Sponsored by the letter "N"

So I occasionally utilize this space to promote friends of mine and their projects or blogs. One of the blogs I always enjoy reading is that of Susan Courtad, who I graduated from Pascack Hills High School way back in 1986. It's called "One Woman Show" and details her life and musings as a single mom raising two kids in the Pittsburgh area and trying to survive bouts with dating nightmares and pimping her manuscript.

Recently, she posted a witty article in which she responded to someone else's response to the following challenge:

Leave a comment and I’ll give you a letter. Post ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter. Then give a letter to anyone who leaves a comment for you… and the cycle will continue.

I responded to her response about the letter "O" and pointed out that she didn't post the word "O'Donnell". I suggested this for the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell, who guided Susan's beloved Steelers to Super Bowl XXX. Today, she responded to my comment and assigned me the letter "N" in honor of Neil.

Of course, the mind immediately began to race with possibilities, but I decided to somehow choose just 10. Also, I decided not to go for the easy and obvious ones, such as "New Jersey Devils", "New York Mets", "New York Giants", and "Notre Dame Fighting Irish". I also had a couple that I liked but just missed the cut, such as: night life, North Hollywood, North Wildwood (where my uncle owns the best Bed & Breakfast on the planet), NBC Sports, and the first Naked Gun movie, which still cracks me up every time Leslie Nielsen tries to sing the national anthem as Enrico Pallazzo.

So, here they are, my submission of 10 things that I love beginning with the letter N:

(1) Nieces. I could use 5,000 words alone just on describing the love that I have for my two nieces, Bella and Vivi. They are awesome. They are funny. They are adorable. They are smart. They are well-behaved, with total credit for that going to their parents. And they are growing so fast. Fortunately, anytime I need to see them, I can always go here.

(2) Nine Irons. When you are an occasional weekend duffer who just hopes to be within four shots of par on a given hole, and praying to the golfing gods to keep my overall scores within two digits, grabbing the nine iron out of the bag means that I'm close to the putting green. I am awful off the tee, and tend to try to hard to read puts the right way. But the mid-range shots I seem to be able to handle. I just wish I could play more to further enjoy lining up and addressing the ball with my niner. "Hello ball..."

(3) Newcastle Beer. I know this may come as a shock to many, but I tend to enjoy partaking in an alcoholic beverage every now and then. Over the years, my beer of choice has tended to change. When I first legally started drinking, it was Michelob Dry. Then it changed to Bud Ice. Then I moved to Red Dog. Then I became a Killian's drinker. Nowadays, it's either Guinness (room temperature please) or Newcastle. It drinks fairly smoothly, doesn't feel heavy, and is reasonably cost-effective in most places. Hey bartender, top me off please...

(4) Nerf. This can mean two things to me. One of them is the first part of a phrase I use to describe Domino's Pizza or Pizza Hut: nerf pizza. Actually, credit for this phrase should go to Jon Doscher, but I continue to use it. It describes, for those like me who grew up in an area filled with the best pizza in the world, just how generic and slightly rubbery their pizzas can be. But the other thing this refers to is Nerf footballs. Growing up, my friends and I always played pick-up football games using a Nerf, because it was easy to throw (especially when we were younger) and you can make crazy catches with them. I also wanted to play "Kill the Guy with the ball" when I first moved to Montvale in 1976 as a 3rd grader. In fact, on my 20-year reunion website blog from 2006, I wrote a posting about this primal morning ritual. So I asked my dad for a Nerf for Christmas, so that I could supply the ball for the morning game before school began each day. In the 31 Christmases since, he has given me a Nerf every year but once. It has become a tradition, and one of the many things that I cherish about my relationship with him.

(5) Narration. This might seem an odd choice at first, but since part of what I've done in my career as a writer has been to write narration for documentary films and sports television programs, it seemed like a smart inclusion. But my love for narration stems back into my childhood because of NFL Films. I don't care what is going in my life, if there is an NFL Films program coming on television, especially if it includes narration by the late John Facenda, I stop what I'm doing and watch. The marriage of his narration in which he sounds like the voice of God would sound to the slow-motion footage and the accompanying music is what serves as an influence in my writing style.

(6) NCIS. I always tended to be a fan of drama shows on television more so than comedies, and I've always tended to gravitate to "cop shows". In fact, I wrestled with trying to find a way to include NYPD Blue, one of my all-time favorites, into this list. But I have become addicted to NCIS in just this past year. This is because of the intelligent writing, and the cast of actors and the characters that they play. The banter is very snappy, the plot lines are believable, and the camaraderie of the characters make it an enjoyable hour that goes by way too quickly.

