2012 Was A Very Good Year

First off, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I am a Doritos junkie. Seriously…as I sit here and type, I can barely manage a thought without eating a chip. What IS it with these things anyway? I’m a 44 year old man with a serious love for Doritos. Is it weird? I dunno. I DO know I’ve been eating these damn things since I was a kid and they NEVER get old!!! They keep adding cheese and flavors and I have to eat them ALL!!!

Ok…with THAT out of the way…let’s get down to the brass tax of this post.

2012.

What can I say about 2012? What do I NOT say about this amazing year? So much to say, so little time. So you want “highlights?” There are too many. So…let’s get started…

Ava has had a remarkable year which started out with her playing violin. She then decided to opt out of that for a bit to concentrate on swimming, volleyball, basketball and her artwork. After taking a week-long horse-riding camp in early summer, she has been bitten by the horse bug and now she is taking horse-riding lessons. She also enjoys hanging out with her many friends and playing on our neighbor’s trampoline. To say she has an amazing sense of humor would be doing my daughter a disservice. Her laughter is contagious and I can only hope she manages to keep it as she prepares for next year and the dreaded 4th grade.

Christopher turned the BIG 1-0 this year and double digits has been good for him. Although he’s been incredibly busy with a full baseball schedule in the summer, another season of Spartan football (in which he was the starting QB and got them to the Junior Youth Super Bowl) in the fall and now with 3 basketball teams, he has managed to keep his grades up and is still as animated as ever. He’s growing quickly though (and so are his friends) and so there have been some interesting conversations we’ve had but that’s all to be expected. Life goes by too quickly for Christopher (who is now called Chris at times or “Fer” when playing sports) but he does enjoy the occasional hang with his mom or me, and those times are awesome!

Stephanie continues to work at Sephora as well as being “Team Mom” for Christopher’s baseball & football team. She also has been involved in many school-based activities and manages to have a strong interest in our small community here. A lot of people in our area know Stephanie and she has become involved in many activities on many different levels. I am proud of all the hats she wears and I am glad that she has seemed to find a great niche for herself.

As a family, we had some great times this year! We went to Gatlinberg, TN for a tournament with Christopher’s baseball team and we all went zip-lining for the first time! We also took a trip to Destin, FL with many of our friends and their families. I wasn’t able to stay the entire trip but I DID manage to get a nasty sunburn on the top of my feet! OUCH! And we watched the Kentucky Wildcats win the NCAA Final Four with a decisive victory over Kansas! The highlight of the tournament though was watching Ohio University get to the Sweet 16 before getting beat in OT by North Carolina. Still…a pretty great run for my Bobcats! We also went to Patrick & Katie’s wedding in Williamsburg, VA. What a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast! It’s always good to see family and on Thanksgiving we went home for turkey dinner and lots of dessert!

In MY life, I’ve never been so busy! And the events were bigger this year than they’ve ever been! I can only believe that this year will go down as my most successful of my career. Here is a list of the events I was a part of this year…

1. The AFC Championship game (Baltimore @ New England)
2. The Super Bowl in Indianapolis
3. The Senior Bowl
4. NCAA Basketball Tournament (Louisville & Boston sites)
5. The NFL Combine
6. The NFL Draft
7. The Masters
8. FOX Reds Baseball
9. AT&T National
10. The John Deere Classic
11. The Olympics (Wrestling)
12. Navy vs Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland
13. NFL On CBS and Thursday Night Football for NFL Net

It was an honor to be involved with any and ALL of these events. Of them all, the Olympics will forever be a highlight of my career. I was lucky to be on a great crew that was televising the Wrestling events and I will always remember that particular trip. I also managed to squeeze a visit to Stonehenge out of that trip which was a thrill for me. I’ve always WANTED to see those druid stones! The AFC Championship is the most viewed event I’ve ever worked here in the U.S. and with a HUGE audience watching, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff pulled a chip shot field goal attempt wide that would have tied the game but instead gave the Patriots a shot at Super Bowl XLVI. I also received my 2nd national Emmy for working with the FOX National crew on baseball this past year. So THAT happened…

On a more personal level, this year has been just as successful at home. We gained a new family member with the addition of our new kitten that was originally named “Reece Cup” but was soon changed to…well…”Kitten.” I hit the big 4-4 in December and got a new wallet out of it. We had our bathroom renovated after a water disaster that left me a little waterlogged in August. We also  stabilized our house by having steel pierings installed that will hold the foundation in place so there will be less shifting in our little house on the hill. I went on a mini-vacation with my best friends to New York City in May. I had my 25th Class Reunion in August and had a BLAST with all my former classmates! I’ve also somehow managed to have more family time even though I’ve been on the move quite a bit. My mentality on my job has changed this year. This year I’m accepting it for what it is. In the television industry, doors open and they close. With family, that door is ALWAYS open. Here’s hoping the upcoming year will find more doorways open and the continual growth and happiness of my family.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

GO 2013!!!

