Running on Empty

ITEM ONE: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today." - Pink Floyd

I'm in the soup again in terms of monies owed to me. Say what you want about me, and believe me there is plenty to be said, but one thing I seem to be is a little bit gullible. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt beyond what most other people would do, and certainly what many people have done with me in certain circumstances.

If you've been looking for my Internet radio show the last 2 weeks, you know that it hasn't been on the air, and that's because of money. I had been working a full time job for a company, but that company has been unable to pay me, or any of my fellow employees, for several months now.

I don't want to get into specifics about this because I'm still hoping that my checks will be made available any day now, which is what I and my fellow employees have been told for months now that things would be resolved. I don't want to further add to the troubles that the company has faced trying to resolve this situation, based upon what they've been telling me is the problem as best they can. It has to do with their relationship with the banks and the verification of funds.

Nevertheless, I have reached a real breaking point because of this. And not that losing a stream of finances can ever come at a good time, for me in my attempts to launch my radio career, it couldn't have come at a worse time.

This is because I need to generate payments for air time, studio location, and those helping me produce the show. I'm hoping to reach out to prospective advertisers to hopefully alleviate this situation, but I know this will likely take some time.

Of course, this is not the first time this has happened to me. In fact, three of my last four major employers have faced financial issues. One of them currently owes me $5,000 from a three-month project. The other still owes me a large deferment of salary from a couple of years ago.

So if you've wondered why you haven't heard from me on Twitter or Facebook, via e-mail or cell phone, and why the show is currently 'on hiatus', now you know. The second that these funding issues resolve themselves, I will be back on the air and hopefully better than ever.


ITEM TWO: NFL 2009 preview
Well, at least I get to ease my pain and numb my depression with the start of the NFL season tonight as the Titans visit Pittsburgh in the opener.

I've moved through projecting the final standings using several simulation sources, and here's what foggy view through my cracked crystal ball looks like:

AFC EAST
New England 13-3, NY Jets 9-7, Miami 7-9, Buffalo 4-12
AFC NORTH
Pittsburgh 12-4, Baltimore 12-4, Cincinnati 6-10, Cleveland 5-11
AFC SOUTH
Indianapolis 12-4, Tennessee 10-6, Jacksonville 8-8, Houston 6-10
AFC WEST
San Diego 12-4, Denver 6-10, Kansas City 4-12, Oakland 4-12

NFC EAST
NY Giants 11-5, Philadelphia 10-6, Dallas 9-7, Washington 7-9
NFC NORTH
Minnesota 9-7, Green Bay 8-8, Chicago 8-8, Detroit 4-12
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta 10-6, Carolina 9-7, New Orleans 9-7, Tampa Bay 3-13
NFC WEST
Arizona 11-5, Seattle 10-6, St. Louis 4-12, San Francisco 4-12

My playoff teams (in order of seeding) are New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Tennessee in the AFC; NY Giants, Arizona, Atlanta, Minnesota, Seattle, and Philadelphia in the NFC

My Super Bowl prediction (take it for what it's worth): Patriots versus Giants


ITEM THREE: Other stuff

Although my radio show is on the shelf for now, I will still be covering the LA Kings for Examiner.com and will be at the first day of practice this coming Sunday morning. The Hockey Fest that took place two weeks was amazing, and the Kings deserve an enormous amount of credit for putting on a first-class show, despite weather challenges (maybe the hottest weekend all summer here in LA)... My college football picks by conference: Florida State in the ACC Atlantic, Virginia Tech in the ACC Coastal, West Virginia in the Big East, Penn State in the Big Ten, Nebraska in the Big 12 North, Oklahoma State in the Big 12 South (you read that right), East Carolina in Conference USA East, Houston in Conference USA West, Buffalo in the MAC East, Central Michigan in the MAC West, TCU in the Mountain West, California in the Pac-10 (yep, you read that right too), Florida in the SEC East, Ole Miss in the SEC West, Florida Atlantic in the Sun Belt, and Boise State in the WAC. I'm picking Florida over Penn State in the title game... I think Oregon handled the mess with running back LeGarrett Blount properly. I think Boise also handled things appropriately, but I think that they should use video imaging to single out the people who antagonized Blount from the crowd and ban them from games... excited for the new TV season to begin in two weeks. Five shows I'm going to try out this year are: NCIS Los Angeles, Three Rivers, The Good Wife, Modern Family, and FlashForward

First week in the books

It's been an exhaustive process getting the two radio shows on the air this week. A lot of people have helped to make this happen, and I want to thank them for their support not just over the last few weeks, but in some cases over the last few years.

The members of our crew have been very influential in this process: Christopher Kerr has been invaluable providing technical assistance in setting up our equipment and providing transportation in those situations; Ray Manukay, Brittany Salsberry, and Amanda Salas have been very supportive and understanding of the many false-starts that we had; and everyone at the Sports Journey Broadcast Network, specifically Lake Lewis and Monica Lewis, have been very supportive as well.

Additionally, my friends and family have been very supportive of this effort as well, and I really appreciate their enthusiasm.

Our guests this first week have been outstanding. Guests such as Howard Schnellenberger, Charlie Weatherby, Ryan Herrington, and others. Jim Fox, Heidi Androl, and Daryl Evans have all appeared this week to help me talk-up the Kings Hockey Fest later this month, and they have been tremendous in those interviews. Special thanks to the Kings PR department for their incredible efforts in making these guests available. I hope in the next two weeks leading up to that big event that they will continue to make others available to us. Other guests next week include Ed Berliner and Dan Rosen.

