B-Sides, Reunions, and the only race that should matter to Willie

So allow me to muse on a few subject at random here:

ITEM ONE: After the AfterGlow

So I took a couple of weeks to listen through the new offering from Sarah McLachlan called Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff 2. The majority of the selections are duets with other artists. Some are great (like Don't Let Go with Bryan Adams and Time After Time with Cyndi Lauper), some are good (the live version of Angel with the great Emmylou Harris) and some I am permanently skipping (Just Like Me with DMC). I applaude her idea of trying to reach into as many areas of musical taste by exposing what she thinks is her audience and exposing it to other genres. Except that this approach seldom works in any area. Its why The Superstars competitions never work at keeping our attention except for comedic value. I can appreciate the athletic skill set that LeBron James has as a basketball player; I don't need to see him trying to play ping-pong against Warren Sapp or outrun Sidney Crosby on an obstacle course to know this.

Her version of Blackbird was an interesting choice, considering the depth of Beatles songs she could have chosen. But the collection of duets and covers are too eclectic. Although I will still keep several tracks in my overall rotation of Sarah music on my iTunes player, in the end the album really does only one thing for me: makes me crave another actual album of original tracks.

The thing I worry about, though, is this: she is happy, with a happy family, and a happy life situation. I'm not saying she wasn't happy when she wrote some of those haunting lyrics of the past, but like anything else, someone's position on their own life changes their perspective. To paraphrase her for a moment, when it comes to soulful and wistful lyrics in songs to come, "...I fear she has nothing to give." Still, if you are a fan of Sarah, any new material that gives you a chance to hear that beautiful voice is worth the price of admission, and songs like When She Lived Me and The Rainbow Connection (yep, she covered Kermit the Frog), make it worth it.

ITEM TWO: This week's sign that I'm no longer 25

One of my friends was e-mailed a link to reunion photos from the class just below at my high school. I basically lost about two hours sifting through these photos and laughing at how much some of them have changed, and how much some of them haven't changed at all.

I enjoyed looking at them because I haven't seen many of them in about 15 years or so. When we were in high school, there was an ice skating rink located just across the border from Montvale in the New York town of Monsey called 'Sport-O-Rama'. Back then, the idea of keeping both of their rinks iced up during the entire year wasn't cost effective, so for three months of the year, they would melt one of them and run street hockey leagues. I was one of the fixtures the two Montvale franchises that came about from these leagues.

One was the Montvale Maple Leafs, and featured players ranging from the class of 85 through the class of 87. In fact, about half of the roster from 1984-1987 were from the 87 class. I had lost touch with a lot of them, and to see them pop up in these reunion photos brought back a lot of good memories. We won back-to-back championships in 1985 and 1986. Like all great hockey teams, it started with great leadership, had a group of skilled scorers and passers on the forward lines, mixed in intelligent and physical play by the defensive units, and stellar goaltending between the pipes.

We were the only team from Jersey the first three years, so it seemed we never got the benefit of any penalty calls, and the other teams always tried to bait us into fighting with them so we could get tossed out of the league. All we did was beat them on the scoreboard and win championships, laughing all the way back across the river to the Jersey side.

I don't have any other info about the reunion itself, in terms of where it took place or what the events were and so forth. I only mention this because of all the work I put in as one of the organizers of my class reunion back in the summer of 2006. We spent a year tracking people down, building a website with content, and organizing a softball game and then evening reception complete with Hollywood-styled arrivals (including people taking pictures paparazzi style). To read some of the stuff I had on the page, which was the original home of The Crief Case, click here.