HEY!! What about ME?!?! I was BORN this year! Don’t forget about me!!!

Oh yeah…and we welcomed Ava & Christopher’s new cousin Drake into our family this year. Congrats to my sister and her husband, Chris, who seemingly know how to have cute kids!

Just ’cause…I love this shot!

Oh yeah…and I beat my brother at basketball on his OWN court! (And you thought I’d forget…didn’t ya Frank? LOL!!!)

There’s Something To Be Said For A Guy Like Tebow…

This is one happy guy…

I’ve been working in the sports industry for some time now and I am trying to remember when a player like Tim Tebow has ever come around in sports. I’ve never seen so many people split down the middle about an athlete. You either love him or hate him and there are very few in between. I’m not gonna say either are wrong. As a matter of fact, I’m one of those rare individuals who can see a little of both sides. I don’t hate him nor do I think he’s God’s gift to football (crap…already breaking out the religious tones…) but I have to admit…I am just as fascinated with him as everyone else is. Every sports news source, whether it’s television or radio or newspaper or the internet, is SWARMING all over this guy, relentlessly pursuing his every move, hoping to either see him fall on his face or hoping that he becomes the next big quarterback of the future. For me…I have one thing that I’d like to see from him…

I don’t want him to be a fake.

Here’s the thing about athletes…they are a narcissistic bunch. They seem to have only one thing on their minds once they step foot on a college campus and that is money. Okay…and maybe girls. And possibly tattoos. But for the MOST part…they wanna make money. And they do. They make a TON of money playing sports for a living. Oh, I imagine most athletes and coaches and owners dream of winning a national championship or a Super Bowl…but for the most part, everyone wants to be rich. Now…let’s not kid ourselves…money makes the world go round. We all work for it. Some work harder than others and some are privileged enough to be born in it. Some have to work a LOT harder to get it. In most cases, I can watch a movie like “The Blind Side” or “Rudy” and feel good about the fact that some athletes really do come from a tough life and sports turns that life around for them. And that’s great! But it can easily be said that some teachers and mechanics and executives ALSO come from tough backgrounds and become quite successful and you don’t see movies made about them. Professional sports is a monster all in its own. We LOVE sports and we idolize athletes mostly for what they do on a football or soccer field or a baseball diamond or basketball court or golf course or whatever. We crave that competition. We love to watch the battle. It happened in the early 1st Century as stadiums were built to watch men fight to their death and it continues today every time a player takes a hit or lands a strong blow or survives a crash against the far wall. It’s an adrenaline rush and it takes us out of our mundane lives for a little bit and entertains us. But…just because we are entertained, does that make those that entertain us role models? In my opinion…absolutely not.

So then along comes this guy Tim Tebow. If you read about him (and who hasn’t lately) he has had an illustrious career. Won lots of high school accolades at Nease High School in Florida, went on to win a Heisman Trophy while a sophomore at Florida University, won a couple national championships, got drafted by the Denver Broncos and is now their starting quarterback and this year has created quite a stir with the way he’s been winning games. It’s reached pandemic proportions the way the media has been following his every move and it’s not without merit because the guy IS an interesting story. And we would love to see him fall on his face simply because…well…he’s almost TOO nice.

And that’s where I find myself fascinated with this story.

Tim Tebow likes to proclaim his love for God. He says a short prayer after every score. He slaps the other players’ helmets after they’ve just tackled him out of bounds. He smiles a lot. He seems to be a really, really nice guy and he’s winning in one of our nation’s most violent sports. So…we would LOVE to see him fail and get sent back down to 3rd string QB and then probably disappear into obscurity. But you know what…I don’t think it would matter one bit to Tim Tebow if that happened and maybe that’s what I kind of like about him. Because my gut feeling is that if Tim Tebow couldn’t make it in professional football, he would probably make a great high school coach or an excellent insurance salesman or an awesome teacher in a 3rd world country (he apparently has a  degree in “Family, Youth & Community Sciences.” Whatever THAT is…) or an amazing culinary chef. Whatever the guy’s vocation is…he’d probably do it well and you know why?

