonth.com/

Next is Mr. Fab and Pointless Drivel.
Just a collection of samplings from the cluttered mind, is the way he describes his blog. Well, that's original. It sounds like most other blogs I've seen, including this one. His has been around longer.
http://pointless-drivel.com/

Next up is Ed Dague, a guy I like and respect a lot. He is smart and not afraid to speak his mind. Ed's blog actually does make you think now and then and it is about TV news, something that interests me.
http://blogs.timesunion.com/eddague/

The name of this next one is a bit of an inside joke. Written by a friend, this is another regional blog that covers issues relevant to Upstate New York.
http://www.upstateblog.net/

This final site is of a nice spot in Westport, Connecticut. Had a few beers with the owner at a Syracuse Basketball game during this year's Big East Tournament in New York. This is a guy you want to have a few beers with. Go visit his joint, have a couple and say hello for Sparky and Stu and tell Mike we'll be stopping by to see him this spring; and Sparky will bring along that program from the first football game played in The Dome.
http://www.niteimage.com/clubs/blackduck/blackduckcafe.htm

Okay; I'm done. You're it.

Thanks for the kind words, Bud. I'll be stopping by to see you on my trip to Westport.
Click on the WTIT link to the right for a few daily laughs.

Stu

Stick 'em up

2007-03-29T17:31:00.000-05:00

Will Brown is bidding the Bonnies against UAwbany to drive up his compensation package. Gotta love his pluck, but hey you do need to strike while the iron is hot. The Danes could be not so Great the next couple of years, so why not try to lock into a long-term deal for mucho buckos while you can? He is asking Awbany to pony up $275K, and likely wants them to sweeten the incentives package and add another year onto the end of the deal and then he will say never mind to Olean. If Duh Danes don't give him what he wants, he can go make $250-$300K at St. Bona for the next 4-5 years. Not bad.

Come on, give Michael Ray a little slack. So he insulted Jews, Gays, some random fans, a couple of referees, a local yokal sports columnist and maybe a few other individuals and groups I can't recall right now, it's not like he actually has the brains to realize what he did. By all accounts he is a very nice guy with not much on the ball (don't even think about it Anna), but the poor bastard has no clue how to conduct himself in a highly visible and responsible job like head coach of a professional basketball team. He'll be bouncing at some club soon and nobody will remember.

The Patroons are really entertaining though. You gotta like a team that is forced to fire the misfit they hired as coach right during the championship series, has a president and GM so outa touch he can't FIND the dog track, and then one of the players get ejected from a playoff game for punching another player; who just happens to be on HIS team. Can you say HBO movie boys and girls?

Stu

you heard it here first

2007-03-29T10:57:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Let's see...stay in Albany, make about $175,000 per and be probably the fourth-highest paid coach in America East, or take $250,000 to coach in Olean. I'm figuring Will the Thrill tells Leroy Boy Is That You to take a hike, and packs up the wife and kid and heads to Bonaventure.
and the next coach of the Barkin' Dogs will be....ROB LANIER. Hey, you heard it here first,
Hey, how about them Patroons. They fly under the radar all year, and now get national exposure because Loose Cannon Richardson let's rip with a couple of f-bombs and contends that Jews are crafty. Micheal Ray hasn't gotten this much attention since he was suspended by the NBA for usin', and usin' and usin'. And Jim Coyne just sits there with a blank look on his face and says, "Huh?" Time to pin a nametag on that old boy and send him to the dogtrack.
Got to run...but I can't remember why. What was my name?
Stuckey

Geno's gotta go

2007-03-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

Hey, putz
Brand new bandwagon. Lots of room. Get your tickets early. Geno Aurriemma's got to go.
Maybe this is why no one gives a rat's ass about women's basketball. UConn is the No. 1 seed in the Fresno Region (why not just play the freaking game in Anchorage!) and LSU doesn't even have a real coach after Pokey got run out of town for. So what does LSU do? Blows UConn right out of the water! Hey, Geno, nice game prep, sport. Was it a surprise that Sylvia Fowles ripped you a new asshole? She's only the best female player on the planet (Sorry, Candace). Might want to devise a defense to stop her, Geno boy. Geez, Louise, go back to selling Italian pastries or whatever you're good at.
And who was the genius who put UConn and LSU in the Fresno Region? Championship game draws 3,000 in a 16,000 seat facility. BRILLIANT! Whoever is responsible is probably in line to be the next ECACHL commissioner.
Hey, Will the Thrill might not be so dumb after all. Interviews at St. Bona and comes back to Albany to find that LeRoy Boy Is That You has a big reward package for him for taking the Ungreatful Danes to the NCAAs. Can you say leverage, boys and girls? Wonder if Scott Marr is going to get the same reward package when he takes the Stickboys back to the NCAAs after being ranked in the top two-tree for most of the year.
Hey, my boss said something about being a team player yesterday. I quickly reminded him that there is no team in the word I. Geez, what a numskull.
Don't forget, you can't spell Wednesday without thenail.
Sparky

Invest five minutes

2007-03-26T19:18:00.000-05:00

Click on this. It only take a few minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

Whatever you think about the war, we sent them there. If you don't like the reasons they are killing and dieing, make your views known and the next time you get a chance, vote for someone who will only commit our troops to a war worth fighting.

We should require our president and members of congress to watch this, then think about their votes on this war. We shouldn't be there. We invaded a country illegally. But we are there and we can't just pull up stakes and come home tomorrow. Talk to other nations in the region. Get this settled and bring home those American Troops.

Stu

A Pox on the Sox

2007-03-26T18:04:00.000-05:00

The Yankees will be fine. Wang will be back by May and Pavano will get two starts in April and then two tune-ups in September before the playoffs. He is going to be out with a bruised sinus in between.

They will get enough pitching from the gerital corps and will out score most teams. They will only need three of their 10 starting pitchers to be healthy in October and the rest will give them some depth in the bullpen.

The Sox? Well, the Sox will hang around most of the season, then fade in the fall. The Yankees will win the AL Pennant, then lose in the World Series. A-Rod will cry and leave NY for the Florida Marlins and Joe Torre will become coach of the Albany Patroons in a Steinbrenner trade for Michael Ray Richardson.

Stu

Thoughts From Fantasy World

2007-03-26T17:41:00.000-05:00

Gotta love the pluck displayed here
( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17793323/), but I’m growing more tired of the drivel pouring out of the mouths of some of these nut jobs. It is as bad as, and only slightly more outrageous than, some of the stuff our politicians utter.

The link takes you to a story about an Iranian governmental official who is ranting and raving against the Great Satan, again. No, not Sparky this time, but the good ol' US of A.

Look, our foreign policy is a disaster and our intelligence agencies are being made to look stupid by their bosses and the current administration, but these clowns in Iran and South Korea are starting to get annoying. I think it's time to tell them to go pound salt. We should get rid of Georgie Porgie, VP Darth Vader, Condominium Rice and the rest of that gang and get some folks who will not run the country like it's a freakin' Wal-Mart.
Then the new administration should issue a statement that says, look, the adults are back in charge here and the juvenile delinquents are back in their rooms without supper. We are sorry and we are going to try to start to clean up the mess we allowed them to create. But the two-bit murdering bastards that run places like Syria, Iran and South Korea need to know a few things about us:

We don’t want your sand flea-infested country.
We don’t give a shit what you do inside your own borders, as long as you don’t threaten us or our friends with it. Have unprotected sex with all the sheep and camels you want, just don't sell them to us as beef later on.

We only want to buy oil from you at a reasonable price. We don't want to own the wells. (You see, Bush and Halliburton will not be running this country any more)
We don’t care If you sick bastards want to blow your kids up. That's fine, just don’t do it near us or our friends.