ITEM THREE: Other stuff
So Willie Randolph is trying to buy himself another year as Mets manager by playing the race card. I would have thought that all of those years watching the media circle Reggie and some of his other Bronx Zoo teammates like sharks would have taught him something. I'm not saying he's wrong, in fact there probably is some validity to his statements. But to me, the only race Willie should be worried about is winning the race for the National League East. That's all that matters to me as a Mets fan right now. After last year's collapse, and the poor start this year, you have to wonder if he's lost this team, if they are tuning him out. I don't get to watch them everyday, but when I do, they don't play with the same level of confidence and energy that his 2006 team, one game away from the World Series, played with. He needs to get that back... Speaking of the Mets, a tip of the cap in respect to Mike Piazza, who goes down as one of the great Mets of all-time. Not only did he revitalize the franchise when he was acquired in 1998, but he also revitalized New York with that home run against Atlanta in the first ever sporting event in NYC following 9/11 in 2001. That is a moment that still gives me chills when I think about it, being in the upper deck that night rivaled the feeling of the famous Mookie Wilson-Bill Buckner World Series game... I'll admit it, I've got a serious addiction working right now: NCIS. I received a copy of Season 1 on DVD for my birthday last month, purchased Season 2 a few weeks ago, and grabbed Seasons 3 & 4 to watch over the holiday weekend. I can't believe I've missed out on this show until recently, but I'm glad I found it.

I promise, I'll stay in touch...

Pimping Mahalo How To's

So every once in a while, we do things here at Mahalo, my current day job, that are really cool. We have a talented group of "How To" writers that have put together some phenomenal pages over the last 6-9 months that they've been in operation. The latest one that I've found very interesting is "How to Get a Car Loan". Seeing as how I may need to do this in the very near future myself, I read through and can appreciate the explanations of how the terms work and what the hell an APR is. If you need to get a car loan, check the page out, and check out all of the great How to pages at Mahalo.

My next posting, coming up this weekend I promise, will include the much-awaited review of the new Sarah McLachlan album, and musings on the Pascack Hills Class of 1987 20-year reunion, which I was just forwarded photos of and can't stop laughing out loud in a "Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear" way at my desk.

Fumbling Into Ecstasy - All Over Again

The year was 1994, and at the age of 26, I was trying not only to figure out who I was, but who women were and what makes them tick. To be honest, I'm no closer to the answer to any of those three things today than I was 14 years ago. I was just a young guy in Jersey trying to figure things out. At that point in my life, the only thing I thought Canada was good for was being the birthplace of hockey.

Then Sarah McLachlan came into my life.

Well, not her specifically, but her music. The name of the album was Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (go ahead and insert a football joke here if you'd like). I couldn't get the song "Possession" out of my head, having seen it at least twice a day on VH1. By the way, remember VH1 used to show nothing but music videos?

So I went to Tower Records to purchase the album. Now at the time, this was monumental for me because, other than Bruce Springsteen, I would always wait until an artist had at least 3 songs on a album that I had heard regularly and liked before I would go by it. A simple case of musical economics in a time before having the ability to download a single song on the internet.

I began to listen to the whole album. I listened through it the first time, and was drawn in by her voice and the detail of the music that accompanied it. I listened a second time with the lyrics, not realizing until then the absolute genius that these lyrics were. It was certainly different than anything I had experienced before.

I've gone through about 6 different versions of the disc over the years, wearing them out from constant use, always keeping the album near the top of the rotation of discs I readily listened to.

For a while, I didn't admit to my friends that I listened to this album, for some ridiculous fear of being mocked by them, with some sort of 'searching for a feminine side' teasing. But after a while, I decided I didn't care about that, because to me it is simply one of the best albums, factoring in lyrics, instrumentation, presentation, selection order, and performance, I'd ever heard.

I can just feel the winter cold blasting through the Canadian night listening to her sing. Like the first lyrics of "Ice": 'The ice is thin, come on dive in; underneath my lucid skin; the cold is lost, forgotten.' Or from "Possession": 'Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide; voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time. The night is my companion, and solitude my guide; would I spend forever here and not be satisfied...' By the way, once I heard the piano solo version of this song, snuck on the trail end of the disc, following about 40 seconds of silence after the title track ends, I have a hard time listening to the regular version.