Because he has faith not only in himself but also in his religion, in his family and in those that he keeps around him.

Sometimes it’s not about who is bigger or badder or more pissed off or who can hit the hardest. Sometimes it’s just having faith in yourself and going out there, giving it 100% and be willing to take a hit until you get the job done. Sometimes it’s not easy. Sometimes there is pain involved. But Tim Tebow isn’t just a player that seem to get off preaching about his faith and then doing the opposite as soon as he gets on the field. Actually…he seems very genuine in what he is does and what he says. Ya know…despite what MY beliefs are, you gotta respect that coming from a guy who is running from 11 200+ pound dudes who all want to body slam him to the astro turf.

So Tim Tebow can pray all he wants. He can praise the Lord in every interview and say that the reason he wins is because he went to church Saturday night. Whatever the guy wants to believe is okay by me. As long as he stays true to the way that he is…I’m all good with that. The last thing I want to see is that he’s a fake. I am tired of the Brett Favre’s. I’m tired of the Mark McGwire’s. I’m tired of the athletes who are only out for themselves and who only play sports for money. In 1993, NBA star Charles Barkley was interviewed and stated that professional athletes should not be role models. His statement came across as ignorant to some simply because, in our culture, so many think so highly of them and place them on a pedestal. But I TOTALLY agree with him. We should not look to these men and women as role models. It’s a PARENTS job to raise their kids. If anything, a child’s parent should be their role models. And so, in that regard, I get what he was saying. Unfortunately our kids DO look up to pro athletes and that is unfortunate, especially when I see how so many of them act. I’m disappointed in the way they are when they are in public, disgracing their talents by beating their spouses or girlfriends, acting as if they are above everyone else simply because they have a physical skill. It’s unsettling that professional sports allow athletes to act this way by letting them return to play again after having been prosecuted for any crime. And it’s amazing we still continue to be fascinated with it, spending millions of dollars to watch these grown men and women act so childishly when they are given so many opportunities.

Tim Tebow has been given an opportunity. As much as I don’t want my kids looking up to anyone but me and my wife, it is refreshing to see an athlete who I can say is doing his job on and off the field and who has an attitude I would love for my son to have when he plays sports. Playing sports can be a satisfying experience and can set a child up for many different aspects of life. Most professional & collegiate athletes seem to have forgotten why they play in the first place. Tim Tebow seems to be quite the opposite. He seems to be quite at ease with who he is and what he can do and because of that, he has become a unique success story that we have become somewhat obsessed with.

And maybe this time, we have found an athlete who is deserving of our attention?

I can only hope so…

Criss Cross Country Sauce

Let’s start the weekend of Halloween, shall we? Because that is when things really started getting a little crazy for me. Oh I realize that I don’t travel as much as some people and for them, this particular month or so would be nothing, especially if they live on the west coast and have to fly east every weekend (which happens for some friends of mine), but this is MY blog and so I get to discuss MY schedule and for ME…this has been crazy!

Friday, October 28 – Fly to Seattle. (3 hours time difference from east coast time)

Seattle Sunset

Sunday, October 30 – Red eye home so I can be home for Halloween and go trick or treating with my kids. I dress up like a zombie and I feel like one also…

I enjoy a week at home until Friday, November 4 – Travel to Nashville (for the 4th time this NFL season) and visit Leipers Fork. (1 hour time zone difference)

Random shot flying into Cincinnati. Just ’cause…

Monday, November 7 – Fly home to Cincinnati, leave airport for 5 hours, return to airport and fly to San Diego. (3 hour time difference)

San Diego has pretty clouds

Friday, November 11 – Fly home from San Diego, have another 5 hour layover, have dinner with my family, kiss my kids and then off to Kansas City! (1 hour time difference)

Kansas City also has pretty clouds

Monday, November 14 – Return home from Kansas City.

Tuesday, November 15 – Fly to Denver. Do the Tebow. (2 hour time difference)

Actually…this was taken in Kansas City…but you get the point…

Friday, November 18 – Fly directly to Cleveland. (Yay! Eastern Standard time!)

I LIVE IN CINCINNATI! NOT CLEVELAND!!!

