Huh?

Ahh, it's quite a few days after the Super Bowl which means that my usual posts claiming my bitter hatred for the Pittsburgh Steelers have come to an end. Rejoice all ye' Steel City fans. But not yet....
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Super Bowl:
I knew it was going to be a bad night when the two people chosen to do the National Anthem were Aretha "Still Around?" Franklin and Aaron "Cotton" Neville. Don't get me wrong, they are both wonderful artists. In fact, my Aretha cd I own is one of my favorites. She does a version of "The Weight" and "The House That Jack Built" that tops anyone before or since. But Sunday Franklin and Neville sounded more like Ben Franklin and Deborah Norville. Horrible rendition. Plus, they took a proud song and made it so long that it could barely fit into a BET special.
Reminds me of a great Anthem moment. When I was playing a lot of softball in Troy there were four fields within feet of each other. Three of them were reserved for all of us bozos running around out of shape while the fourth was for the Legion Baseball team. Before the Legion games, they played a tape of the Anthem through the loudspeakers, and when they did Everyone stopped what they were doing. From the batter to the pitcher to Larry tucked away in the boonies in rightfield, everyone removed their cap and looked at the flag. It's kinda hokey, but it was always a neat moment where everyone and their differences came together for a few brief moments. Pretty cool.
Back to the Pre-game...Then they had the absurd Dr. Seuss intro. Hey, I love Dr. Seuss as much as the next guy but come on, this is the Super Bowl not Saturday morning cartoons.
But they did a neat thing by introducing all of the MVPs from every Super Bowl. However, the big news later was that Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw didn't attend. Rumor has it the money wasn't enough. I like both of those guys and I certainly can't confirm that was the reason or not. But let's say it was...then that is a crime. Two guys who account for 8 Super Bowls between them couldn't find it in themselves to give the game, and more importantly, the fans a few minutes to revel in their past glory.
Now that the game is over I can enjoy the fact that Bettis won't be playing again (Did you know that he's from Detroit...and that is where the Super Bowl was held? Wow!) because he usually ran all over the Bengals. Also, I can probably go a couple of weeks without Joey Porter (who did nearly nothing in this game) flapping his mouth about either being robbed or trying to create a feud with an opposing tight end (who dropped about 45 passes). I can enjoy the fact that I don't have to see Little Ben wearing his hat backward at every moment. (what is it with quarterbacks? They all feel that they have to wear a hat when they're not on the field)
I read a lot of national newspapers via the internet. Each morning, I log on the computer whilst sitting in my tattered underwear and fuzzy pink slippers while enjoying a nutritious bowl of Lucky Charms (after I remove the disproportionate amount of marshmallow "charms"). I was surprised to see how many writers were a little suspicious of the referee's calls.
Colin Cowherd (espn radio) said (paraphrased) "Do I think that the NFL would deliberately engineer an sentimental win for one of the top five rushers in the history of the league ... in his hometown ... for his last game? Nah ... just a coincidence that every time the Seahawks were either scoring or going to score a yellow hanky hit the turf. The NFL wouldn't create storylines for ratings and dare I say money! I don't think that ... but the Steelers sure did ... at least they did after the Colts game when the shoe was on the other foot ... doesn't seem to be an issue now. I officially am not recognizing this championship, as far as I am concerned the Patriots are still champs and they are going for a three peat."
I kinda look at the Steelers as being like Michigan. Sure, I respect them and admire them (especially their coach) but I also have a deep seeded dislike for them. It's like the guy walking around in Meijer's grocery wearing a Michigan hat and coat. I just want to take a carrot and shove it into his inner ear and say "move north, jackass". Plus, I read where the Cowboys are the most popular team in the country and the Steelers are second and that 40-odd percent (roughly..can't remember the exact number) of their fans are women. Reason enough for me not to like them. Of course, I always bid forgiveness from three people who I know are Steelers fans and have always been with them (Dave, Eddie, Barb) and I respect your allegiance to your team. You are true fans and that's cool with me. Remember, I'm just giving you all heck...nothing personal.
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How insignificant is the NBA right now? What a boring game to watch and follow. I remember when I was younger and nearly everyone followed the game. Now, I can name about 5 people I know who watch it. I grew up in the Larry Bird (greatest player ever...don't argue it), Magic, Jordan, Barkley, Dr. J era, so maybe I'm a little spoiled. But I don't see anything like that in today's game. LeBron James is the closest thing but, while he's incredible, he can't carry the torch all by himself.