Not since 'The River' by The Boss had the lyrics and melodies blended together so as to permanently affix themselves within my consciousness. Ever since, the albums released before Fumbling, and the ones that followed (which have been too far in between) have been must purchases for me. Yep, even in this day and age of pirating music off the net, there are but two artists and two artists that I still am willing to make full fare purchases for their music: Bruce and Sarah. Seen her live a few times, both in arenas and very small studio taping outings, and she puts on a great live show too.

She just released a second edition of 'Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff' this past week, and I just ordered it today, having overnighted for tomorrow. It includes her version of the Lennon/McCartney classic "Blackbird". I'll make a subsequent posting with my thoughts on the new album this weekend.

Still, every once in a while, I find myself rediscovering her music and it what it means to listen to it. Especially the Fumbling album. Because, quoting her one last time from the album's song "Elsewhere": 'I believe this heaven to no one else but me, and I'll defend it as long as I can be left here to linger in silence'.

I don't care how many writing classes you take, you can't learn that, you either have that within you or you don't.

Belmont's Swan Song

It's well known that Veronica Belmont has decided to pursue other interests and has left Mahalo Daily. But not before starring in one last comedy episode. Those of us that grew up in the 1970's, and those wishing they had, will no doubt enjoy the latest episode titled "I'm Gonna Git You Spamma!" Brilliantly written by one of the new co-hosts, Lon Harris, it includes a groovy narration track by Tay Zonday, a guest appearance by Digg's Kevin Rose, and several fellow "Mahooligan's" such as Jonathan Harris, Mike Rhodes, Ken Bothe, Adam Hann-Byrd, Juan Garcia, and Lon Harris. Also included is former Mahaloite Mark Freiburger and the big dog himself, Jason Calacanis.

Brilliant. Simply brilliant...

I'm Gonna Git You Spamma!

Forty

It's been nearly 40 days since my last blog post, and since this past Wednesday was birthday number 40, I figure it's time to jump back into the blogosphere with a posting. First, a brief bit of business to clean up since last we spoke:

I've spent most of my time the last seven weeks preparing for, micromanaging and live blogging the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for Mahalo, which ended two weeks ago. While the numbers certainly didn't live up to what I'd hoped for, it was an overall great experience. I was able to recruit several fellow Mahalo employees to help me blog the early games of the tournament, when as many as four games were being played at once. And I must say, with very little preparation to build off short of a brief lunch-time video I threw together for them, these guys really stepped up to the challenge and did an outstanding job in delivering all of the games of the tournament.

The liveblogging thing has been hit-or-miss recently, and I think this is a learning experience for me. Do I wish we were producing a weekly sports-related content video to build an specific audience and drive traffic to our site? Of course I do, but I don't get to make that decision. I can only play the cards I'm dealt. What I'm learning is that we need to be a little bit more selective about what works and what doesn't. The NFL games worked, and my vision for the fall is to live blog the Sunday Night and Monday night games, along with the late-in-the-season Thursday night games on NFL Network (which seemingly nobody still has). The pay-per-view events have worked, and we'll continue to do the boxing and wrestling events as they come up. I think we have the potential to hit with some niche events, like auto racing and the like. But I've decided to pull back a little bit too, so as not to over-saturate. I was going to live blog the NFL Draft next weekend, but with so many other outlets covering it, I'm deciding to just comment about it when it's over.

I must tell you the experience of doing all the games in the NCAA Tournament (I personally handled half of the games myself) was exhausting, but satisfying none the less.

Moving on to the subject of my birthday: my family and friends each took part in dual celebrations this past week, and they were really great. It's nice to know that I mean something to people. Seems like it should feel more important than it has been. I keep waiting for the epiphany that a round number such as 40 should constitute. Yet I feel the same as I did last week.