Monday, November 21 – DRIVE from Cleveland to Cincinnati because, quite frankly, it seemed like the thing to do…

THANKSGIVING WEEK! No working! Buuuuut…drive to Zanesville Tuesday afternoon. That’s a 2.5 hour drive. (Same time zone…thankfully)

Saturday, November 26-27 – Browns @ Bengals. Stay home and work?!?! Yes!!! And the Bengals won! Good times…

Tuesday, November 29 – Fly to Seattle…again. (3 hour time difference)

Look ma! The Space Needle!

December 2nd: Back in Cleveland again. And driving home once again. (4 hour drive)

December 6th: Off to Pittsburgh (where I got to celebrate my 43rd birthday) in the house that Ketchup built…

December 9th: Home for a few hours for a birthday dinner with my family and then BACK on a plane to Baltimore where I get to see the Colts lose again (that’s 14 in a row) to the Ravens.

Baltimore sunrise

December 13th: Off to Atlanta to fight the traffic and work the worst Thursday night game since…whenever…as the Falcons annihilate the Jaguars 41-14.

A Georgia Dome sunset

December 16th: Off to even warmer climates. The Arizona Cardinals take on the Browns for my 5th Browns game in 5 weeks. Good times. (2 hour time difference)

Phoenix  from the air

Arizona ALSO has pretty clouds…

December 20th: I drive to Indianapolis (which is now in the eastern time zone)  and then I’ll go back to Nashville on December 23rd for the Saturday Christmas eve game and then drive home (that’s 4 hours) and then mercifully it all grinds to a halt.

Overall…that’s a helluva lot of miles and plenty of time sitting in an airplane/tv truck/car and I gotta tell you…

I LOVE THIS JOB!!!

2011 NFL Draft: Where Dreams Come True

3 Days, 7 rounds & 254 picks. If you’re a college football player, it’s the most exciting and most excruciating 3 days of your life. As a fan, it’s another exciting way that the NFL incorporates itself into your life. Fans get to root for who they want, cheer their team when they pick someone they like and boo them when they pick someone they don’t.

He’ll look good in Bengals orange!

This year, being a Bengals fan, I am happy to say MY team did well. The Bengals took a great wide receiver in the 1st round with A.J. Green from Georgia and then turned around and got themselves a quality Carson Palmer replacement in Andy Dalton from TCU. With the Bengals having a new offensive coordinator (FINALLY!), hopefully both will fit into a good offensive attack that will get our team back on track.

On the OTHER side of the coin, as I sit in the NFL Network television trucks watching the names fly by, one of our many cameras are trained on a player that won a national championship last year at Alabama and his name has yet to be picked. Greg McElroy guided the Crimson Tide to the title game in 2010, playing with 2 cracked ribs and managing to lead the team to a victory over Texas. This past fall his team was 10-3 and won the Capitol One Bowl by hammering  Michigan State 49-7. He is teammates with 2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram and probably didn’t get the recognition he could have gotten while the running game took precedence. We’re at the 204th pick in the 7th round and his name has yet to be called.

As I watch him in his home with his family and friends surrounding him, he’s shifting on his couch, anxiously waiting for a phone call, hoping that he hasn’t been forgotten. It’s got to be awful waiting and I feel for him as I watch. His dad & mom are in the room with him and I can’t imagine what they must be thinking. Their son has done everything right. He won championships in high school for Carroll Senior High School. He won a national championship in college. And yet, there he sits, sweating it out, not knowing what his future will be. With an average playing time of 3.5 years, not everyone is cut out to play in the pros and not everyone gets their shot. Cam Newton was this year’s #1 pick. He’ll make a ton of money but he also has a franchise on his shoulders now. I have no idea if McElroy would be able to carry a team but I have to believe he’s a competitor and would love the chance.

If that chance doesn’t happen, I hope he goes on to have a great life. And if anything, he’ll always have that Bama national championship ring. And that is something millions of kids would LOVE to have.

But wait! At 5:23pm on Saturday there’s a call…and lots of cheering…and high fives…and in the Jets War Room the QB coach is on the line. Greg McElroy is going to play with the New York Jets. He is the NFL’s 208th pick in this year’s Draft. His dream is still alive and well. I’ll be curious to see if he gets his shot to lead the Jets in the future. Considering they have 2 qualified quarterbacks ahead of him, he will have plenty to learn and he’ll be playing in a city that is merciless if you fail to deliver. Good luck McElroy! I’m rooting for ya! Unless you’re facing the Bengals, of course. Then I hope you fall flat on your face. Welcome to the NFL! It’s rough out here…

Pinnacle Of Pain

Gee…wonder where THIS pass is gonna end up?

Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to be a fan. If you live in Cincinnati, this past week has got to rank up there as possibly the worst week in the history of our professional teams. Cincinnati fans have suffered much in the past 20 years or so. Maybe not as much as say…Cleveland, but still we have had our share of heartbreak and this week was the “Pinnacle of Pain” as far as I’m concerned.

Let’s start with NFL action on Sunday, October 3rd. The Bengals traveled to Cleveland for an interstate matchup. On paper, the Bengals SHOULD have been big winners. The Bengals have one of the most potent offenses (supposedly) in the NFL so taking on a Browns team that has floundered ever since its return back in 1999 shouldn’t be a problem…right? Well…turns out it WAS an issue as the Browns managed to squeak out a 23-20 win and send the Bengals home with their tails between their legs.

Skip ahead to Wednesday and major league baseball action. The Cincinnati Reds traveled to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in the NLDS. After winning the N.L. Central and appearing in post-season play for the first time since 1995, the city was all pumped up! Unfortunately they faced the Phillies ace, 7-time All Star and 2003 Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay. Halladay had pitched a perfect game earlier this season (the 20th of all-time) and everyone expected the Reds to struggle. Instead of simply “struggling,” the Reds shouldn’t have even bothered to show up because Halladay blanked them for a no-hitter, which was only the 2nd post-season no-hitter in MLB history.

So let’s put THAT behind us…okay? I mean…it was bad but not TOTALLY unexpected. The Reds have a young ballclub and with so little playoff experience, we can forgive a little nervousness. So Friday they go at it again with OUR ace on the mound. Bronson Arroyo was pitching well and the Reds jumped out to a 4-run lead. But the Phillies came roaring back as Reds pitchers managed to hit 3 batters and the defense committed 4 errors and the Phils scored 7 runs in the final 4 innings to win the game. I watched in amazement as this all transpired and I STILL can’t believe what I saw. I can’t recall EVER seeing such an unbelievable meltdown in all my years of watching sports! So now the Reds were down 0-2 but the series was moving to Cincinnati. Maybe a home game would do our boys of summer some good?

Then today. Sunday, October 10. 10/10/10. Maybe a good omen for our major league teams? Both teams were playing at home today. The Bengals were looking to lick their wounds from last week’s loss and face a Tampa Bay team that was coming off a huge loss 2 weeks earlier and then a bye week. Surely they would be rusty…right? Well…maybe not. The Bucs managed to intercept Carson Palmer 3 times, once for a return TD and then the most devastating shot was the INT late in the 4th quarter. The Bengals had a 21-14 lead with 2 minutes to go and then Palmer tossed a pick to Tampa Bay’s Aqib Talib. The Bucs then tied up the game with 1:26 left in the game. So…the Bung…er…Bengals had the ball and could run out the clock with a little time management and a few decent running plays. But nooooooo. Palmer threw ANOTHER interception and the Bucs kicked a game-winning field goal with 1 second left. The Bengals are now 2-3 and in jeopardy of having their entire season being blown into tiny little bits. 2 teams they SHOULD have handled easily had beaten them in consecutive weekends and now they are licking their wounds with a bye week next weekend.

*sigh*

So now back to the Reds. Facing the Phillies in the friendly confines of Great American Ball Park tonight, you would think the Reds would come out fired up and ready to work. But instead, they went out not with a roar but with a whimper as Cole Hamels, the Phillies 3rd best pitcher, took care of business by mowing down Reds batters left & right. Although he didn’t pitch a no-hitter, he was almost as good, allowing only 4 hits and no runs through 8 innings. It’s now 2-0 with the Phils looking invincible and I can’t watch anymore. I’m gonna go watch NFL football over on NBC…

Oh and look…the Philadelphia Eagles are WINNING their game 17-10 right now…

Nice.

Yeah…I think I’m just gonna go to bed. I got an early flight tomorrow.

Night ya’ll. And to all my Cincinnati friends…take consolation that tomorrow this will all be over and there will be no losses by our pro teams again until the Bengals travel to Atlanta Halloween weekend. I’m gonna be there. It could get ugly.

Dusty can’t believe what he just saw…and neither can I.

Ahoy Mateys!!!