We will leave Iraq and not start any more illegal wars for bogus reasons with little chance of success.

We understand that since we screwed up and destroyed Iraq that we need to lead the reconstruction effort.

We will not elect any more right-wing religious nut jobs who recruit equally greedy and nutty assistants to run America.

We will not elect any more left wing nuts who think that we need to solve every problem in the world right now.

We are not going to round up 12 million illegals in this country and send them back to Mexico, Central America and the Middle East.

We will start to enforce our immigration laws, and we will send the criminals, the wackos and the people who don't want to pay back taxes back to you.

And then I woke up. Time for a beer. Where did I put the Cheerios?

We need to have someone in the White House who will say to the rest of the world. We are going to live and let live. Don't mess with us, or our Friends and we won't bother you.

Stu

Who gives a sh......?

2007-03-26T08:39:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
It's Monday morning, I ain't hungover and I'm already pissed.
Who told sports talk geeks that the first thing they have to discuss on Monday mornings is what their families did over the weekend? Hey, moron, I don't care what your pampered-ass wife did with your pampered-ass kids unless it's something really kinky and weird, and then you're NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAY! Goood, God almighty, it's called sports talk radio because you're supposed to be talking about sports. Give me Imus any day.
Hey, a local meat market has fresh ox tails on sale. What say we get a couple pounds of those bad boys and kabob 'em? Ox tails and beer, can't be that bad.
Incredible to watch John Thompson The Original (all those numbers cornfuse me) and Patrick Ewing The Elder work their voodoo against the Shit Heels Sunday. Now Country Boy Roy Williams know how Custer felt. The Shit Heels just got waylaid in OT. I almost cried when that kid pumped in the three with seven seconds left. I'D NEVER SEEN A TEAM GET SHUT OUT IN OT BEFORE! Don't forget, Hoya paranoia will destroya.
Hey, putz, I was really sorry to see that the Yankees had to put Cheng Ming Wang on the DL and now, they're going to throw Carl (Could You Show Me The Way To The Mound) Pavano on opening day. It's tough to go one-and-done in a 162-game season, but I can see the cornerman picking up the white towel now! Must suck to be a Yank-Mes fan.
Results of Anna Nicole's autopsy come out today. I'm betting on terminal stupidity.
Sparky

Blow it out yer ear

2007-03-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, just gotta vent a little...
President Daffy Duck said today that the legislation passed that will set a deadline for bringing home the troops from Iraq, won't make any difference. The Clucks in Congress that gave the President, and his gang of wackos a blank check and then turned their backs have as much blood on their hands as Daffy, VP Darth Vader and retired Secretary of Defense Foghorn Leghorn.
This administration cherry picked the intelligence that seemed to almost justify the launching of an unprovoked and illegal war against a nation we had boxed in with no-fly zones and weapons inspections. The president said today that Congress has yielded its responsibility. Hell, these knuckleheads did that four years ago when they told Daffy, Darth and Foghorn it was okay to go trash Iraq and waste $500 Billion.

That said, we can't just say 'game' and take our toys and go home. Iran and Syria would love a vacuum like that to suck them into Iraq so they could divide up the country and all its oil. Time to impeach this beady-eyed numb nuts. We are in too deep to leave and don't know what else to do. What happened to the greatest country on earth? Easy, we turned our back and let a bunch of self-serving dimwits take over. Time to step up to the plate folks and pay attention. Let's get rid of all of them.

I'm gonna get a s12-pack, go over to the cave, and and watch Bugs Bunny cartoons with Sparky.
Stu

Atta Boy Brownie

2007-03-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

Whoops, wrong Brownie. Come on Sparky, will Brown can't be all that dumb. Olean in the winter? The Bonnies program is permanently mired in the muck. The glory days are gone for them. How you going to get enough qulaity basketball players, student athletes if you will, to go there, whithout massive quantities of cheating?

How about the guy they dumped? He comes into town on a white horse to pluck the program outa the gutter and they trow da bum out after four years because he didn't win enough. Nice! They had all sorts of knuckleheads in the program, including the coach and AD, before this guy. He comes in and keeps them off the police blotter and they gas him.

As for Will Brown, he's just going for the free weekend. They can't pay him a lot more than he's making; the program sucks; and he's in hooterville for crying out loud. He's not going there, unless they pass the collection plate a couple of extra times on Sundays and do something like double his salary, reprotedly about $163,000 a year. I know its the A10, but it's the bottom of the A10. Look what happened to the guy they just dumped. If Will goes there he better get some recruiting and admissions help and a long-term contract.

I hear the door opening and Gus is crying so somebody must be here. I'll cover Stony Brook later.
Stu

St. Brownaventure?

2007-03-21T10:05:00.000-05:00

Yo, feeble one
You've got to stop hanging around with Zimmons. His stupidity is starting to rub off on you.
Hey, it looks like Will Brown might be packing up the family and heading to Olean, the Garden spot of New York. A couple of good years in Albany was enough for Will the Thrill, and besides, he can't imagine life without Jamar.
No guarantees that he's going to the Bonnies job, though. Interesting to see that one of the other candidates is Rob (You're Fired!) Lanier. Now, even though he doesn't have Will's resume, he will be coming from a bigger program, is a proven recruiter and was once an assistant in Olean.
Hey, nice move by Stony Brook to join the Big South for football. Let's see, Long Island...Charleston, South Carolina...yeah, I can see the connection. I just think old Chucky Priore was looking for a warmer climate for his games. He must have pictures of someone high up in the food chain at Stony Brook having sex with a chicken, because this move makes no sense to me at all. The only people on Long Island who benefit from this move are in the football program. I've got to get the Title IX people on speed dial.
Don't be picking on Tonya Harding. I was thinking she might make the perfect next Mrs. Sparky. Loves to drink and has no morals!
Sparky

There he is

2007-03-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

Read below and you will wonder why someone doesn't just blow this little rock to pieces. We continue to elect dimwitted thieves.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17696092/

Hey Sparky; is Tonya Harding getting her meds from your pharmacist? She calls the cops because she is seeing things in her house, then has to be dragged out of her neighbor's place. Wow, she is soooo entertaining.

Oh, by the way; thanks for the information on Lewis Hamiliton. Nice to see the good ole boys are letting them black fellers participate in NASCAR now. I'm sure all the black sociologists will find it very exciting that now one of their own can spend all day in a car turning left.

You need to stop hiding in the cave for long periods. I think the dampness makes your brain mushy. Save some of those meds for me. I'll bring the Smithwicks to wash them down.
Stu

he ain't heavy, he's my brother

2007-03-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Miss me? Still recovering from the drunken bimbo parade on St. Patty's Day. Head's still spinning.
Hey, knucklehead. The maintream press did it again. Wrapped up as they are in March Mediocreness, they missed the biggest story of the weekend. Remember this name, boys and girls...Lewis Hamilton. Lewis, who is only, 21, made history Sunday when he became the first black driver to compete in a Formula I race. Having a black driver in FI is like having a black man in the Klan...it just doesn't happen. But wait, it gets better. Not only did he qualify for the Australian Grand Prix, he finished THIRD, in his first time out for McLaren. Can we say Tiger Woods here??? Lewis is British with Jamaican mon descent, and he's THE REAL DEAL. And he doesn't even get a line anywhere because every newspaper in the world is in love with Dick Vitale's ugly stepchild, March Moronness.
I'm goin online and ordering me some Lewis Hamilton gear.
Hey, in case you missed, attendance for the ECACHL championship game was the second-lowest EVER. Your buddy Hagwell is doing a heck of a job promoting this thing. And what was the deal with having part of the upper bowl curtained off, and portions open? This thing is turning into a three-ring circus, and every ring is full of clowns.
Things are getting so bad, I'm almost lookin' forward to stock car racing season.
Get my meds, I'm going down!
Sparky

Empty Cave

2007-03-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

I lost Sparky....again. The cave is dark and cold and...oh, just like always. As a matter of fact, that sounds like just about every room he enters. Maybe he is there. I'll go back and check.