So I thought I would compile a brief list called "10 at 40", the 10 greatest experiences of the first 40 years of my life. After all, I'll feel extremely fortunate if I can do a 10 at 41, let alone a 10 at 80. So here goes, in Letterman-style reverse order:
(10) Graduating from high school
(9) The Remedy screening and after-party in April of 2004
(8) The '86 Mets winning the World Series (still my favorite sports moment of all)
(7) My internship at WFAN
(6) PA Announcing the Hollywood vs HipHop Celebrity Basketball Game in NYC in 2006
(5) My 20-year high school reunion weekend in 2006
(4) Winning the Saddle River Day School morning announcement job, announced in front of entire student body in an assembly
(3) Winning softball championships in 1991 & 97 as a teammate of my best friend, Patrick D'Errico
(2) Getting to be the best man at my brother Zac's wedding in 2000
(1) The births of my nieces, Bella and Vivi

I feel very blessed to have experienced some of the highs and many of the lows that I have so far. I'm trying to learn to lose the many things that I regret about my life, of opportunities wasted and people lost, to accept that I am where I am right now in part because I went through some trials and tribulations and came through the other side. Now I need to just see where things go next.

And you know what, I haven't been able to predict anything of true significance to this point, and I'm not going to even try to do so going forward. Just going to fasten my seat belt and see where the ride takes me next...

"You want a little 'butta' with your Blog Roll?"

So those of you that have become part of Crief Case Nation, you may have notice there are some other 'thingys' on the right hand side of the page. There's basic info about me, a couple of ESPN widgets about my favorite teams, Del.icio.us listings, and my "Blog Roll". Some may be wondering who gets to be on my blog roll and why, but I'm not that selective to be fair. So who are these bloggers, and why should you read 'em?

Pay attention - we'll only do this once... for now:

- "The Life of My Girls" - also known on the Blog Roll as "All About My Nieces Bella & Vivi" - this is run by my brother Zac, a director who works in the animation business. He's work for Family Guy and Nickelodeon in the past, now he works for Phineas & Ferb on Disney Channel. The blog is all about his two daughters: Bella (4) and Vivi (2). I don't get to see them enough, so the videos and pictures are awesome. It's a totally personal blog with a small audience, but it delivers every time.

- Veronica Belmont - this one will be one of the 'self-explanatory' blogs. She is one of those ultra-saavy techie chicks who also handles hosting the daily podcast for the company I work at, Mahalo Daily. She always seems very dialed in on tech stuff, and it's always worth reading.

- The Jason Calacanis Weblog - to paraphrase ESPN's John Buccigross: "what Bono is to U2, Jason is to Mahalo." He's brash, he's opinionated, he's loyal to his Knicks almost to a fault, and he's confident (it ain't cocky if you back it up - a.k.a. "The Scoreboard Does Not Lie"). Days when I think I'm super smart, I spend about 10 minutes reading his stuff and realize just how many more levels I need to climb.

- Crushed By Inertia - now when it comes to intelligence about politics of the day and movies, this is a must read. Lon Harris is never one to shy away from theories and commentary, and his ability to expand of certain subject matter is not only entertaining, but also educational. When I read Jason's blog, I feel smarter, but I have sometimes have no idea why. With Lon, I feel smarter and I understand why. A must read.

- Country Caravan - much like his brother Lon, Jonathan Harris is able to find the funny. And when it comes to blog posts, where Lon goes mostly with the 'satire infiltrated within serious paradigms', Jonathan's blog posting are more dripping with sarcasm and wittiness. Jonathan often finds things off the beaten path to amuse, at times even maximizing what many think is his greatest comedic arch: self-deprecation. "Those Harris boys are funny..."

- Awful Announcing - If you're not into just watching sports but also watching those broadcasting these sporting events, this is the place to go. This was the first place I knew found out about the "Chris Berman outtake" videos and also provides the listings of announcing pairings for TV network sports coverage. It also provides necessary commentary about sports on TV & radio, and is one of the most respected on the web.

- Lelah with an "h" - She really knows how to bake things, she really knows how to write about baking things, and taking weekend trips. Lelah is also one of my fellow "Mahaloans" and writes extremely well (as I can attest to from the number of submissions she has made to our 'writers group' each week). I just wish we could get more from her, and a link might be nice...

