State of my Blog and other Tidbits

State of Blog
Well, I started this blog earlier in the year in an effort to write more and avoid annoying people with emails about topics I like to debate or talk about. I also was hoping friends and strangers would browse through and join in with their opinions and perspectives to help me shape mine.

I like what has come of this so much that I am bugging my wife with the time I spend on here and have recently tried to ween myself off a bit to respect her needs. But I am not quitting this blog. Nor does she want me to.

Anyway, I have been sticking to the sports theme a whole lot of late which is cool. That is a huge part of my life. It is what I enjoy the most. I'd be a farce if I came on here saying I want to write about what I think about and enjoy and avoided that subject completely. There is more to me though contrary to popular belief. I think I have shown that with some of the posts I have put on here. I plan to get back to more of that.

Spirituality
Right now, nothing is coming to me to write about and I don't want to force it. Plus, the book I am reading on Buddhism is awfully dry. Not much to really write about. I am enjoying the book as I learn more about this way of life. It still appeals to me greatly. But I haven't had much I can reflect on that others would want to chime in on. That may change as I make my way through the book. I plan to read the Book of Matthew in the Bible after this. My Dad recommended it. I plan to discuss it and the comparison to Buddhism with my Dad, you and those in the blogosphere in the near future.

Education
I am really burned out with my career so my education reflections may be on hold. Plus summer is fast approaching...my "healing" time.

More Fatherhood
I also wanted to add that I love having a daughter and wife. When I hear "My Girl" by the Temptations I have these two beautiful people to think about and appreciate. Can't use that song with a son. Maybe in less than 7 months I'll have a son to experience the same kind of thing with as he grows up. Probably a different song though.



NFL Draft
I am watching the pre-draft special on ESPN and just have to say I love Tom Jackson. I always have. I have fond memories of when he and Chris Berman and Pete Forgot-his-last-name-but-he-has-since-passed began NFL Primetime in the late 80's / early 90s. I loved watching for Browns' highlights. It was the highlight of the weekend, ending it with the memory of a great Cleveland Browns victory. Anyway, this guy is steady and knows his stuff. It is the one thing that keeps me coming back despite the mindless laughing they all keep doing nowadays. For some reason we have to have a comedy up there for the fringe fans. I just want my football with some spontaneous humor from time to time. And I don't need the panelist cracking up all the freaking time.

Oh yeah, and the Browns had a kick ass draft last year with their acclaimed top three picks and the little talked about pick of McDonald at the DB position which made Bodden expendable. And this may sound funny since they don't have any picks the first day, but this year's draft is a good one in my mind because they used the picks to get Brady Quinn last year as well as Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers (who the Bungles tried to get) on the DL where we NEEDED help. More to come on this for sure.


Music
A band I have recently fallen in love with is The Hollies. My brother and dad would play "Bus Stop" in our basement back in the day when we had friends over and it was always a fond memory of mine. They did a great job and it was a cool tune. Later, I was able to parlay their musical talents into a little ditty for my wife at our wedding reception. I rewrote some of the lyrics to fit how my wife and I met and put it to the music of "Bus Stop." My bro and dad played behind me as I sang to my wife who had never heard this version before. Everyone watched. Those of you who know me know I can't sing to save my life and it wasn't pretty. But it was so much fun and I enjoyed every second of it and felt the rush of performing in front of close to 100 people if not more. It was also cool to meet up with my dad and bro to practice leading up to the "show." I enjoyed the bonding.

With that said, in my search to find a copy of "Bus Stop" I realized The Hollies had a number of songs I recognized and enjoyed. In fact I enjoyed them a whole lot! And many of their songs are so different than the others. They have songs like "Bus Stop" and then a more classic rock style "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress." Then the intimate "Air That I Breathe." The soft rock classic "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." The bee bop pop style "Carrie Anne" or "Just One Look." And these are just the popular hits. There is so much more about these artists I want to find. Yum, good stuff.

Quick Quiz...I am getting old

I texted some good friends this question:

How many current NBA coaches were players during our years of watching the NBA regularly and who are they? Circa 85-86 season and on.

Without hesitation my buddy Ernie living out on the west coast (and 3 hours earlier than the early morning time of the text) chimed in first and nailed it.