Just a little break, here. Not much happening locally, unless you consider the annual dance of the legislators in Albany worth listening to. Is there any more self-absorbed, self-centered group of dirtballs this side of the Middle East? More when I feel like it.
Stu

still fumin'

2007-03-13T12:05:00.002-05:00

Yo, putz
This whole NCAA thing is still pissin' me off. I've got to think the little drawf Gary Walters, who failed as a coach at Providence and who is so goddamed Ivy that he pisses green, was just getting a little payback at some of the schools that he looks down on, like Syracuse, Niagara, Drexel, at al. Ivy League ADs got no business being in charge of any sports committee, usless it's squash or fencing. Run his sorry ass out of town.
Here's an idea, and it ain't too far fetched. Expand the tournament field to 67 or 69, and have two-tree more play-in games on Tuesday. Make Central Connecticut and Texas A&M-Corpusule Count or whatever the hell it is earn the right to be a 16 seed and get their ass kicked. That way, a couple of deserving teams will get in and Fat Tuesday can eliminate a couple of the dregs that don't belong anyway.
Geez, Louise, Syracuse and South Alabama? Sounds like a bad spring trip baseball game at Fort Myers.
Good thing Quinnipiac isn't playing Dartmouth in the first game of the ECAC tournament Friday at the Knick. That would draw about as many people as a Brittany Spears lecture on the virtues of motherhood.
Hey, knuckedragger. If I'm a Virginia basketball player, I'm getting a little ticked off that the Big Dogs at Albany are feeling lucky about their draw. I don't see the Danes doing what they did last year against UConn. You can bet the Cavs want to make a statement to the Dog Pound. Hell, last year, I think Calhoun and his boys went out drinking the night before the game.
Speakin' oh drinkin', damned if it ain't nearly Nail Wednesday.
Sparky

Hoop de Doo

2007-03-12T18:11:00.000-05:00

Hey Sparky;
I wish you coulda heard Gary Walters on the Fatso and Fruitloops show this afternoon. He used the RPI and strength of schedule to justify Arkansas over Syracuse, then threw that argument out the window when asked how Stanford got in. He said they had injuries to key players and that contribute to their 18-14 record. Then he goes back to the RPI to justify Illinois and Purdue getting in.

It just doesn't matter. There are only about eight teams with a legitimate chance of winning the tournament anyway. If this was about crowning a worthy national champion and not making money for the En See Double Eh, they'd pick about 12 teams and let them fight it out.

I'm with you though on Billy Packer and the college basketball mafia. If you are going to artificially inflate the field to 64 1/2 teams, I'd much rather see some more teams like Northwest Southeast Missouri State than some team that goes 7-9 in the SEC and finishes about seventh in their league.

As for Siena, the ECAC and the TUC; blow it out your ear. It's marketing, dim wit. the P.T. Barnums of the world are ruling sports in this country (see above).

Hey Snooks, with Quinnipiac dumping Cornell I figure the over under on attendance at the ECAC Frozen four this weekend is about 4,500 each night.

As for Poke Me; who cares? Women's hoop in Luzianna? Can't draw even what the ECAC gets.
Stu

this is ridiculous

2007-03-12T09:14:00.000-05:00

Oh, my achin' ass
Leave it to a former D-III coach and Ivy League geek to screw up one of the greatest institutions in American sports.
Pleeeeeeze, explain to me how Syracuse and Drexel get left out of the NCAA tournament and schools like Purdue and Illinois get in. Did the Big Ten commissioner quietly contribute to the Gary Walters' retirement (read, slush) fund? Hey, Gary the Geek, don't accept any packages from Jim Boeheim or Bruiser Flint.
This may be the worst field ever drawn and you know why? Because assholes like Billy Packer complained last year when so many mid-major teams got in, so this year the committee says, Fuck it, and rewards mediocrity in the major conferences. This is the biggest massacre since Little Big Horn.
And Will Brown is a nice guy, but giving Albany a 13? Get real. Wonder how long it took the good, ole boys to come up with a bracket where the Danes actually have a chance to win a game! Somebody must have owed Lee McElroy a favor, or was paying off an old golf debt. Syracuse doesn't get in and Albany is a 13? Boeheim's boys would beat the Dogs by 20, anytime, anywhere.
And you've got to stop drinking the Siena-ECAC kool-aid. I know you're taking money from just about everyone in the area, but I didn't know the Knick/Pepsi was part of the Putz Vacation Fund, too. RPI has as much chance to playing in the ECAC final four as they do of playing in the Beanpot! And tell me what a good idea it is to close off the top of the TUC when you want to see Stanford next year, and have to cough up 75 bucks, IN AUGUST, to see through the door.
And you know why Poke-Me Chatman isn't on the back page of every tabloid? Because it's Looziana, chump. They still haven't figured out what an inappropriate relationship is down there!
God, you aggravate me.
Sparky

What're U Smokin'?

2007-03-11T17:30:00.000-05:00

Whatever it is, I want some. Snort this you goober!
Siena moved to the Knick/Pepsi/TUC for the amenities and the added seating for the couple of games a year they might need it. Nobody ever expected that they would average 10,000 per game. Hey, the rest of the league draws about 2,000 a game. Rich Ensor really needs Siena, or this conference will be relegated to the scrap heap of the NCAA.
This league can't even get their "automatic" bid into the real NCAA tournament. How far has this loop fallen? Their tournament champ Niagara has to play the elimination game just to earn the right to get smoked by Kansas. Wow, the committee must think those Purple thugs are actually from across the river in Canada and need to earn their way into the real field of 64.

As for the ECAC; they can't increase the draw if there is no chance of RPI getting to the final four. The move still made sense, because Albany is more centrally located, and if RPI does ever get there the place will be filled. Lake Placid is a great place, but if you don't ski a trip there every few years is plenty. Maybe they should send the tournament there every fourth year.
You are spending way too much time in the cave. With friends like you, I'm glad I keep that butt plug handy.
Stu

can you get any dumber?

2007-03-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

Yo, moron
Closing the upper bowl of the TUC is a good idea? What the hell have you been smokin? It's morons like you that make the administrators at Siena look good because you fall into line with anything they say.
Hey, dipshit, remember when Fast Phil decided to move the ECAC tournament from Lake Placid to Albany because the Knick/Pepsi/TUC had more seats and the tournament could draw more people? Check the attendance figures, Bevis. They're the same in Albany as they were in Lake Placid. Hey, why not limit the ECAC tournament to 7,500 people? Will make for a more energetic crowd because you'll get all the cowtippers from Colton sitting next to the stiff-upper-lipped crowd from Hanover. Yeah, let's go. Close off the upper bowl. Hell, may as well close off the press box, too! It's not too tough to see you're an administrator (what the hell do you do, anyway?) Clowns like you never admit you make mistakes. You just close the curtains and pretend nothing ever happened. Can't fill a big arena? Just make it smaller!!
Geez, you're a dope.
Your friend, Sparky

For Play

2007-03-09T21:08:00.000-05:00

Hey Shit Hook; how stupid can you be? Open the front door and hit the golf balls into the hall. That way they bounce off your neighbor's door and don't damage your walls.