- Sample the Web - My editor at Mahalo, C.K. Sample III (a.k.a. CKS3 if he were a Star Wars droid) also utilizes his web space very effectively, like Jason does. He also knows how to make for an interesting few minutes worth of reading, and sometimes even viewing with his sketches. My only issue is that, like Lelah, he doesn't list me on his blog roll (what's up with that?) - but I like how he has his Twitter listings right on his page, that's cool...

- Mark Jeffrey at The Huffington Post - This is somebody I wish had the time to post more often (his last post was last summer). He is super busy running the development side of Mahalo, which along with his Tae Kwon Do just eats up all his time. Still, his insights are brilliant, and I do wish he'd write more. The fact that he's with the Huffington people is reason alone to keep posted, in case he decides he needs to say something again soon. Still, I guess in this case, 'less is more', but I'm anxious to see more. Then again, if you really want inside Mark's mind, just read his book 'The Pocket and the Pendant'...

- Ridiculously Persnickety - Nicole Gustus (a.k.a. Red Nikki, a.k.a. Lieutenant Data) is from Boston, but we don't hold that against her, why would we? If you are looking for a comprehensive blog with journal-styled entries on a daily basis, then this is the place for you. She has a great (and sometimes slightly wicked) sense of humor, and rarely a day goes by without something tangible, I mean it's not like she's putting things like "12:41: I have a confession: I love brussels sprouts. They may be my favorite vegetable"... I mean, wow...

- Mood Vane - A recently new addition to the lineup, featuring Courtney, who's from the FTL (that's Fort Lauderdale), and she speaks her mind about, well, um, stuff, from her favorite musicians and artists, to musing about Britney and winter in the FTL. Hey, I lived in Dania Beach for 2 years, so I know all about rolling with Broward County's Finest, from doing oyster shooters at The Penalty Box, to hitting the trifecta at Gulfstream, to humming the tune from the Pompano Lincoln Mercury commercial, to spending time (and a lot of money) at The Dollhouse. Yet, she recently asked me whether or not I really like sports - would somebody please get my long-time friends and family some oxygen, they can't breathe from laughing so hard. I look forward to reading more of her stuff...

- Le Blog de Sara - Again, someone infinitely smarter than I am (I know, isn't that 90% of the country?) Sara has decided to look at the world on her blog through 'the language of love' - uh, that would be French, dude. I enjoyed her list of unspeakable phrases in French, and I expect big things to come for this blog. Anything to help grow my vocabulary in this language beyond "Les Habitants" and "Savoir-Faire is everywhere"...

- Angry Ken - Simplistic in it's title, it is just what you might think it is. It's written by Ken Bothe, someone I know I'm smarter than (sorry Ken, just had to do it), who writes mostly about, in no special order of preference: sports, videos, Cincinnati sports teams, wrestling, how bad Cincinnati sports teams are... you get the point - very entertaining sometimes to watch someone melt down more often on sports topics than even I do...

- Mindless Drivel - All you need to know about Evan Brown is by watching his Mahalo Daily Video on "How to Write a Love Song"... he is a very talented musician (we have several of those in our office here), and even though he's from Philadelphia and like the Flyers, and the Eagles, and the Phillies, I still tolerate him anyway. He's a very unique guy, and I think one of the reasons they separated him from Jonathan in our office is because we couldn't find a set-up man to keep up with their sarcastic barbs. His recent take on Hillary Clinton is perfect.