In Tampa for the big Steelers vs Buccaneers matchup this weekend and decided to take a quick tour of the pirate ship located on the concourse level at Raymond James Stadium (site of Super Bowl XLIII). I didn’t realize that it’s open to the public during the game! Anyway…here’s a quick tour…

The Ship!

THAT’S a really big skull…

The Mast

The View

Pirate Art

The Pirate Captain? Not likely…

My crew?

A Chat With Jerry

Yeah…I KNOW the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl…but Jerry’s a class act!

I have to be honest…I’m not all into the celebrity sports figures. I’ve met my share and none of them know me nor do they want  to know me. I work for the hated media. The ones who write about them or post pictures of them on the web or take video of them whenever they’re getting tossed into jail for drunk driving. So when I’m boarding a plane and I see a college basketball coach or I’m on the charter with a team or if I’m on the sidelines and they don’t say anything to me, it’s all good. I’m not their friend and they aren’t mine. But every now and then, if I see an opportunity to say a little something as I’m walking by, I say it. I’m not one to strike up a conversation, but if a player just had a good game or if they have made eye contact with me and seem friendly, I’ll chat with them. In my time doing what I do for a living, this happens every so often.

Who have I chatted with?

Well…maybe that’s a story for another blog, but THIS story is about my brief conversation with Jerry Rice, who is one of the premier football players in the history of the sport and considered to be the greatest wide receiver ever. And once again, it was a circumstantial situation. I was checking out of my hotel room in Los Angeles, he was getting some “petty cash” (if you call multiple $100 bills “petty”) at the front desk of the Century Plaza Hotel. Apparently he was going golfing that morning and was getting ready to head out. As we both were leaving the front desk and as I passed by, I simply said, “Congratulations on being inducted into the Hall Of Fame, Jerry.” He looked at me and smiled and then he continued the conversation. He said it was quite a thrill to be in the Hall and we continued our brief chat as we walked to the lobby Starbucks to get a coffee. Once there, he said goodbye, walked up to the counter where he had already placed his order, grabbed his coffee and then, after chatting with the baristas for a few moments, headed out to get his day started.

And that was it.

In that brief moment, I got a feeling that not only was Rice a great football player, he struck me as a very pleasant man and a good person. Now, I admittedly don’t know anything about his personal life, but as a fan of sports, and being someone he has never met, the fact that he chatted with me and the baristas for a little while speaks volumes about him as a person. Some of these guys are not as friendly and some are downright rude. But not Jerry Rice. He seems very unassuming for such a man who has accomplished what he has in his career, and from what I’ve seen of him in interviews and during the entire weekend of his induction (I was there in Canton a couple of weeks ago), he seemed gracious and humble.

So I met Jerry Rice and we had a conversation. Maybe not earth-shattering but definitely noteworthy for me. Although I wasn’t a 49er fan, I AM a fan of anyone who takes the time to chat and smile and appreciate what fame has brought. Rice seems that way and is now high on my list of favorite athletes. And the kicker to all of this? In my backpack, which I was wearing at the time because I was going to work, I had Jerry’s Hall Of Fame Induction speech. I had kept it from that weekend in Canton for no reason other than I thought it would be cool to have it. And I completely forgot about it until he was walking out the door. I wish I had thought to have him sign it for me but…oh well. I’m thinking the conversation was enough for me for now.

But NEXT time…

News Flash! In Case You Haven’t Heard!!!

Please Lord…make it stop!

Brett Favre, the quarterback of the Green Ba…uh…New York J…wait…Minnesota? Right? Anyway…Brett Favre, superstar quarterback who is getting paid a gazillion dollars to play professional football at the ripe ol’ age of 40 or so has decided his next move. He has decided, with the love of his family and his teammates behind him, to return to playing football ONE MORE YEAR to help his team, the Minnesota Vikings, return to the playoffs where he will, once again, end the Super Bowl hopes of the 5,226,244 fans who reside in the state of Minnesota by throwing a hail mary into a pack of opponent defensive backs and thereby prolonging their agony ONE MORE SEASON until he, once again, cannot decide whether or not his tired old body has taken enough pounding by 300 pound linemen to return for JUST ONE MORE SEASON?!?!