(7) Nutter Butters. You knew I would need to sneak in some kind of snack food here, as someone who basically considers the four food groups to be: Beer, Wings, Snacks, and Soda. I can eat a lot of different type of cookies like Oreos and Chips Ahoy, but every once in a while i will have a craving for Nutter Butter cookies, with a peanut shaped wafer and peanut butter inside. It's something I remember I used to have with my grandmother Mom-Mom (not nicknamed Nana) when I was a little kid. Maybe that's why it has a special place in my heart for me.

(8) "Not So Fast My Friend". Anyone that watches College GameDay on ESPN on Saturday mornings know exactly what I'm talking about. For those that don't, the show originates live on the campus of each week's biggest game. The host is Chris Fowler, and he is joined on set by former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit and former college coach Lee Corso. Corso was a college teammate at Florida State of Burt Reynolds, and he's unintentionally humorous in his analysis. He's kind of like a lovable grandfather who thinks he knows everything (and sometimes does). But the two things he does each week that are 'must-see' in quality are his final pick of the show each week, where he wears head-gear of the team he is picking, and when he interrupts one of Herbie's predictions that he disagrees with by saying, "Not So Fast My Friend."

(9) New Car Smell. Do I really need to describe why this is so intoxicating? I mean, it has to do with the chemicals that they spray on the dashboard at the end of the assembly process, but I don't care what those chemicals are. I just enjoy the sense of adventure and freedom that it seems to engender.

(10) New Jersey. Yes, I grew up here. Yes, I've had to endure all the idiotic jokes made by other people about what exit I'm from, and why it's nickname is the Garden State not the Toxic State, and why we just call it Jersey, and why we go "down the shore" instead of "to the beach". Still, you can't get better bagels anywhere, or better pizza. The list of entertainers born and raised from New Jersey reads like an entertainment Hall of Fame: Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Abbott and Costello, James Gandolfini, Bruce Willis, and even the Jonas Brothers, headline this who's who. The casinos in Atlantic City, all the strip malls on Route 22, the Meadowlands. I could go on and on. As my former drama teacher Phil Bernardi is famous singing, "I've been a lot of places, seen pictures of the rest, but of all the places I can think of, I like Jersey best."

There you have it. 10 things that start with the letter N that I love. Now it's your turn. Post a comment and I'll assign you a letter to work on. Come on, it's fun!

G-Men of '08 like Broncos of '98

ITEM ONE: Big Blue in the driver's seat

So after tonight's MNF game between the improving Cards and the deteriorating Niners, every team in the NFL will have played 9 regular season games, and there will be no more bye weeks until the playoffs. There have been a few surprises (Titans 9-0, Brett's new team with better record than Brett's old team) and a few disappointments (Jags 4-5, Seahawks are awful). But one thing is for certain is that the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants are the best team in the league right now, and a clear cut favorite in my mind to win a second straight championship.

I admit that I didn't think this was possible before the season began for several reasons. First, they had everything break just right for them during their run to the title last year. Second, the loss of Michael Strahan to retirement and Osi Umenyiora to a season-ending injury meant the defensive line, which was a strength last season, would be a detriment to the team this season.

Well, at the halfway point of 2008, I think it's entirely possible to say that this year's team may be better than last year's club. In fact, the 2008 Giants remind a lot of the 1998 Denver Broncos, who started that season 13-0 and eventually won a second straight season Super Bowl. Consider the parallels:

- The Broncos in 1997, after several disappointing playoff exits, were a wild card team that had to go on the road and win at a division rival (Kansas City) and a cold-weather favorite (Pittsburgh) just to qualify for the Super Bowl, where they were a nearly two touchdown underdog to a dominate team (Green Bay) and surprised the football world with an upset victory. Sounds familiar in a lot of ways to the 2007 Giants run to glory.
- The Broncos in 1998, having finally triumphed in the big game, came back in 1998 and were a dominant team themselves with a superior running game, a quarterback that was a master of the offense he ran, a defense that was fundamentally sound, and special teams units that were equal to their offensive and defensive brethren. The 2008 Giants fit that to a tee.

The Giants will, statistically speaking, face the toughest schedule in the league down the stretch of their last 7 games: 6-3 Baltimore, tied with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North, at home this coming week; then at Arizona, who leads the NFC West and after tonight could have that division all but sealed up; then at Washington, clearly one of the better teams in the league at 6-3; then home to the Eagles, in a rivalry game; followed by their final trip to Texas Stadium to face the Cowboys, never an easy task; and finishing with a home game against Carolina, currently leading the NFC South at 7-2, and a road game at Minnesota, a team that may be playing for their playoff lives. If the Giants can go 4-3 in this stretch, they will be 12-4 heading into the post-season. I think they will go 5-2 in this stretch, making them the team to beat in the NFL post-season.

If you had told any Giants fan 12 months ago that this was going to happen, they would have responded by saying that they agreed with you, and that the climate on Mars was eerily similar to that of Earth...