I see old highlights of Bird and remember exactly that I was sitting here/there watching whatever game it was. I remember Bird hitting the final shot to win it in the 3-point contest and holding his finger in the air as soon as he let go of it as my dad and I came to our feet. Swish!
If I could have been at any sporting event (and I've said this a lot to anyone who would listen...mostly my dog Zeke or the basement wall) that I would pick Game 5 of the 1987 NBA Finals when the Celtics were all but done when Bird swooped in from nowhere and stole the ball from Isiah and flipped it to a streaking D.J. for the basket (prompting Isiah "loser" Thomas to say that Bird would just be average if he were black....you gotta be freakin' kidding me!). I've seen the highlight a thousand times and I still get goosebumps watching it. Seeing the crowd literally erupt and hearing the call by Johnny Most's raspy voice...just priceless.
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Hope Spring Eternal. No truer words can be spoken about the upcoming baseball season. Every team has a shot in Spring Training. Even my beloved Reds are contenders in my mind and memories of their abysmal season last year are a distant thought. To me, warm weather and being outdoors is right around the corner when I hear that it's time for "pitchers and catchers to report"
We went to Florida last year and I was able to slip out and catch a Twins game. Other than the players, I was probably one of the first 20 people there. Saying that I believe in getting to games early is a serious understatement.
I heard a promo the other day on WLW with Marty doing a call of Pete sliding head first into third, Todd Benzinger (remember him??) catching the final out in 1990 World Series, etc...I get goosebumps when I hear Marty make a dramatic call. He is without a doubt the greatest announcer in the game...EVER!
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Anna had her Parent/Teacher conferences today. We met with her teacher, Mr Elifritz. I love that guy. What a wonderful person to be teaching my daughter. I was a little apprehensive when I heard a guy was going to teach my first daughter during her first venture into education. I was always used to having women teachers, especially at that age and I guess I just always envisioned a woman teaching my kids.
This guy is so energetic and smart and I truly think he "works" at his job. I only wish he could follow Anna as she continues.
He said she's doing really great and progressing very well. One of the cool things about going to a small school is that I recognize many of the kids' names. I either played ball with their fathers or know them from school, the fair or just around. It's pretty neat.
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I recently (and finally) had some excitement at my work last week. You could have seen the video on the evening news or read about it in the paper. No, I wasn't caught trying to pick up a 14 year old girl via the internet (Ha! They'll never catch me! ....kidding folks)
I've been working at an off-site warehouse facility. It's essentially two giant barns where we keep our large inventory of robots and such. It's divided down the middle and there is an office toward the front. It's probably 200 yards from front to back of each side. Last wednesday I was in the office, hard at work, when I heard a "pop". It sounded to me like a lightbulb exploded as that has happened before. But then again, there are all sorts of sounds in that place. The wind, things shifting, the dog-sized rats (no kidding)...a number of things make noise around there. So I went to the South side of the two buildings and checked things out. Nothing. I went back into the office to finish up some top secret important stuff...I was in there for about 15-20 minutes or so. I get out and head to the North side when I look up into the ceiling and notice that I can't see the lights too well. The reason? A thick layer of black smoke throughout the entire facility! I quickly started walking toward the back, trying to locate the source of the smoke when about halfway down I am face to face with a blazing inferno. Flames were shooting about 15 feet into the air as two crates of robots were on fire. After filling my pants and saying to myself "holy F'n *!#$% !!!" I dialed 911. I'd love to hear that tape! As I'm talking to the 911 person, I am running back to the front of the building to fetch a fire extinguisher. I return to unload the extinguisher into the blazing fires of hell...to no avail. I hang up the phone and try again when the overhead sprinkler system goes off raining down upon me gallons of water. I then realize that my undying love for these robots is only outweighed by my undying love for my undying self, so I ditch the extinguisher and run back to the front doors.
Needless to say, the fire department showed up. 5 trucks, some from neighboring Tipp City. They did a great job.
I spent the weekend with some other guys uncrating about 50 robots and dumping out hundreds of gallons of water that had collected inside them.
As bad as it was, it was surprising not that bad. I mean, someone could have gotten hurt and there could have been a lot more damage...but thankfully everybody was fine and the damage was relatively limited.