As for Siena shutting the top bowl of the TUC for their home games; it makes sense. Create the demand, fill the smaller arena and you will have a better, crazier atmosphere. Of course we are talking mostly old white guys who went to catholic schools, so how nutty can it get? They think having two beers and going to a gentleman's club to watch ugly chicks with fat thighs and no tits take off their clothes is a fun night out; unless there is a card game somewhere.

Gotta love the LSU sitchiashun. Coaches doodling players; just makes you want to send your daughter there.

Gotta go. I hear there is a Smithwick's with my name on it sitting on the bar at The Wood.
Fore!
Stu

why not just lock the damn doors?

2007-03-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
I may have not done well in my logics class, but this one baffles me. Siena's attendance continues to go down (geez, there's a revelation...no one wants to watch bad MAAC basketball), so they're going to limit the number of people who can get in the TUC by closing the upper bowl!
Nice idea. Cram everyone into the lower bowl and make it look like a bigger crowd. Hey, if you want big crowds, take the games back to Noah's ARC.
So instead of beefing up the non-conference schedule and maybe getting a crowd of 9,000 once or twice a year, they're going to limit seating to about 7,500 and you better get your tickets early! Do they really think that's going to create long lines at the walk-up window hours before a Siena-Canisius game? Maybe if they were putting some good basketball in the House That Jim Coyne Went To Prison For, they'd be putting some fannies in the seats. Maybe that's why I'd rather drive to Syracuse to see the Orange and DePaul than head down 787.
Hey, what about Pokey Chatman resigning at LSU because of ALLEGED inappropriate relationships with her players (pick a number between one and 100). Got to love lesbians! How much are those little indiscretions going to cost her? About a half-a-mil a year?
Got to head to Home Depot and get some spackel. Not a good idea to be hitting golf balls in the cave. Leaving too many holes.
Sparky

One more cementhead gone

2007-03-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
See where one of Nate the Skate's cementheads signed a pro contract Wednesday? Don't see any of Opie's "student/athletes" heading for the big show.
I think it's very interesting that one of Union's non-scholarship kids is bolting after just two seasons in beautiful Schenectady. Don't forget, this is one of the kids who was suspended from the team last February for an incident that was quickly swept under the rug. Let's see if the numbers add up...kid from Oswego...suspended...leading scorer on team...leaves school early. Yup, adds up to cementhead. Love to see what his GPA is.
Hey, how do I get a job with the Schenectady police department? Wanted...union rep...has to work 10 days a year...salary somewhere around $90,000 per year...must be available to work holiday to accrue overtime pay...Geez, Louise, do you think Anna can get me in?
Almost time for Round 2 of the Big East soiree to start. Got to see if Pasty and Eric can bring down the Drunkin' Irish.
Sparky

Putts?

2007-03-04T10:46:00.000-05:00

Sparky;
The way you begin most of your posts -"Yo, putz"- sounds more like the middle of a phrase than a salutation. You know, like "How come yo putz never seem to make it to the hole? I'm, talkin' 'bout your golf game here, not your love life.

Anyway, digressions aside, why is hockey suddenly the whipping boy of college administrations? It looks like they are focusing on hockey as a way of cutting costs the way they did when schools cut wrestling programs by the dozens about 20 years ago. First the Bemidji president pushes the blame for his money-losing program into the laps of the folks at the WCHA and now the UMass administration wants to kill the U-Lowell program? How do the two Division I programs in the Mass State University system lose $2.1 million? They must be talking about the athletic departments as a whole, right?
Anyway, moving out of Hockey East will not save money, but it might help rebuild a once proud hockey program. U-Lowell and Merrimack are perennial doormats in the league. Maine, BU, UNH and BC have dominated the league and the East pretty much since the league began. That won't change soon.
Lowell and Merrimack should move to Atlantic Hockey where most of the schools are teams they compete against in other sports. These traditional Division II powers can compete and maybe even dominate in the league populated by Bentley, RIT, Sacred Heart, AIC and Mercyhurst. Move Holy Cross and Niagara into the ECAC, close down College Hockey America and move Bemidji and Wayne State to the WCHA or CCHA and realign the college hockey leagues. The west should also realign and create a new league, but that won't happen for a while.

On the ECAC - You're right (man it hurts to say that), they need to cut the playoffs back to 10 teams again. They won't, because they went to 12 teams when the Ivies always had two teams missing the playoffs every year. With Union in the league, that shouldn't happen every year, especially if RPI can't get a goalie and some scorers; not to mention some players who prefer spending the first five minutes of the game on the ice rather than in the penalty box.
Nobody cares about these first round games, where all but one or two of the teams have no chance of winning on the road the next week, let alone actually making a run at the championship in Albany. Cut the bottom two teams out of the mix.

Give the top six teams a week off and have the next four teams play a two-game, first team to three points, series at the sites of the two higher seeds (#10 at #7 and 9 at 8). You only play overtime on the second night. If the first game ends in a tie, it's a tie. The second night you play until someone drops.

The survivors move on to the next round with the six top seeds. Continue the current format through the championship in Albany. You will get rid of a couple of bad first-round series that way, increase the attendance and interest and make the regular season more important. The last weekend of the regular season this year would've been interesting. The bottom four of RPI, Union, Yale and Brown would've been playing against each other for the chance to prolong their seasons. Two would've been done after the weekend. The other two would be playing for seeding in the first round.

I still think that you will get crowds like you did at the first round games, but at least there will only be two series instead of four. What is up at places like Princeton, where they drew 1,900 in two nights and Colgate (3,500)? Princeton is having its best season in more than a decade and Colgate has a proud hockey tradition. These places can't draw more people than that? This league needs help, immediately.
I'm done - time for a bloody mary.

Stu

This ain't the Brady bunch

2007-03-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Hate to take shots at slow, white kids, but did you see the scores of the Class AA boys' semifinals Friday night. Geez, Louise, Shen and Saratoga were just blistered by the Brothers and the other Brothers at Maginn (where's the love for my man Shimeek Johnson?). Welcome to suburbia, boys. The Suburban Council is a joke!
Nice job by Opie and the boys at the 'Gate. Heck of an effort against one of the most suspect offenses in the league. Hey, Ope, get 0ut the clubs. FORE!!!!
Did you catch all the empty seats at Hobey Baker Rink (still one of my favorites on the circuit, by the way). A whopping 825 showed up for what was the best game of the night, Brown's 4-3 overtime win over the striped homeboys (isn't that a kind of fish?).
Who you been talking to in Massachusetts, chief? Report is that the Massachusetts Board of Trustees want UMass-Lowell to, (1) get out of Hockey East or, (2) drop hockey entirely. Combined, the Lowell and UMass-Amherst hockey programs lost nearly $2 mil last year, and the good people on the board want to funnel the money into Amherst and leave Lowell as the ugly stepchild.
But that confuses me just a tad (doesn't everything?) How does Lowell stop losing money by going to another league, i.e., the ECACHL or Atlantic Hockey? A bus trip to Clarkson has to cost more than a bus to Merrimack. You gonna cut coaches' salaries because they have to match wits with Nate the Skate instead of Jack the Legend? Help me here.
What's that sound? Oh, I know. It's the first beer of the day opening. Must be noon somewhere.
Sparky

What, or who, is he smokin?

2007-03-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/7Archives/Columns/mike_check/0607/mc_0525.htm

Hey Sparky thanks for sending me the Mike Eidelbes column form Inside College Hockey.com You gotta like the column (at the link above). This is a good column, with some funny stuff, but with some interesting observations, twists and turns.

