Monday, May 26, 2008

Update: Having Kids That Are Sick Still Not Fun

It started at about 3:30 early Sunday morning when my wife woke me up to tell me that our oldest daughter, Megan, was sick. Puking in the bed sick. Although, it was more phlegm than food.

Good morning everyone.

So, that put an end to Megan's plan for that day to go hang out at her friend's house for the afternoon. And, it ruined mom and dad's chance at a quiet house -- once our youngest would take her daily three hour nap -- so we could enjoy some afternoon, um, time to...enjoy each other's company.

Then, our youngest, Sarah, got sick around 8:30 that same morning. Right after breakfast.

Maybe it was something we ate the night before. We think we were able to narrow it down to some kind of macaroni alfredo thing we had at a party Saturday afternoon.

I had the same dish, but felt fine. Then again, I hardly flinched when my wife told me that the expiration date on the piece of cake I was eating last night was a few days past. It'll take a little more than a slightly less than fresh cake, or a foreign mac and alfredo dish to send me over the top. Or in this case, over the toilet.

So, the girls spent the day in and out of sleep, while confined to the couch or floor. And, since my wife was up with Megan overnight, she was too tired for the standard evening enjoying of each other's company.

Which meant for me, I was off to find another piece of cake.

(There is some NSFW language in this classic Team America clip)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Butt Head

This may be one of the funniest videos I've seen all year. Apparently it's been floating around the internet for two years, but today was the first time I'd seen it.

It's so great on so many levels. Not one, but two classic collisions as the drunk in the video gets way too familiar with the walls in the building.

The volume, and damage as a result of the first collision is colossal, but I think the second collision is funnier. It's like the room is tilted.

Thanks for the laughs, fella. And, oh yeah, don't drive drunk.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Flyers Grounded

With yesterday's season-ending 6-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers concluded Philadelphia's 100th consecutive season without a title. Hard to fathom, really.

The 1983 Sixers are the last Philly sports team -- if you don't count the 1985 Villanova Wildcats basketball team -- to win a championship. Four professional teams, 25 years later, and we've hit the century mark.

It would have been a big upset for this Flyers team to get to the Finals, let alone win it. They've made tremndous strides from being the worst team in the league last year, to making the conference finals this year. They'll contend for a few years at least.

After the Flyers won game 4 to make it a 3-1 series lead for the Penguins, I said to my newsman, Jay, that I either want the Flyers to lose game 5, or win the whole series. The last thing I'd want would be for them to get to game 7, build everyone's hopes, and then lose.

He said, "Yeah, you'd hate to see them get blown out 6-0 in game 7."

So, at least the Flyers got the 6-0 game out of the way in game 5.

Thanks?

It's now up to the Phillies.

Meanwhile, I'm heading to youtube to find a few Doctor J, Moses Malone, and Andrew Toney clips from the '83 win over the Lakers.

Wow, that was a long time ago.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Survivor Finale


Parvati, I was as shocked as you were.

I thought this was one of the more entertaining Survivor seasons of all time. Blindsides, boneheaded play, a proper playing of the hidden immunity idol (the Emmy's should create a new category for Amanda's performance), injuries, quitters, french kissing, etc.

The "fans" vs. "favorites" idea was a good one, but it only seemed like a couple of the fans were real diehards. Maybe it was just the editing. Hard to tell, since it took about seven episodes before I realized Natalie -- who looks disturbingly similar to the Grinch - and Alexis even had voices.

I was rooting for Jonathan Penner from the start. A Seinfeld alum, the guy was entertaining to watch, talked a good game, and sounded an awful lot like Alan Alda. I have no idea why that made him more likeable. Just sayin.

Once he left, I turned my superficial attention to Amanda. Likeable, smart, and very easy on the eyes.

That makes two straight final tribal councils for her, but two straight defeats. She's been so close to the million dollars, but yet so far.

Amanda, I think the best thing for you to do now is to give Hef a call.

I'm simply thinking about your financial future. It's what's best.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Foley Here To See You

Pat Foley is returning to the Blackhawks. Well, at least that's what's being reported.

Foley was the longtime voice of the Chicago NHL team, before leaving a couple of years ago for reasons that to this day still haven't been confirmed by either party.

But, since the death of owner Bill Wirtz, a resurgence has taken place on the west side of Chi-town. Rocky Wirtz, Bill's son, has taken over the team, and along with having a young, talented team that looks ripe for success in the coming years, things are really looking up in Blackhawks country, both on and off the ice.

Within about 12 seconds of his father's passing, Rocky Wirtz announced that Hawks' home games would begin airing on local television -- something "Dollar" Bill rarely allowed.

Several other moves were made -- including the brilliant hiring of John McDonough as team President, and to help oversee the team's marketing, etc. McDonough recently announced that a deal had been struck so that all 82 regular season games will air on Chicago TV next year.

It seemed only a matter of time before Foley was brought back into the fold, and it looks like that day is (not quite officially) here.

Foley is loved by about 98.3 % of the Hawk fan base, and he is one of the reasons I got into radio. I had the pleasure of interviewing Foley in person at the old Chicago Stadium back in 1991. It remains one of the highlights of my radio career. I can't wait to hear him bellowing out future Blackhawk goals with his signature, "fires...HE SCOOOOOOOORES."

So, in honor of this blog's 200th post, I was going to treat you to my 200 favorite Pat Foley moments. Problem is, I could only find six. But they're good.

"BAAAAAAAAANNNNNERMAN". This is probably Foley's signature call. A key save made by Murray Bannerman in a playoff game at Minnesota. Mention Foley's name to fans in Chicago, and at least one of them will imitate this call.




FOLEY RIPS KARPOTSEV. A few years ago, following defenseman Alex Karpotsev's trade from the Blackhawks to the Islanders, Foley ripped into defenseman Karpotsev as Hawks fans nodded in agreement with everything he said.




PAT PAYS TRIBUTE TO KEITH MAGNUSON. After former Hawks great Keith Magnuson was killed in a car accident, Foley offered this tribute prior to the Hawks game that took place a few days later.




SUTTER'S OVERTIME GOAL CLINCHES PLAYOFF SERIES. This may be the best "HE SCORRRRES!!!" in the history of broadcasting.




AMONTE SCORES 4 GOALS. This montage of a Tony Amonte 4-goal night shows what's so great about Foley. 1) The intensity, enthusiasm, and volume increase in his voice with each of his four goal calls. 2) Foley has always been a master at tempo. He can go from a casual call as teams muck it up in the neutral zone, to the necessary, more frenzied call when action picks up. 3) On Amonte's third goal, Foley shows off his perfect timing of calls. Listen to the line -- one of my favorite Foley expressions, by the way, -- "...fires...HE SCORES!" It meshes perfectly with the anticipation felt in the crowd. There's almost a split second of silence from both the crowd and Foley right after the word "fires". It's said at the perfect moment.




FIGHT NIGHT. Something tells me Pat secretly wants to boxing play-by-play gig on HBO. A few months back I chronicled a Foley fight call during his current gig as announcer for the Chicago Wolves. He'd be good at the boxing gig, too.



Welcome back, Pat. It looks like he'll get to call all Hawks games -- including the home tilts -- on TV, right at a time when the team is surging ahead and will certainly be in the playoff mix next year, and for years to come.

Now if we can just make sure GM Dale Tallon doesn't decide to bring back Alex Karpotsev...