Can you?

Sense of Humor

I was thinking today: Why is funny funny? What makes things we laugh at funny?

I realize we all have different senses of humor and are amused by different things. But what makes these things amusing? There are all kind of different types of comedy.

I for one enjoy Frank Caliendo and his impersonations. But why are they funny to me? Because they are so much alike the people he is imitating? Why is that funny?

I can't say I am a big fan of slapstick comedy but there are moments that I laugh at someone slipping or bumping into things. Mainly the look on their face is so out of the ordinary that I laugh. But why?

A good joke is funny but why? Is it the clever aspect of it? Is it the combination of the absurd and the real or mundane? Is it insult of it?

Seinfeld was so good at poking fun at the everyday idiosyncrasies of life but why did we laugh? Was it the fact that other people noticed these things too?

Dirty humor is always funny? Why do we laugh at sex and cuss words? Are we nervous about talking or hearing it?

How about cuteness? I have laughed at some of the things my daughter says becasue it is just so darn cute. Why? She makes me smile all the time just being, but still.....why do I laugh?

Whatever the reason, I love to laugh.

Are you happy now douglas?

Albert Belle: Gone.

Julio Franco: In.

Does that work for you?

How To Book: Playing Physical in the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers (presented by Cub Cadet)

Tonight was a clinic on how you play physical during the NBA playoffs. While the Washington Wizards have publicly made it a point to play "physical" with the Cleveland Cavaliers in an effort to stop or at least slow down LeBron James, the Cavs have in turn shown them how to do it.

Instead of playing tough nosed defense and fouling hard while making attempts at the ball, Washington has found themselves in a hornets nest as they push and shove and grab and throw themselves onto players in an effort to be a bully. As a result, they have ticked off James. And the Cavs as a team have responded by showing the last two years in the playoffs have paid dividends for the remaining Cavaliers from that roster. They have not backed down from the bully. They have stepped up. They have matched the intensity. In fact they have returned the physical challenge with the proper prowess good teams show in the playoffs. The Wizards are not getting easy buckets without paying for it (after the first quarter), mostly in a clean hard way. Granted Andy Varejao threw an unneeded closeline at one point but overall, they Cavs fouled and fouled hard.

Much has been made of the trash talking Stevenson and his mates on the Wizards roster have done. And it is obvious they want this series bad after losing twice to the Cavs the past two years. But all they have done is motivate a flatlined Cavs team. Suddenly, the team looks energized. It seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

The Cavs are standing up against the bully from Washington. The Wizards woke a sleeping giant. Problem is: It is only two games. It takes four to win the series. I recall the Cavs getting blown away by the Pistons in the first two games two years ago just to comeback and lose in seven after Flip Murray missed a critical rebound at the end of Game Six possibly leading to a game winning bucket. This series could end similarly with the Cavs losing again being the team that blows a 2-0lead.

What needs to happen is LeBron and the Cavs keep saying all the right things and show the rest of the NBA (hello Boston...) that they answer on the court. They need to enter Game three with a chip on their shoulder like they have Game One and Two. Wally and Boobie need to continue the rhythm they FINALLY gained tonight. Z needs to play with some fierceness. Wallace needs to own the paint. West needs to lead this team. Damon Jones needs to get some significant minutes and Devin Brown needs to do his thing.

And bring the defense. The defense Washington wanted to bring but didn't have the heart to.

I Can't Stand Boston Fans

Coming from Cleveland I have a lot of built-in bitterness towards other cities. The weather sucks most of the year in Cleveland, the economy has been bad more than good, there isn't as much to do without having to work to find it and the voters in this state are idiots more often than not. But at the same time, like many other Cleveland natives, I take it personal when people insult or joke about my hometown (or area since I never technically lived in Cleveland itself...that's a whole other blog post in itself). I notice many people from Cleveland are quick to defend it or prove its legitimacy. It is like we have a chip on our shoulder regarding our place of residence. I haven't picked up on that with people in Columbus yet.

We also love our sports in Cleveland. And we have collectively put up with a lot of pain and suffering with our teams. No team has won a championship here since before my generation was even born. We had our beloved football team taken from us. We have had heartbreak just short of getting to a championship several times over in dramatic fashion.