Haven’t we been forced to sit through this sitcom one to many times? Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy and I totally understand his indecisiveness about this. It IS a wear on your body playing professional sports. Not that I have any experience with it, but I imagine it can be tough. And I cannot even imagine the type of pain he must have been in at the end of that game last season against the Saints where he was pummeled mercilessly all night long and ALMOST won the game! But nevertheless…I grow weary of this media dance every season for the past 7 years. Please Brett…do me and football fans all over the country a big favor…make up your mind BEFORE training camp next year. Say…maybe around the time the Super Bowl 2011 ends and you’re sitting on your couch somewhere pondering your future. Your future is is here! Go do something else with your life! I, for one, have appreciated your work ethic and your love of the game! But it’s getting tired and I’m over the endless breaking reports of you throwing a football on a high school field or you picking up takeout at Wendy’s or whatever else ESPN reporters can find to chat about. You’re taking up valuable tv time when ESPN or NFL Net or any other sports outlet COULD be talking about how good so many OTHER quarterbacks are in the NFL! So let’s just call it a day after this season…mmmmmkay? Thanks and if you ever wanna throw a little of this years’ salary MY way, I’ll take it!

The Last One

No, no, no…not my last BLOG silly! It’s something totally different! For those of you who don’t know what I do for a living, I create graphics for television sporting events. So if you are watching a game on tv, I am the guy putting the stats up on the individual players and stuff. It’s a great gig and I get to travel and watch sports and work with some extremely talented people. Anyway, “The Last One” refers to the only stadium I have not been to…Soldier Field in Chicago. And, oddly enough, this week for my 40th birthday, as luck would have it, I am working a game there for the NFL Network!

That’s 31 stadiums (32 if you include Wimbley in London and don’t forget that Giants Stadium is also home to the Jets) and you can see me in all of them in the “Places I’ve Been” tab at the top of my site here. It’s nowhere near as cool as being in every baseball stadium or traveling all over the world! But for me, it’s been kind of a journey. It took me only 3 years! Of course, I’ve been to several of these places several times, but some of them I’ve only been to once (Dallas, San Francisco). So getting to Chicago hasn’t been easy…but now it’s over! All 31 stadiums accounted for!

Until next year when Dallas gets their new home. Then I gotta get there again somehow! 

Sports & Boobs: A Cheerleader Blog

So over at Midlife Slices, she is blogging about boobs. Here at MY site, I blogged yesterday about sports. So let’s talk about BOTH! Seeing as how Maxim is highlighting the best looking cheerleaders this season…who do you feel has the best cheerleading corp in sports? Any thoughts? I can’t vote because I’ve seen a bunch of them…however one of the best looking cheerleaders in the NFL is on the Tampa Bay Bucs squad. She also appears in Maxim this month and she is also the favorite of a good friend of mine who happens to have her as his wallpaper on his computer! Needless to say, she’s got MY attention as well (love blondes with brown eyes!). Here is Rachel Watson of the Buccaneers. She gets my vote as the best looking cheerleader in the NFL.

As for the Ben-Gals? I’ll go with the cover girl from last years calendar. She definately has nice…assets?

Not to be outdone, of course, there is a Dolphin & Rams cheerleader who are also in the mix. Here are Kate from St. Louie…

And Genesis from Miami

I’m sure there are a whole slew of fans who can give me more beauties! Thanks to Midlife Slices for giving me THIS idea for a blog! Doing the research was a huge pain in the butt…NOT!

What the Heck…Preseason Football?

This is your brain on shoulder pads…

Hey! It’s football season folks! Well…sorta. If you are a football fan, it’s time for the fantasy leagues, the endless ESPN updates and televised games that mean absolutely nothing. But fans STILL pay top dollar to go to the games. Why?

It’s a glorified scrimmage. No one of any significance plays for any length of time. You won’t see any of your favorite players except for maybe 2 or 3 plays. Players take the chance of getting hurt for no reason. Why? What is the point? It doesn’t count!

No one wins except for the team owners. They get a ton of money for showing you their 3rd stringers. I think that’s crazy. Not so much that the owners are gonna suck as much money out of your pocket as they can…that’s just human nature. But I don’t get why people do it? Why do they march into the stadiums to drink high-priced beer and eat high-priced food? What is the point? Why not just go to a practice session? Why pay top dollar to watch something you could do for free…or cheaper?

Whatever…more work for me. However there are some things I will never understand about sports fans…

Oh well…as long as the fans are happy, it really doesn’t matter. But I’m wondering why the NFL doesn’t just extend the season? Maybe do 2 preseason games and add the final 2 as regular season games? Makes sense…and everybody wins! Right? 

Uh…does anybody really care? Maybe not. Have a great NFL season! Go Bengals!