ITEM TWO: Marvin the Martian this ain't

A couple of years ago, I silently vowed not to watch ABC prime time programming because I felt they did a disservice cancelling NYPD Blue following a glorious 12-year run. This was not only for selfish reasons as a fan of the show, but also because I thought it would have been cool to squeeze 3 more years out of it so that they could say the 15th Squad had a 15-year run. BTW, NYPD Blue's theme song is still the best for a television show ever...

But I have since ended this personal embargo due to a new show that I have become hooked on called Life On Mars. It is based on a TV series of the same name from the BBC, not that it is in any significant to this posting, just a fact.

For those that haven't yet dialed into it, a modern day New York detective is involved in an incident where he is hit by a car and put into a coma. But in his mind, the detective is back in time in 1973, where he is also a police detective in the 125th precinct. Jason O'Mara plays Sam Tyler, who tries to fit into 1973 New York and to figure out why he is in 1973 New York. Also in the cast are Harvey Keitel, the great Michael Imperioli, and Gretchen Mol.

The thing I most enjoy about the series so far has been the way it has been shot, very dark and mysterious and brooding, and the music and wardrobe. And as someone who was only 5 years young in 1973, I am fascinated about getting this glimpse at that period of time in New York. O'Mara is a great actor, and the writers of the show take advantage of the cast. If you haven't checked it out yet, do so, you will not be disappointed. Along with NCIS on Tuesday nights, Life on Mars is much-watch TV for me these days. It is certainly filling the Thursday night at 10PM void left by Burn Notice's current hiatus.

ITEM THREE: Donovan is, dare I say, en fuego

I was please to hear that Burn Notice is returning for 13 more episodes on USA Network in January. I got hooked on Burn Notice in summer of 2007, and lamented that I had to wait a full year for more episodes thanks to last year's writers strike. The show is well written and has a great cast, but the stand out reason why I tune in to every episode is Jeffrey Donovan.

He is quickly becoming my favorite actor, and if you haven't seen him in Burn Notice yet, then you should go check him out in the new Angelina Jolie film Changeling. The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, is about a mother who's son is lost in 1920's Los Angeles, and the corrupt police department, in need of a PR win, 'finds' a replacement son that they try to pawn off as hers. Jolie, who I don't really care for as an actress, is terrific in this film, as is John Malkovich.

But to me, Donovan, who plays the the police captain assigned to the case, jumps off the screen with his performance as a cold-hearted and diabolical corrupt cop trying to put the LAPD in a good light. If you are looking for a film that may have some Oscar-nomination worthy performances in theaters right now, Changeling is the film you are looking for. Here's hoping casting directors throughout Hollywood recognize that Donovan is more than a one-trick pony.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I was disappointed that Penn State lost to Iowa this past weekend, because it likely means that the Nittany Lions, a.k.a. the "Fighting JoePas" , will not be a part of the BCS Championship picture. It would have been nice to see if the pollsters would have tried to overrule the computers and give Joe Paterno one last shot at glory... a lot of my SoCal friends think the Hollywood Fakers are a lock to win the NBA title because they are off to a 5-0 start. Yes, they whipped up on Houston last night, but they should also consider that 2 of their other 4 wins have come against the Clippers, a team that would finish 3rd if entered into the NBA's Developmental league, and they several players with injury histories. Maybe we can get the Lakers into the spring healthy before we start anointing them as anything but a team off to a good start... I've stated this on my Facebook page recently, but I need to reiterate it here: never mind his policies on domestic drilling, education, health care, redistribution of wealth and others - if Barack Obama had made it clear a couple of months ago what he made clear last Monday night, that he fully supports the inclusion of a college football playoff system at the Division I level, I would have gone door-to-door to campaign for the man... the only good thing to come out of the fact that Madonna is getting divorced and is officially dating Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is this: at least she isn't dating Mets third baseman David Wright... speaking of Facebook, if you haven't joined it yet, I encourage you to do so. It's like a constant on-line reunion service. I have reconnected with so many people I knew from years ago because of it, and it's a great way to keep in touch with friends from far away. And it is way better than MySpace because of the lack of spammers and frauds. It's very cool... speaking of cool, you might want to check out the home page of Mahalo, my former employers. They recently launched a re-designed home page that looks a lot tighter and organized than the original home page. It is much easier to navigate, and from what I understand, it is much easier to keep updated. Be sure to check it out and give them your feedback. And no, I didn't get paid for that promotional plug, and did plug it even though I am disappointed that the management team laid off more of my friends for poorly constructed reasons... If things hold up, I'll be 8-2 in the Kokua Football League, which means I'm in good shape to make a playoff run. It's much better than last year's effort, where injuries to key players resulted in a 1-win season.