These are things I have blogged before. This time I am venting about another so called "torchered" city. This being Boston.

What prompted this post is an HBO special I watched with my brother about the Brooklyn Dodgers. After watching and seeing how the fans in Brooklyn dealt with even more gut wrenching disappointment than me and my fellow Cleveland fans losing to the hated Yankees in the World Series seven times before they finally won I believe. And I think it went to 7 games more than half of the time. They also suffered through "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" homerun by Bobby Thompson of the New York Giants. I think that was the year they blew a 13.5 game lead as well. And THEY lost there team as well just like my Browns.

Ouch.

Anyway, HBO did a great job of mixing the first hand accounts and emotional music in the background to create a dramatic feeling of support for the Dodgers and their epic struggle. Then came another documentary on the...Boston Red Sox and their "supposed" struggle to win a World Series. The "Curse of the Babe." Their numerous heartbreaks to their bitter rival Yanks. Oh, those poor fans. They had such a difficult stretch of time rooting for their Sox, and Pats and Celtics and Bruins.

When the Patriots began their Super Bowl run earlier this decade I had to hear all about how AWESOME they felt. After dealing with so much they finally were able to get the monkey off their back. They had waited so long to have that feeling. They didn't know what to do with themselves. The demons were exorcised. Life was grand. The sun lit the sky again. Life was worth living. All was right with the world.

And then again when the Red Sox won the Series we had to bear all of this AGAIN with even MORE pomp and circumstance since it was the battered Sox and the Curse was broken.

Apparently the Celtics and Bruins didn't count? The fact that the Celtics were viewed as one of the greatest basketball franchises ever meant nothing. The Patriots had at least made it to the Super Bowl once. The Bruins won the Stanely Cup in recent memory.

Put that aside. What bothers me most is the downright arrogance of the Boston fan. Please. I can't stand your overdramatic, exaggerated "pain." Your rings mean nothing.

Not only do we have to deal with the lack of championships in Cleveland, the ridicule that comes with it, the weather, the bad economy, being the butt of jokes around the country, losing our team we care most about, the conservative voting hillbillies and closeminded types but we don't even get credit for all of this pain. Of course we do if it means jokes and insults will follow. Somehow dealing with lack of success in Boston is romanticized while in Cleveland it is rubbed in our face.

Don't cry for me Boston fan...I'm already dead.

LeBron Freaking James!

I really have nothing else to say beyond this:

Softball '08 Log Part I

Since so many people are at the edge of their seats waiting for scrub league softball wrap-ups. here is the beginning of a log of my two team's summer 2008seasons.

I am playing Tuesday nights in Westerville with Westerville Wahoos. I didn't name the team so I am not going to count this against my new effort to ban the Chief Wahoo symbol in my life out of respect to Native Americans around the country. Therefore, I will try to refer to this team as the "Westerville" team instead of the Wahoos. This team consists of some good friends of mine from past teams and past experiences as well as current situations.

I also am playing on Wednesday nights in Hilliard where I have been playing for almost a decade now with Horizon. These guys are friends from softball teams of WAY back. The cool thing about this league besides the guys I play with is the fact that I will have a nice rivalry with a team that consists of most of my Westerville teammates from Tuesdays. That is going to be interesting.

Before I start let me mention a couple of things.

First, THANK GOD I am not managing. Nothing against the leagues or people, I just hate signing the team up, gathering money, fronting the money, dealing with rules and schedules, representing the team on questionable calls when guys blow up, feeling bad about who I put at particular field positions or batting order slots and so on. Playing with the lineup is fun but I can do that on my own for kicks and giggles. Keeping stats is fun but it is not worth people knit picking you over them when you don't really care all that much in the first place out side of having talking points to discuss and analyzing trends or whatever. It is so much more enjoyable for me to just show up with my stuff, play where the captain tells me to play and hit where the captain tells me to hit. Then I can do my thing, talk my stuff and have stress free fun.

Secondly, Westerville is very clean, nice and professional.

Third, Norman is a master pitcher. He puts the ball where he wants it. He is unafraid of throwing balls or walking batters. A 3-1 count is nothing to him. He just throws inside to outside, long to short, high to low, straight or with spin. I love watching it. It is a thing of beauty when he has his stuff working. Seriously. This is only softball but dude......