The first part about the Bimidji program is great. The writer makes some interesting points and places the blame for the possible demise of the Bemidji State Hockey program where it belongs, with the school’s president. Writer Mike Eidelbes travels into Spin City in the second part. Could he be any farther up North Dakota Coach Dave Hakstol’s ass? I know that I’m in the minority here, but I don’t necessarily think that a couple of underage college athletes drinking in public and encountering the long arm of the law is all that unusual. We all make mistakes, especially at that age. Maybe bouncing kids off the team, like Coach Mike Kemp did at Nebraska-Omaha is a little harsh, but they knew the coach’s rules and at least he stuck by his guns and did what he thought was right.

Coach Hakstol has the right, and maybe the obligation, to keep the exact punishment, if there was any, of his players private if he can. However, for Eidelbes to say that the Omaha players got off easy because they got booted off the team and will not have to face the unfriendly taunts of opposing fans, while the North Dakota players will bravely take the ice in Denver and face the vicious taunts and bad language of a bunch of pimply 18-year old geeks as drunk as they were when they got arrested is just nuts. I have to take his word for it when he says that he is sure that the coach took appropriate disciplinary action, but don’t try to equate missing the last 3-5 weeks of the season with having to face bad language in opposing rinks. You think they never get that? Wow!

The Beanpot letter he ran was really entertaining, unless you’re Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna or BU Head Coach Jackie Parker. The disclaimer at the start is funny as hell, however. Gay has no relation to sexual orientation and retarded doesn’t refer to mental capacity? Did Eidelbes read the letter? As they say in Boston, this guy Eidelbes is wicked retahded; not to be confused with Ricky Ricardo.

Stu

Dock Me

2007-02-28T22:29:00.000-05:00

Gotta admit; waterfront property in Schenectady sounds like an oxymoron, as opposed to a regular moron like you, Sparky.

Who are they kidding? ALCO built locomotives on that site for about 100 years and they think that people will buy houses and condos that they build on that ground? Maybe if you cart away about 40 feet of top soil it will be livable, but I'm not buying property there. Hey, wanna buy a house in Love Canal?

Chuckie Schumer and the rest of the crowd of Politicos just wanted some face time. I'm betting that nothing gets built there in the next 10 years. If it does, nobody buys it. What a scam.

As for as the local college sports scene, wait 'til next year. Lots of good stuff on the horizon.
Stu

where's the love?

2007-02-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Did you miss me, moron? Must have blacked out for a while there.
Hey, dopey, why is it so quiet around here this week? Where's all the hype for the ECACHL playoffs (oh, that's right, no one gives a rat's ass), the MAAC tournament (oh, that's right, it's out of town, and no one gives a rat's ass) or the America Least shebang (oh, that's right, it's out of town and no one gives a rat's ass). See a pattern developing here? Shee-it, I'm almost looking forward to tomorrow's Gay-zette so I can read Shottzie's riveting ECAC hockey predictions. Any self-respecting rat wouldn't even wipe his ass with that drivel.
Hey, dog breath, we've got to take in a UAlbany lacrosse game. The Big Dogs knock off Johns Hopkins and break into the top 20? Might be worth looking at. God knows the winter sports aren't worth the price of admission. Oh, that's right, we don't pay anyway.
Did you catch the press conference Monday about developing the Alco property in Schenectady? What do they think this is, Baltimore? That's not waterfront property, it's the goddamn MOHAWK RIVER, for Christ's sake. All they're going to do is piss off some big ass rats. I'm sure all the Hamilton Hill crowd will be lining up for riverfront condos. Hey, might not be a bad idea. We can stagger home from The Ditch! See if Kimmy-Says wants to move.
Got to find my meds.
Sparky

Yoo Hoo

2007-02-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

Hey, where is Sparky anyway? He hasn't posted in five days. Probably accidentally locked himself in the cave again. Gotta send Anna over to get him out. Now that she has recovered from her Eyetalyun sunburn, she can go out in the cold and unlock the cave. Take him some beer Anna. He must be out of brews by now. Watch out for the empties on the floor; wouldn't want you to turn an ankle. Let us know when you find Sparky.
Stu

Bone Brews

2007-02-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

So Carl Pavano gets hit on the foot with a batted ball, suffers a bone bruise and will be out of action again. Man, I am not going to the ball park if he is pitching. This guy should never get outa bed. Of course, you have to wonder about a guy who falls on his ass on a nice grassy infield and misses most of the season. I think this clown is as fragile as a china doll. He needs to toughen up a bit.

You wanna talk about tough? Hey, I've seen Sparky fall off a wagon, a bar stool and his high horse and never spill a drop, or miss a round. He can take a nasty stare and a rude comment from a frazzled waitress and never miss a beat. That's tough.

Stu

let's lift a pint

2007-02-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Oy, it's a sad day when one of the real characters in life meets his maker, but you can be sure Mono's already raiding God's liquor cabinet. For those who knew Bob Monohan, remember him for what he was, and stay away from the sappy eulogy on collegehockeynews.com.
Irish Brogue? Yeah, Irish Mist. This clown can’t tell the difference between an Irish Brogue and the speech pattern of a heavy-drinking Irish sportswriter from Southie? Oh, man – get me a bottle. I want to suck down a pint of Telamore Dew and then smack this clown with the empty.
Stu

Suh, Suh, Saints are Fowl

2007-02-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

Oh man, the first half of that Siena Manhattan game was just dreadful. Siena was 2 for 9 from the foul line.

How can you pack so much drivel into so few words? You are giving me a headache. Gotta admit, though, that Notre Dame at Marquette on an outdoor court in February would be very entertaining. St John's and Seton Hall is another story, however. Better yet, let's play those games in the cave. I'll bring the beer.

Hey, I know how we can end that illegal and stupid war we started in Iraq and get on with the impeachment trial of W and Dickie Boy, if the fat old fuck doesn't do us a favor and die first. Anyway, let's send the Manhattan and Siena teams over there to play a barnstorming tour. The insurgents will leave in droves. Hell they'll leave in golf carts just to avoid having to watch these two teams play.

Get off Eh, Rod, will ya? Besides, Giambi retains so much water - roids will do that to you - that if he was to get hit with an errant punch in that titanic slug fest, he would leak like a sieve.
I'm tired of the constant search for irrelevant baseball stories already and it's what, day three of spring training? I can't wait for the hockey playoffs. Lord Stanley had the right idea. Play for a trophy that holds at least a case of beer.

I think you can deduct twice the value of beer from your taxes if it is for medical reasons. Honest, you can slip it by. Really. I wouldn't kid you. Try it, you'll save millions.
Stu

Let's go, Saints

2007-02-22T10:09:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
How about giving the Siena Aints some love? All they have to do is knock off the Jaspers tonight and they'll be playing for a share of the title against Marist. Wow, Siena-Marist, for a share of the MAAC title. Isn't that riveting basketball. I'd rather watch the last-place game in the Big East on an outdoor court in February!!!
Speaking of riveting basketball, too bad we didn't take in the Shen girls game last night. Would have been entertaining to watch Saratoga score TWO points in the first half. Stick with me, sonny. I'll make the good decisions.
So you're attached to the old airplane hanger where the Engineers play hockey. That explains why you still have that ugly mutt hanging around your house.
Can't wait for Gay-Rod and Jeter to drop the gloves during a spring training game. Wouldn't that be great! One of them calls off the other, both get pissed, they drop the gloves and go at it, and Giambi (wasn't he the guy in the box in Pee Wee's Playhouse?) will be the third man in. Please, Manny, do something crazy and get the Brokeback Boys off the back page.
Speaking of Brokeback, where's JZ?
Got to run, sport. Can we deduct beer on our income tax as a medical expense?
Sparky

Eh, Rod?