Now for the rest of the group, which needs to get going with some postings, as we haven't seen any from them in a while:

- Ray's Lucky 13 - When Ray has time, and isn't busy working two jobs, helping his wife with their two children (both toddlers) and creating a copious amount of pages for Mahalo, he actually has some great takes on sports and movies.
- Social Ham - Sean Percival is so talented with tech stuff that he even recently taught a class on how to blog here for some Mahalo peeps, but he's only written 2 posts since the calendar turned? Come on Sean, you're better than that! Love the layout of his page though...
- Two Cent Cinema - Adam Hann-Byrd, you know him and love him from his two episode stint on NYPD Blue in 1995...oh yeah, and movies like Little Man Tate and Jumanji, but would it kill him to update his page more than once since 2006? Now I know from his work at Mahalo on our recent Oscar coverage that he is very opinionated... come on dude, there must be a Jodie Foster story you can drop on us...
- Lady Loud Mouth - Veronica Yanco's ability to totally jam out blogging (see Item Three of this previous posting), and after much cajoling by many of us in the office, she decided to start a blog posting of her own, but has yet to add an additional page. If she could just spend like 5-10 minutes a day writing about the celebs doing the silly things, she would create an instant following and I think, over time, would be wildly popular. Maybe she just needs some encouragement - I don't know, but I do know that her takes would develop a following.

So there you have it, a thorough and exhausting, but hopefully not nauseating, breakdown of the bloggers I choose to link to. Want to get in on the fun? As Lady Loud Mouth would say, "Holler..."

The "other Super Bowl"

Today is the biggest day in the entertainment industry as the 2008 Academy Awards take place today.

Today is also a big day for Mahalo, as we provide wall-to-wall coverage of the Oscars on our website.

The red carpet entrances will be covered live beginning at 6PM ET. To catch this coverage, be sure to click on this link:
http://www.mahalo.com/Oscar_Red_Carpet_Live_Coverage

Then, at 8PM ET, it's live coverage of the 80th Academy Awards. Click here for that:
http://www.mahalo.com/Oscar_Live_Coverage

Be sure to visit both pages early and often!

Today should be a holiday

I may have been 12, but I was very aware of what was going on in the world at the age of 12. Thankfully.

The year was 1980. America didn't hate itself - it was too depressed to hate itself. High unemployment rates. Huge deficits. Energy issues. Post-Watergate. Post-Vietnam. Our confidence was so low as a country on so many fronts, our own president called, "...a crisis of confidence..." There were 52 hostages in Iran that we couldn't free from their captures, and it seemed like the Soviet Union was getting stronger, and stronger, and stronger. On a scale of 1-10 (1 low and 10 high), feeling good about being an American in early February of 1980 rated around a 2.

And then those 20 college kids came along. And everything changed.

For those (like the majority of people I work with) who weren't even born yet, let me explain further. In 1980, our olympic teams were formed solely of actual amateur athletes, within International Olympic Committee rules and guidelines. However, most of the other countries, specifically the Soviet Union, used professional players. The Soviet team in hockey was favored to win in 1980, and not just because it had won the gold medal the four previous times they held the games. Prior to the start of the hockey season in October, the Soviets played a team of NHL All-Stars, the best players in the world. The Soviets easily won 6-0. And just prior to the start of the games themselves, the Soviet team played an exhibition game against the United States team, and the Soviets easily won 10-3.

The United States team wasn't supposed to even contend for a medal. But there they were, 28 years ago today on Friday February 22, 1980, preparing to meet the mighty Red Army team in the medal round.

What I remember looking back on it now, 28 years to the day, is some of things I didn't pick up on as a 12-year old that day. Consider that the IOC refused to change the start time of the game from 5PM ET to 8PM ET to accommodate ABC. This meant that the game was broadcast on tape-delay on ABC, but appeared to be live for those watching. That's because there was no internet to get updated scores. There were no cell phones for word to get out from the arena that this incredible upset had just happened. ESPN had just launched 4 months earlier.

Yet every time I watch the game now, the saves that Jim Craig made in goal are even more incredible. And I'm amazed watching Mike Eurizione shoot off the wrong foot and score the game-winning goal. And every time I watch the final minute, and here Al Michaels make what I think is the greatest call in sports history, and the final seconds tick away, tears present themselves on my face.

That was the first time in my life that I believed in miracles.