So here we go:

WEEK ONE
Tonight was Opening night and the weather was good sans the sun in my eyes for the first 5 innnings. Fortunately nothing was hit towards me. I was nervous. I am playing 2B and I have not played well in the infield the past couple years and worry I lost whatever little skill I had. I pray that some reps there will help improve my play.

Most importantly, we came out as a team and won in convincing fashion 13-4. I am not sure this team is a good representation of the competition we will face in Westerville but we handled things well tonight. You can never base your projection on the first team you play. And I am NOT saying we are a better team or anything. We just were tonight...on the scoreboard.

It was good to see the team interact well and look comfortable in their positions. Baddeley has catcher on lock down. Our outfield hustled and caught what was hit to them. The infield made plays. We didn't throw the ball all over the place. And that's not to say we won't in the future. Just not tonight.

Me? I sucked. I never got into a rhythm at the plate. I swung at bad first pitches. Rule #1 in my book of hitting: NEVER swing at the first pitch. There are obvious times to swing but you need to go into it thinking never to avoid what I did tonight. I went 0-2 or 0-3 with a BB and RBI. Each out was a weak ground ball in the infield. It was bad. I was fortunate to have a guy at third to get the RBI. Really it was weak. I was thinking way too much at the plate. I tried to just go hit and ended up swinging at two first pitch balls.

Hopefully with a game under my belt I will be better at the plate next week. But really it matter little...we won. I am happy because that is the point. I would just feel a little bit better if I contributed to the win more than two put outs at second.

Rap Music

Back in high school I went through a phase in which I listened to a lot of rap music. In my opinion, this was the high point in the genre. I personally feel as though the music from this genre has gone downhill since the mid 90's and has never regained the quality it once demonstrated. I could take this blog in another direction to examine my personal perspective and how my opinion could be a function of age, and lack of exposure to most of the rap music industry as opposed to a legitimate decline in quality of hip hop, but instead I will acknowledge it here and move on to more light hearted discussion.

My quick disclaimer is this: The rap I enjoyed in the late 80's and the early, pre-gangsta rap period was not necessarily what was marketed to the masses. I agree that the MC Hammers, Vanilla Ices, Sir Mix-a-lots, Fat Boys, Tone Locs et al of the rap genre were not all that great. But there were artists who were marketed to the masses along with others that may have not been so "famous." Therefore, since today I only know of the mass marketed (is that even a word?), I could be unaware of good, poetic, rhythmic rap music being written and produced today.

My point of this blog post is to share with you some artists and songs that I have always enjoyed and consider "quality" rap the way it should be. No "G's up Ho's down," "pop a cap in yo ass" garbage. While it was fun to party to Snoop Dog's "Doggystyle" and I had my Dr. Dre, NWA, Ice Cube phase, I consider good music to have clever or meaningful lyrics. I think good rap has solid, driving beats. It has rhythm that makes you want to groove and move. I consider it to be poetic at times but not always.

Here are some artists, songs and albums I have always enoyed:
Pharcyde..."Passin' Me By" This is a song I have always considered on of my top 5 favorite rap songs ever. The vibe of the song, the rhymes, the sonic elements are all so good. It never gets old.

Public Enemy.... So much about this group is good. Flavor Flav???? Hmmmm. But Chuck D. is an intelligent, strong individual with powerful lyrics and a message that he delivers with a voice just as powerful. Their controversial political rap taught me more about the black experience and their view of the civil rights movement than anything I learned in school. His stuff made me think and contributed to my motivation to read Malcolm X's autobiography (which every impressionable teenager did when Spike Lee's movie with Denzel Washington came out) and teach in the city like I have been doing for a decade now as opposed to staying the the comfortable suburbs.

Boogie Down Productions......In the same vain as Public Enemy, BDP raised awareness to the black experience in the U.S. KRS-1, like Chuck D. delivered powerful messages through strong lyrics, beats and voice.