2007-02-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

If I'm standin at the Bah in the Black Rose it ain't ambiance I'm soaking up. I like the idea of swaggering on over to Boston and The Rose, however. Maybe we could catch a BU-BC clash. Brown and RPI at Houston will be very interesting. Though it has become something of a dump, I have grown a bit attached to the Field House. Ned built it and Mike helped put some of the hangings on the wall. That's a pretty good combination. At some point they are going to have to put Addesa in the Ring of Honor. Ned was no saint and he is there. Mike was not squeaky clean, but he was no racist. Shirley and Kenny Boy should extend an olive branch and put the Fat Man's name on the wall.

Come on; lay off of Eh, Rod. He spent all that money getting his bangs highlighted, felt the need for some TV face time so he called a news conference to talk about anything but why he disappears in October. Actually, it was a brilliant diversionary tactic; sorta a prophylactic strike, if you will.

Stu

Brokeback Yankees

2007-02-20T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Did I read that right? Gay-Rod and Jetes aren't having sleepovers anymore? Maybe one of them can hook up with Tom Brady. Looks like he's sleeping with everyone.
You've got to love Manny. He's going to report late because his mother has a tumor or a hernia or something, and he sends a messenger to tell Terry Francona. You can't make this stuff up. I'll take Mannyisms over Gay-Rod's whining anyday. It's time to head to Boston, belly up to the bar in the Black Rose and start absorbing the ambiance.
And don't forget. The only things open after 2 a.m. are the 7-11 and legs.
Got to run. I have to get in line for tickets for Friday night's titanic clash between RPI and Brown. Got a feeling that sucker will be sold out, and I don't want to miss what will probably be the GAME OF THE CENTURY at the House That Ned Built and Big Mike Decorated.
Sparky

Ned

2007-02-19T19:31:00.000-05:00

Hey, Ned has a lot more on the ball than some of us.
The ECAC needs a complete overhall. The coaches are running the league and nobody else matters, or cares. This league will not have a legitimate challenger for the national title until they decide they want one and make some hard decisions.

send him to the dog track

2007-02-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
Can't believe you're quoting Ned Harkness. The man is so old, he's taking senility to a new level. He thought Shirley Jackson was Gladys Knight, for chrissake. He wanted to know why the Pips weren't helping raise his banner (I'm sure ole' Shirley was raising his banner, if you get my drift.)
The inmates are definitely running the ECACHL. How can Nate the Skate get off with blasting an official, BY NAME, in the press, and not get suspended? Where the hell is Hagwell, hiding in a closet somewhere? You can be darn sure Mike Schafer at Cornell has a copy of Nate's quotes in his briefcase, so the next time Hey Mikey goes ballistic, all he's got to do is dangle that newspaper in front of Blind Melon Hagwell and quote MC Hammer - "Can't touch this!"
Hope that cheatin' bastard Micheal Waltrip wins the Daytona 500 today and sends NASCAR in a tizzy right off the bat. Let's see, what do Michael Waltrip's Toyota, Floyd Landis and Barry Bonds have in common? A little extra juice for a little extra boost.
It's BOTTOM FOUR WEEKEND. Yale and Brown at RPI and Union, losers still go to the playoffs. God, I love this country.
Sparky

Snow Bidness

2007-02-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

The good ol boys should just chuck the whole team, I agree. Who's the leader of the group anyway? If the guys in the pits are cheatin, somebody must be dye-recting the wrench-crankers.

Okay, so you do a little research on some of next year's early recruits and you think you know that Opie and RPI are gonna suck 2-3 years from now? You got a carbon monoxide detector in the cave? We gotta check your C O two levels and see if you got dain bramage. Ned Harkness, the greatest college coach of all time, and Mr. Squeaky clean says Coach Appert is the real deal and will lead the Engineers back to prominence in the ECAC. Give him two, tree years and then trash him if they suck.

Hey, at least he isn't bringing in cement heads by the bucket full and trashing officials in the media left and right like the guy across the river.

By the way, how does Hahvahd lose to Northeastern in the consy of the Bean Pot? If it wasn't for Merrimack N'Eastern would be the worst team in the east.

That reminds me, Hockey Least is a great 4-team league (Maine, UNH, BU, BC) but, boy are the bottom four awful. Joe B needs to shed a couple teams from that league and steal Q'Pac from the ECAC andMerrimack has got to go to Atlantic Hockey.

My car is stuck half in and half out of my driveway. The plow drivers in this burg musta gone on strike at Noon today. We got 21 inches of snow in the street at 9 pm and we haven't seen a plow in 13 hours.

Stoke up the fire in the cave and have a black and tan.
Stu

let it snow, let it snow

2007-02-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
As my man Meatloaf once said, "It's really piling up outside." ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT ALREADY. Good thing I have a good supply of alcohol in the cave. Ain't no Nail on the ogenda tonite.
Hey, how about those cheatin' bastards in NASCAR. Figured after Jimmie Johnson's crew chief got booted out of the Daytona 500 last year, the good old boys would be minding their Ps and Qs this year. BUT NO. Four of them get suspended, and three are employed by the same guy, Ray Evernham, who used to race asphalt modifieds in the Northeast before heading south of the Mason-Dixon. Someone might want to take a serious look at that operation.
Now everyone is whining, boo hoo, what are we going to do. I've got a good idea. Don't just send the crew chief home. SEND THE WHOLE DAMN TEAM HOME, DRIVER AND ALL. After they watch the biggest race of the season from a Barcalounger in Lake Norman with a Budweiser in their hand, you can bet your ass they won't be cheating anymore.
Hey, I figured out why Capital Region media covers Division I basketball and not Division I hockey. Siena and Albany are playing for league titles, and RPI and Union are playing to stay out of the cellar. RPI WILL NEVER BE BACK. Mark my words.
Think I'll let the sled dogs out for a while.
Sparky.

Hey Beer Bitch

2007-02-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

I'm in for the Anna Nicole funeral. I'll bring a 12-pack of Smithwicks and we can go from there.

Speaking of Anna Nicole...Do we need any more evidence to prove that the morning shows are just tabloid garbage? We got hundreds dieing in Iraq every day and politicians stealing money by the millions in Albany and Washington and they spend the first 15 minutes of their show today on some bimbo who couldn't spell Iraq.
Okay, people are aware of who she is and have some puriant interest, but how about relegating her to page three and spending some time on the important shit before diving into the pig shit. Wow, how far we have fallen!

Stu

two down, one to go

2007-02-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

Yo, putz
First Barbaro, then Anna Nicole Smith. What useless celebrity will be next to go? I'm putting my dough on Kevin Federline. That sumbitch is just breathing my air. Maybe we can get him and Paris Hilton in a package deal. Authorities think drugs were involved in Anna Nicole's death. Whoa, there's a revelation. Good investigating, boys. That's why you get the big bucks.
Schottzie is obviously drinking the Koolaid again. The only reason Union and RPI can even think about home ice is because the ECACHL is so damn bad. If Hagwell had any cojones, he'd go back to the old format of a 10-team playoff, and make teams earn their way in instead of mailing it in.
See where old Ned is getting into the RPI Ring of Honor. Good for the senile old goat. But now that Oates, Juneau and Ned are in, it's time to pull the plug. Let's not create a Rink of Dishonor by putting every schmo who ever wore skates up there. Those three are unique in their accomplishments. Let's end it there, until someone else comes along who is in that league.
Hey, let's go to Anna Nicole's funeral. What a display of debauchery that will be.
Sparky

You Are a Headache

2007-02-07T18:23:00.000-05:00

Hey Shithook:
What'd I hit a nerve? My point zactly. The competition is too scared to do something different like cover good Division II Hoops that draws three times what the bad Division I programs draw. The editors and sports directors just don't want to field the calls from the women's coaches complaining about a lack of coverage. If they were good, or even entertaining, more people would attend the games and more coverage would make sense. I'm with you - whoa that's scary - let's see more on local kids playing at other colleges and more on wrestling and hockey. Better yet, who's covering the Australian Rules Football League?