It gets harder and harder to believe in them now. In many ways, life in this country today, from a confidence and patriotism standpoint, rival the way things were in 1980. Maybe they are that's bad, but they're in the neighborhood. I wonder if I'll ever again see something like that ever again. And maybe that's why this day means so much to me, as someone who went through it in 1980.

We have holidays for all kinds of reasons - some good, some suspect. Isn't it time we celebrate the anniversary of this monumental event in our country's history? Isn't it time we acknowledge that it is the single biggest day of positive feelings and unity this country has felt in the last 50 years?

This much I know: ESPN is doing this stupid 'Greatest Sports Highlight Ever' thing on SportsCenter right now, and if the Miracle on Ice doesn't win, then ESPN should be shut down immediately.

I may have been 12 back then, but the memory is still so fresh, and still so very much alive in me. To the members of that team: thank you.

Rocket Man Gets Blasted

Before I begin, a little aside to all you conspiracy theorists out there, and you know who WE are... credit to Lon who suggested today that on a day when members of Congress have one of the most important debates and votes they can take part in all year, having to do with whether FISA (legal illegal wiretapping of phones) will be extended, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform scheduled the Roger Clemens Steroids Hearings today. BTW, should also be noted that Arlen Specter, forever linked to the biggest conspiracy theory of all-time with his idiotic magic bullet theory, is speaking with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the Patriots Spygate scenario.

Are these forays by our government into the business matters of professional sports leagues really necessary? And today, when all members of both houses should be present and accounted for?

That aside, what great dinner theater we were provided with this morning. Here's a brief rundown of what we learned today boys and girls, in case you missed it:
- Roger Clemens is not just a ballplayer... he's a human being too... (From "The Rocket Man" to "The Elephant Man")
- Clemens also stated clearly and sternly that, "I have never taken steroids; I have never taken HGH; I have never done anything illegal to try and gain a competitive advantage; I have never lied about taken steroids..." and he has never had sex with Monica Lewinsky either.
- Andy Pettitte is a wonderful guy and dear and caring friend of Roger's, but apparently one of the side effects of his taking HGH is the loss of hearing
- "You too can inject illegal human growth hormones into the wife of Roger Clemens in their bedroom and without his knowledge!"
- The people of Indiana (Dan Burton) and Connecticut (Christopher Shays) have elected retarded nut jobs to Congress
- According to Brian McNamee, Clemens was bleeding so badly after receiving an injection that (CAUTION, those that are squeemish should just skip to the next take) he was bleeding through his pants and it was noticed by Mike Stanton
- One day after President Bush, doing his best Mr. Mackey from South Park, essentially told an audience of African-Americans that "...lynching is bad, umkay?", we have Rep. Tom Davis (not Dr. Tom Davis the former basketball coach) equating Clemens being subjected to the hearing as, "a new definition of lynching..."
- and finally, because of all he has gone through in this terrible ordeal, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton feels that Roger will, "...surely (be) going to heaven." So I guess when it comes to Clemens, to paraphrase 70's disco group Tavares, "Heaven must be missing a jackass..."

Ah yes, somewhere Mike Piazza is smiling in approval.

It's a proud day for baseball. It's a proud day for sports. It must be a proud day for Bud Selig. It must be a proud day for the United States Congress.

What a freaking joke. What a waste of time. You know, in light of the way those committee members acted today, perhaps Winston Churchill said it best: "Democracy is the worst form of government...except for all the rest." Today, though, only the first part of the quote applies. It was a train wreck. It was embarrassing. And it was very entertaining.

The only thing better would have been if Barry Bonds was getting the same treatment...

Incredible Super Bowl traffic weekend plus

So a month ago, I decided to try something to jump start the low number of page views that the sports pages on my company's website at Mahalo were generating. Having spent some time in November and December on temporary assignment with the Products Team helping to flood the zone on many products and gadgets made available during the holidays, I decided to take a chance.

There's floating an idea about whether something will work, getting pre-approval on whether it will work or not, and hopefully living up to expectations. Then there is simply trying something in a "thinking-outside-the-box-without-permission", so that if it doesn't work I don't get knocked down a peg in the pecking order, and if does work, well to the victor goes the spoils kind of thing.