Eric B. and Rakim....Probably the best voice in rap music was Rakim. His voice alone was an instrument. Eric B. mixed wicked beats behind the intense lyrics of Rakim. Microphone Fiend is a classic with its driving, slamming beats. His egotistical lyrics were par for the course at that time when rappers would spar back and forth with words not bullets. In their songs, they would declare their greatness over other rappers, "your beats are whack while my lyrics are all that." The beginning of the end of my enjoyment of rap was when the next generation of rappers (Biggy, TuPac, P. Diddy, Ja Rule and more) began killing people for real. The competitive banter back and forth and the rivalries went too far. I know there is much more to this, but as a fan that lost me.

A Tribe Called Quest...The single best rap group EVER in my mind. Q-Tip is the smoothest, most clever, poetic lyricist I have ever heard. Their mellow vibe, the funny, catchy rhymes were great. The themes of their music varied and showed diversity. Fife Dog was an excellent compliment to Q-Tip's lead. Every album carried itself with song after song that keeps me coming back. The individual albums carried themselves while staying true to the group itself. Each was unique but still in the same vain as the others. They managed to maintain their "street cred" without stooping to violence and cheap, degrading sex. Their live shows were some of the best shows I have experienced across every genre. You felt like you were part of the show as you contributed to the energy and vibe.

These are several rap artisits I really enjoy. I also have been a big fan of Big Daddy Kane, D-Nice, Ice Cube, Wu Tang Clan (yes, contradicting my earlier statements regarding violence and cheap, degrading sex),and of course Ol' Dirty Bastard, EPMD, Black Sheep to name a few.

How could I forget?!

In my poll regarding who should be booed upon their return to Cleveland I totally forgot to include Carlos Booooooooooozer as a choice. If anyone truly deserves to be booed it is that guy. Backstabbing loser.

OK FINE!

Yes, yes I burned everything and anything I owned of Albert Belle the day he signed with Chicago. I don't like giving in but I cannot combat my own hypocricy. I was really mad and now I apparently have done a 180. Or 360 to be more accurate.

You have to admit though.....a warm summer night at Jacob's Field. Bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. Tribe down 2 runs. 2 runners on. From the batter's box comes Albert Belle. The intro of "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC playing with the ominous bells ringing. The target in left field displayed on the scoreboard. The pitch....DEEP fly ball to left center field and over the wall. The place goes crazy! Flashing lights, fireworks, people cheering and the exhilerating feeling racing through your body as the Tribe wins another!!

That was so awesome and he did it so often. I miss it. But despite that I should stay true to my actions and statements. Maybe I should replace it with a Brook Jacoby pic. Or Omar. Or my fantasy team namesake, Joe Charboneau.

And my bad on Radiohead being American. I heard someone else reference them as American during a bar conversation regarding this same topic. So I should blame my source. Not me. I have always been indifferent regarding them anyway. I just figured they were good based on what I have heard and in an effort to be objective.

Chief Wahoo

On my way into Opening Day to watch the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox in an exciting, offensive game, I passed a line of Native Americans quietly protesting. I looked at their signs, "We are NOT Honored" and looked down at my T-Shirt proudly displaying the comical, silly looking Chief Wahoo logo that the Indians have been using for decades.

My mother has already voiced her displeasure in the use of this logo and refuses to buy any merchandise that uses it. I have long thought I should do the same. I would like to stand for things like that. But in the end I continued to wear and display the logo.

On one extreme, people feel the name "Indians" alone is an insult. Throw in the clown face and it is just plain wrong in their mind. The other end of the spectrum says, "get over it!" Who cares? It's a name, a picture. And the name is supposed to be a positive name. You don't name your team something you would use as an insult or harmful term. So take it as a compliment.

Then you have this guys: A guy behind me started making the woo woo woo sound with his hand over his mouth in an obvious mockingly fashion. This was followed by the tomahawk chop and FSU or Atlanta Brave chant. I thought this was just plain classless regardless of where you stand.

Who am I to say whether the logo is insulting or not? The people it represents are the ones who should have the say, right? So if they do not like it, it should be discarded. And apparently they do have a problem with it.

I can't say I personally have a problem with the name, "Indians." But I think I will try to stop buying merchandise with the logo. Their are plenty of good apparel and hats with the script I, or C or word Indians.

And I have the loud "yip" sound I like to make during exciting parts of games that I now worry people will mistake for a mocking Indian sound. I don't mean it in that manner, it is just a loud sound I make like whistling or yelling. So what do I do about that?