Hey, did you see what our esteemed Legislature did today? They ignored the three qualified candidates for State Comptroller and named a hack from Nassau County that's been in the Legislature for 20 years, like that prepares you for anything other than saying yes masser to Shelly Silver (See Ron Canastrari). Eliot ain't happy, but it won't make any difference, because ain't more than 2-3 dozen people outside of Albany that care about this bunch of baboons that look more like the Sopranos than a representative body of a democratic society. We deserve what we get in this state. I'm thinnin about moving and letting you yahoos have this cesspool.
Make some room in the cave. I'll bring some beer and spend the next decade or so.
Stu

now, back to our sponsors

2007-02-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

Hey, putz.
Wow, get lost for a couple of days and people start to get nervous. I was heading to Beantown for the Beanpot and as the song goes, "I took a wrong turn and I just kept going." Ended up cutting a rug at a place called Jugs with a girl called Linda Lou, when in walked a man with a gun in his hand and he was looking for you know who.
Took another look at your last post and it still pisses me off. You are such an idiot. Everyone knows Division I basketball around here sucks, but take a good look, Einstein, SO DOES DIVISION I HOCKEY! Six regular-season games left, and if this was the old format, Union and RPI would be left out of the playoffs. The Little U should always be near the bottom, because they don't give scholarships. What's Opie's excuse across the river? Can't deal with real student/athletes? THIS AIN'T DENVER, OPIE. Get used to it.
And just because Division I basketball sucks doesn't mean you start covering bad Division II or Division III basketball that no one gives a shit about. Shit, we should be covering Hudson Valley. There are more local kids on those two basketball teams than all the Division I, II and III teams combined. How about hitting a high school hockey game once in a while, give more coverage to wrestling? BUT, NO. The party line is to cover what the competition covers, and that means beat writers are tied up with advances, notebooks, games, etc., and have no time for anything else. Why am I splainin' this to you, Lucy? You're too brain dead to understand.
Where's the Advil? I feel a headache coming on.
Sparky

ah so stupid

2007-02-02T23:29:00.000-05:00

Beer battered frogs legs? I'm in. They go right along with the gator bites in the Keys.
Hey, I have been to a St Rose game; not in the past 15 years, but I've been. Also, they outdraw both UAlbany and Siena women's teams. I t is better basketball and about 800 to 1,000 do show up. It's just that the reporters and editors with no brains and no lives in this market pin their "careers" and meaningless lives on covering Division I hoops, even if it is terrible.
Seen Siena or UAlbany women play lately? Or how 'bout that scintillating one-point win the Siena men had over that 0-22 Iona team the other night? The MAAC is set up for a bunch of slow, ole white guys to try to live vicariously through some mediocre basketball players. I can't believe you, of all people, buy into this Division I basketball smoke and mirrors scam. You are such a miopic maroon.
Stu

That's about enough from you

2007-02-02T12:56:00.000-05:00

Hey, putz
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN MIND? Now you want more coverage of bandit Division II Saint Rose basketball. You know why they don't get any coverage? BECAUSE NO ONE CARES! Especially clowns like you, who sit at home and rant because they don't see any coverage when I know for a fact that you've NEVER been to a Saint Rose basketball game in your miserable little life. What's next? More coverage for Hudson Valley hockey? How about the CD Selects? How about RPI women's hockey games? With the amount of people they draw, reporters could bring a printer for their laptops and print out an individual story for all 20 people in the stands, and have one left over for The Z-Man. If you're suddenly taken a liking to 20-something female basketball players, drag your ass over there and watch the damn games yourself instead of sitting in front of the television every night, double-fisting the remote. Geez, you aggravate me.
Did you see they've opened up a new bar in downtown Schenectady that serves beer-battered frogs legs? We've got to give those bad boys a try. Probably better than smelt.
Is it Saturday yet?
Sparky

Iona Saint

2007-02-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

Five minutes left in the game and Siena is up by only one and two of the Saints starters (Ubiles and Hasbrouck) have yet to score. This team has done this before. They have trouble getting up for bad teams. Ubiles is the best talent they have had in years, but he takes entire games off and Franny Boy leves him in. If he doesn't want to play, sit his ass on the bench and let him watch.

Speaking of Shills, how about that scintillating half-time interview with the Rose and Kiernan Insurance President. Gee, ya think all the money he gives Siena had anything to do with that riveting exchange? Wow, that really outa be embarrassing for TW3.

I hope Bob Ford is staying and Women's hoop coach Trina Paterson is leaving to have more kids. they dumped Mari Warner for this chick? Yeah Lee McElroy is a real genius.This is the guy that had to give half the stock in the university to Will Brown because he didn't sign him to a long-term contract when he had the chance.

So how come the St Rosie hoop teams in Albany don't get any respect form local papers. The had the men's and women's teams at home last night. Both are 17-5 and the women beat the undefeated number 3 team in the country. they outdraw the two bad Division I women's programs in the area and the O'Donnells would thrash either the Siena or Albany women's team. How 'bout some love for Division II hoops. The others are just unwatchable.

Stu

Just phone it in

2007-02-01T11:28:00.000-05:00

Yo, Stu
Did you see where Iona is down to seven scholarship players because of injuries? Why even bother driving to Albany? People are actually going to the TUC and shell out their dinaros to watch little more than a scrimmage? If Siena doesn't win by 50, it's because Fran the Man will be calling off the dogs.
Hey, the smelt are running at Scroon Lake. Let's go get us a bucket and deep-fry 'em.
What's the big announcement at UAlbany Friday? Bob Ford finally retiring? Can't think of anything else that would warrant a press conference, unless they're officially naming Rodger Wyland the biggest shill in the Capital District.
What's all the hoopla about the Super Bowl and Race? I thought the Super Bowl was a football game, not a NASCAR 500-lapper. The only race I want to hear about in February is the Daytona 500. GET OFF IT, PEOPLE. Tony Dungy is black, Lovie Smith is black and they're coaching in the Super Bowl. END OF STORY. The real story is, why are they using a white team of announcers? Why aren't the brothers getting all riled up about that, eh? I'll be glad when this thing is over.
Sparky

What you Smell is YOU

2007-01-31T17:58:00.000-05:00

So little time and soooo much insanity to address.
Whoa Sparky; The Gaels are getting just what they deserve. Any team with a midget in shorts as a mascot should lose every game. Jeff Ruland is the highest paid coach in the MAAC and has lost 21 straight games. His excuse is we graduated 5,000 career points last spring. First, I wanna see their diplomas. Next, he still recruited the 13 kids on scholarship still in the program. If he's paying them to play they should be pretty good, right? You can't lose 21 straight games in this league and keep your job, can you?

Anna; get off of Babbo, or Comet or whatever cleanser they name the horse after. Yeah its too bad they shipped him off the the big stud farm in the sky, but he's a horse, dear you'll find a new friend to lose your money on next summer.
Bracket Buster -- Does Boise State have a blue court too? Will Brown and UAlbany must be real happy about flying, driving and taking a Conestoga about 2,000 miles to play on ESPNU at Smurf U. they could stay home, play St Peter's or St. Bernard on TW 3 and get a bigger audience. This Bracket Buster sucks!