As hard as I tried, I could not get interviewed by any of the news channels that were on hand. Perhaps, as it was noted, that I have all of my teeth and I was not wearing a Nascar hat...that's the reason they didn't talk to me.
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Speaking of the local news, these people are out of control! The worst part is the Weather Team. They are way too serious. Listen, if a tornado is coming at my house, let me know. That's great. But I don't need you to break into my favorite television show to tell me that "it's raining really hard in Preble County!". Now they have the little scrolling ticker at the bottom. Not to mention, their little 50 county map in the lower right hand corner. They are essentially leaving my 36 inch screen with about 4 inches of actual "television show". The sportscaster has to sit on a phonebook with his neck crooked up and to his right just so he doesn't have some weather related insignia across his mug.
I always love when they give the temperatures. "It's 75 in Tipp City, 76 in Troy and 77 in Piqua". It's like "Those poor bastards in Piqua are burning up!" Just come on and say "You know what? It's about 75 across the viewing area". What, am I supposed to believe that Jerry, some crackpot in Piqua, isn't shining his Grow-Lamp onto his thermometer before he calls in just so he can be the "highest" temp on the 7 o'clock news that night?
Dennis Miller was talking about Global Warming on his latest special (speaking of weather) and he was saying that he didn't really buy the global warming thing. He said that he remembers it being "pretty hot" when he was a kid, and wonders if we should trust some people in the early part of the past century, who didn't even have indoor plumbing, to accurately lay down the statistical baseline for future generations to measure global temperatures. Something to think about, certainly.
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I don't like to talk politics too much. Mostly because I am, without a shadow of a doubt, always right. Your opinions are complete rubbish unless they concur with mine.
So a truck driver comes in and starts talking about the State of the Union address (which I did not watch). It doesn't matter what side of the fence you are on, a state of the union is pure "political rhetoric" at its finest.
He tells me that he wouldn't vote for Bush again because of him raising interest rates. After reminding him that Bush can't run for re-election because of that pesky little thing called the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, I also pointed out to him that the President has very little to do with interest rates and that "the Fed" controls that sorta stuff. I receive a blank stare. Thinking that I have done him in, he hits me with the final shot. He says, "Well, if they let that Catalina Rice run, I'll definitely not vote". I return the blank, stone-faced stare. Catalina Rice? What they hell! Excuse me, garcon... yes, I'd like the blackened tuna with gargonzola sauce and a side of Catalina Rice. And for the little lady, she'd like the same. I'm not the smartest guy in the world but if you're stating your political views to someone and you confuse the Secretary of State with a side order for your supper, then you've immediately discredited yourself and I'm no longer listening to your rant.
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There's a new Curious George movie coming out soon and while, like my brother in law, I don't really like C. George and really never have, I've already bought the soundtrack. It is 13 songs of great music on the cd titled "Jack Johnson and Friends: Sing a longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George". It's a funky-fied album featuring guest spots by G. Love and Ben Harper and others. The music is not only cool and groove-filled, but it's something my kids LOVE and I'm sure others will too. Check it out at: http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/ look for the "news" and scroll down for a video to the album called "Upside Down"
Get one of his albums, you'll be a fan and want more
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The Olympics (or as my middle daughter Sophia calls them, the "Uhlimpsticks") are on and that's o.k., I guess. Unfortunately, it bumps my favorite show "The Office" for a couple of weeks (see:http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/) Again, I like the Olympics but they always start off on the wrong foot with those corny-ass Opening Ceremonies. It's like the old Orange Bowl halftime shows featuring Up With People lip-synching to really bad multi-cultural stuff. Did I see plastic cows being waddled to and fro across the ice while guys skated around with jet packs strapped to their backs? I don't get it.
The events that I like are the ski jumping, curling (that looks fun, doesn't it? It's like Horseshoes for really cold people), hockey, and speed skating. But, as I've said before, the main draw is the figure skating which somehow grounds all of the splendor of the Games as we squabble over thousandths-of-a-point because we felt the costumes weren't up to snuff on Team Latvia.
Although today I did see a picture of one of the skaters named Tanith Belbin. I don't know from what crackpot nation she's from or what she does but I would consider postponing my typical "Aw crap, this skating shit is on again" for a few minutes as I gawked wide-eyed at this lovely lady. I'd consider doing a triple lutz on her Salchow if Dick Button allows it (whatever the hell that meant)