Let's call it a calculated risk - fortunately, it was one that worked.

The idea was to live blog sporting events. Now this isn't a novel idea in of itself, but it was with respect to doing so at Mahalo. So I started with boxing. In fact, I really can't take full credit for the idea. A few of us here wanted to watch the pay-per-view boxing match in December between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton. Our magnanimous boss, Jason Calacanis, simply said in response to our desire viewing the fight at the office, "Hey, if you live blog it, I'll pick up 1/2..."

And so, like Walter Payton used to do when he saw just a sliver of daylight between 2 blockers, I hit the hole and sprinted down field.

That night was the start of my live blogging experience, which has since included: Each of the 3 weekends of the NFL Playoffs; the January Jones-Trinidad PPV fight; the NHL All-Star Game; a WWE PPV event (Angry Ken handled that one on my encouragement); and the Super Bowl.

Then the decision to cover the Super Bowl went much further than covering the game. In addition to creating all kinds of Super Bowl related sports pages about the previous games, the coaches, the MVP's, and much more within the sports vertical, Ken and I brainstormed on other search terms that people would be searching for in other areas. Like food, TV, clothing, music, and more. And then, 3 weeks ago, based upon the initial success of several liver blogging events, I decided that we should also live blog the Super Bowl commercials - figuring that nearly as many people watch the game specifically for them as for the game itself.

So we have a tool that allows us to determine the number of times each of our pages is viewed, and ways to break that information down which I won't bother you with. But suffice to say that the numbers for the live coverage of the sporting events has been, as Frank Caliendo would say, "Jim Rome on a three-syllable word: in-cred-ible..."

I'm grateful to the tens of thousands that have come to our pages of the past 6 weeks. And the Super Bowl related pages have had 'through the roof' numbers. I also thankful to the tens of tens of Crief Case Nation that have followed your captain into battle.

And I think there are bigger numbers out there. Promotion and reputation I think will benefit our efforts in this area going forward. Again, we're providing ways to help people at Mahalo, and this is my contribution to our mission.

OTHER STUFF: A few months ago, I wrote here that Mets GM Omar Minaya needed to do whatever it took to get Johan Santana. I'm glad somebody is paying attention to me... I also know that Juan, a loyal member of Crief Case Nation, knew that I had the right spread and the right winning team in the Super Bowl, just the wrong score. You know, non-sports fans always want to hate on sports fans, and you know what, there are plenty of reasons to do so - but that game this past Sunday is just another reason why I keep coming back. Even the best of the "Reality TV" shows can't get the drama as good as that. Not only does Eli break free from 73 tacklers, and complete the pass to put the Giants in scoring range, but has the confidence to throw it up there and say go get it big fella to a dude that had 4 receptions all season! That's only 4 more than Max McGee had this year, and McGee is dead. And what a catch at that - oh, and memo to Rodney Harrison of the Pats, who did everything to try and break up that pass but have Jeff Gillooly's gang of thugs run out with batons and smack Tyree on the kneecap: hey Rodney, you obviously should inject more HGH next time dude...and finally, speaking earlier of Frank Caliendo, you must, must, must check out his guest spot last week at the Super Bowl on WFAN's Mike & The Mad Dog Radio Show. Not only does he do John Madden almost as good as Madden himself, but he does the best Charles Barkley I've ever heard too.

UPCOMING CALENDAR OF LIVE COVERAGE ON MAHALO:
February 17: Daytona 500, NBA All-Star Game, and WWE "No Way Out"
March 8-16: College Basketball's "Championship Week" - Live Coverage of all the conference championship games being played every night
March 16: NCAA Selection Sunday - get your brackets ready
March 18, 20-23, 27-30, and April 5 & 7: The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, a.k.a "March Madness"
March 30: Wrestlemania XXIV
April 13: Sunday at The Masters
April 26 & 27: The NFL Draft

You've been warned...