Are we doing movie reviews now? Okay, Mongo Stu's favorite, I admit. That movie should be mandatory viewing in all freshman anthropology or sociology, pharmacology; aw fuckit make all the cology classes watch it.

Stu

Well, bust my brackets

2007-01-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

Hey, Stu, help me out here.
I know I'm a little slow, but I'm not getting this whole BracketBusters thing. Where's the love when the Spayed Danes get sent to Boise and the Halos draw a dogshit team from a dogshit conference? Can you decline to participate if you get a raw deal? If this is the way the Danes and Fran's Failures are going to be treated, why bother? JUST SAY NO.
Good thing that don't have this crap in college hockey. The Engineers would be getting sent to Alabama-Huntsville and Union would be heading to MapQuest to find out how the hell to get to Mankato.
I see Anna's got her dander up about Barbaro finally getting Jimi Hedrixed. I wonder if they were playing Purple Haze when they stuck him with the big needle? Imagine wasting all that time and money on something that you knew was going to croak anyway. Oh wait, your wife has been doing that for years.
Flipping through the channels at 2 this morning (yes, the cave has cable) and stumbled on Blazing Saddles. Is there a more politically incorrect movie ever made? Love the scene where they're going to build a replica of the town, and the railroad workers show up. "We'll take the niggers and the chinks, but no Irish." Can you imagine trying to sneak that into a movie today? My, my, how the world has changed. Did Alex Karras win an Oscar for his performance as Mongo?
Got to go. The dust bunnies are starting to mate. Where's the hose?
Sparky

Can you smell it?

2007-01-30T10:22:00.000-05:00

Yo, sluggo.
What's that I smell? I smell an upset of epic proportions. I smell Iona coming into the TUC Thursday night and knocking off Siena. What the hell's the matter with the Gaels? 0-21? The worst team in America? This has got to be killing Jeff Ruland (good thing he's an Iona grad, or he'd already have the door banging off his wide ass). If he has to cut off a limb, he'll have the Gaels fired up Thursday. The Halos are coming off two tough road losses and I'm still not sure if Fran the Man is a master motivator (that almost sounds kinky). If Siena's ready, they can win by twedy (lay off the spelling...it rhymes). If Gales are loose, Siena is a cooked goose.
Speaking of underachievers (yeah, I'm talking about you, putz), what is Teddy Hockey doing at Harvard? The bloody Crimson can't be that bad. No way they should be sitting in the cellar on the eve of the Beanpot. Steam has got to be coming out of Bill Cleary's ears.
Anticipation keeps building as I wait to hear who Don Audinocorleone brings in to play quarterback next year. Rumors are that the staff is chasing Billy Ray Buchanan, a 6-foot-2, 206-pounder out of El Paso who is supposed to be the fastest white boy in Texas. The only problem is that Billy Ray's blood alcohol level is usually higher than his GPA. But hey, CAN HE THROW THE DEEP BALL?
Nasty rumor going around that the Bears have a bounty out on Peyton Manning. Hey, just win, baby. Wonder if Tonya Harding's crew is busy.
Can't believe you threw Gary Gabriel into this pile of dung. That should be good for his career.
Got to run. One of my other personalities is calling me.
Sparky

Yo, Linotype Breath

2007-01-29T19:57:00.000-05:00

Hey Sparky;
Name the only high-ranking college administrator that has worked at two universities that won Division I men's championships in 1985.
Time's up. Dr. Gary Gabriel RPI (they won the national title in hockey) and Villanova (men's basketball).

Hey, I finally determined that indeed golf and bowling are not sports. I know, professional golfers really are quality athletes and Tiger Woods is an elite athlete and all that, but here is why they are not really sports: No legitimate sport would allow dufusses (or is it dufi) like you and me to play at the same facility as the great ones play at in those sports. I mean, you and I could play Pebble Beach or almost any PGA facility. We could also keggle and slurp down some beers at any bowling establishment in the country. No way does anyone allow us to play baseball at Yankee Stadium, football at Texas Stadium or hockey at the Boston Garden. Now, for enough beer we might be able to log a couple of laps at Daytona, but I don't think so. Anyway, golf and bowling can't be sports, otherwise they would never let us anywhere near any place that host those events. Ask Anna, she will agree.
Stu

End the madness

2007-01-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

We have been too silent too long. Please considert and make a stand. This has got to end. We need leaders who wil do what is right.

http://www.wtit.blogspot.com/

Brokeback TV

2007-01-25T18:35:00.000-05:00

I was home a little early tonight and got to see some of the evening newscasts. It reminded me of why I spend so little time watching local TV news. After about 7 minutes of commercials, 5-6 minutes of happy talk, teasers and recaps and another 3 minutes of the weather guy playing with all his high-tech toys, you get about 11 minutes of news.

Then tonight on TV 6 Sports Director Doug Sherman does a story about some kid playing for Mike Dean at Wagner. His justification for doing his second story in about 10 days on a really bad Division I program 150 miles from Albany was that Coach Deane once coached at Siena (about 15 years ago) and the kid he featured, who is not from the area, has some of his extended family living here. Wow, how lame. How about actually doing some story on local kids playing at college programs outside the area, or better yet local kids at LOCAL colleges and high schools.

The other laugher on that newscast came at 5:40 when they went to Fred Dicker for some political analysis. You know him, the commentator guy that pisses and moans about all the corruption in Albany and takes money for speaking to groups that spend lots of money to Lobby in Albany. Did TV 6 or WROW do any stories on that? I don't know, but would like to hear from anyone who saw that mentioned on the air.

Anyway, Fred shows up on camera in a cowboyesque string tie, a shirt with what looked like suede patches on the shoulders and a darker colored suede vest over the top of it all. It looked like something outa Buffalo Bob meets The Producers. If I had not seen it, I would never have believed it. Here is a hard-working political reporter who has clearly let the national and statewide attention go to his shiny little head. Come on Freddy, you aren't Truman Capote.
Stu.

Rock 'em Sock 'em

2007-01-25T18:33:00.000-05:00

I like the idea of the battling midgets. The ECAC needs something to spice it up and that might do it.
Let's get some women coaches in the league too; the men's league. That would make things a little more interesting too.

Let's get ready to rumble

2007-01-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

Hey, putz
Just got done reading the account of last night's BU-BC hockey game and it looks like Eric Gryba of BU and Nathan Gerbe of BC spent the night beating the hell out of each other (did you know Gryba was voted "Best Fighting Prospect" in his junior league?) That's what the ECACHL is lacking...guys who actually hate each other.
The league needs a little WWE atmosphere to spice things up. Shawn Weller and Jake Schwan should be going at it in a kind of a backyard Hatfield and McCoy feud; I want to see 5-foot-6 Topher Scott of Cornell and 5-8 Sean Backman of Yale drop gloves (I always liked midget wrestling); why isn't there at least one fight per game in the Clarkson-St. Lawrence and RPI-Union series? These guys are just being too sweet to each other. Dr. Phil's shows have more confrontation than this sissy league. The ECACHL motto should be like a top-40 radio show - The Hits Just Keep on Comin'.
Hey, how about old Timmy Gerrish pulling the plug at Union? The only thing Garish about him was his record. I know it's politically incorrect, but this is one time Title IX just ain't working. At a small school like The Little U, with limited athletic budgets, the money being wasted on the women's hockey program could be channelled for better use (like John Audinoleone's annual golf...oops, recruiting...trips to Florida). And you can't tell me all the women on Union's hockey team would have gone somewhere else if they didn't have the opportunity to play hockey. Think any of them will bail now that Gerrish is leaving. Doubt it!
How cold is it? The dog's fleas are playing shinny in his water dish. Catch you later
Sparky