We've also spent time this week attempting to 'brand' our correspondents. This week alone, we brought on-board AJ Smith (NBA), Courtney Ports (NHL), Bradley Weber (Auto Racing), Ivan Jones (boxing), and Chris Griffin (college football). Sunday morning on The Sunday Tailgate, you'll hear again from Christopher Kerr (NFL) and Ray Manukay (MLB) On Monday, we will introduce Jennifer Colli (college basketball) and Mario Melara (soccer).

Finally, a couple of people need special acknowledgement: Arny Schreer, a mentor at a young age who encouraged me to seek the morning announcements gig at Saddle River Day in the 8th grade; my three best friends growing up, Patrick & Brian D'Errico and Bob Larsen, for putting with my 'play-by-play' of all of our sporting events growing up; Jeff Shade, who was the production manager at WFAN when I interned there - he, and I remember John Minko as well, who both thought I had talent and encouraged me to pursue this as a profession - I'm not completely there yet, but I appreciate their part in that process; Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, along with Art Russ Jr, Dave Sims, and Howard Cosell, all of whom inspired me to want to host a sports radio show. I should also mention Charley Steiner, who once upon a time was Art Russ's fill-in on 'Sports Talk' on WABC radio back before there was even a WFAN.

And finally, my family has been most supportive of me my whole life, and have been extremely patient with me when I was 'struggling'. I especially want to acknowledge my father, for fostering a belief in me and my keeping my dreams alive. They haven't fully come true yet, but I'm standing on the stage of it and beginning what I hope is a long and glorious walk across the stage. None of this happens with you Dad.

I thank all of you for being so patient these three months while we were in 'pre-production', and for listening this week. I hope you enjoyed listening to it, because trust me when I tell you I enjoyed performing it.

Visit our blog sites for the two shows at these addresses:
Moncrief in the Morning:
http://moncriefinthemorning.blogspot.com
The Sunday Tailgate:
http://thesundaytailgate.blogspot.com

Also, become a fan of our show on our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Moncrief-in-the-Morning

and follow us on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/moncriefintheam

No more excuses - RADIO SHOW begins THIS WEEK!

Hello everyone, this brief blog posting is to let all of you in Crief Case Nation know that the radio shows I've been talking about are finally going live! Here's the scoopage:

- The network is the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. You can find it on your computer at http://www.sportsjourney.com

- I'll be hosting a weekday morning show starting on Monday, August 3rd. The show is called Moncrief in the Morning and will air from 9AM until Noon Eastern time Monday through Friday mornings.
- Our first show on Monday features Examiner.com National Sports Columnist Ed Berliner from Stone Cold Sports.com.
- On Tuesday morning, Marty Appel, author of the book 'The Life and Death of a Yankees Captain' about Thurman Munson, will join us.
- And beginning this Friday, we will be providing previews of every single Division 1-A (a.k.a FBS) team.

- This Sunday, August 2nd, is the premiere of The Sunday Tailgate. It airs from 10AM - 1PM Eastern Time every Sunday. It features my co-host Ray Manukay.
- This Sunday, our guests include: Tina Cervasio from MSG Network; Lake Lewis from the Sports Journey Radio Show; and Paula Duffy, national sports columnist for Examiner.com.


No more delays. No more technical issues. No more location issues. It is finally happening!

By the way, if you can't listen to the show live, you can still listen to it by clicking on the 'Past Shows' tab on the website and listening to it as a podcast. So for those of you here on the left coast, if 7AM local doesn't work for you, fear not - you can listen on tape-delay too.

My thanks to all of you for your support during this 'pre-production' stage - GAME ON!

Radio Show Update - July 27

My thanks to those of you out there in 'Crief Case Nation' still waiting for the debut of the internet-based sports radio shows. We have had several near-misses in this process, but I feel as though we are about to turn a corner.

UPDATE: Today we are in the process of finalizing the deal to secure our professional studio location to air the shows. Also will likely be renaming both shows, with reasons to be included in official "It's On" post coming Wednesday.

Some very exciting news in terms of guests to be announced in the coming weeks as well. So keep checking back here for more info.

Bottom Line: likelihood of Sunday show debuting this week, August 2: 90%

*******

Meanwhile, I'm in the process of beginning to organize the third season of the Kokua Football League; this is the fantasy football league that originated from my days working with the fine folks at Mahalo. So far, I've heard from five of the ten owners I was able to track down from last season, and four of them are eager to return. By the way, if you are not currently an owner and advised me at any point in the last 9 months that you want in, you'll be hearing from me shortly.

So as I plan to begin a new season, I need help selecting a team name. In the past, these have been some of the names I have used:

Oakland Invaders, Montvale Whalers, Central Red Army, Miami Vice, Jessica Biels, Jennifer Garners, Jennifer Love Hewitts, Terry Court Bombers, Mookie Wilsons, Wide Right (sorry Raj), and the Pascack Thrillers.

I'd like to choose a new name for this season... thoughts?

Draft Day with the Kings

So I had the pleasure to be invited to an NHLTweetup with other Los Angeles Kings fans for the 2009 NHL Draft. We had the chance to meet some great hockey fans, and I spent most of the draft with four great people:

- Melody Husky, who's official title with the Kings is Social Networking Coordinator, and made me and the others feel extra special
- Howard K. Brodwin, Managing Director of Team Marketing Systems, and a fellow Jersey boy now residing in SoCal (he and I were the only ones enjoying a hardy laugh that one of the draft prospects was being compared to former 80's Ranger Reijo Rutosalainen)
- Hedid Androl, host on Kings Vision and of the NHL.com program "The Cisco All-Access Pre-Game Show"
- Luc Robitaille, the newly minted Hockey Hall of Fame selection, who flew back that morning from Montreal to be at the event

For photographic evidence, I submit the following photo of Heidi and Luc posing for a picture with me.

Clearly this is my Robert Evans moment.

For those that don't get the reference: in the documentary film 'The Kid Stays in the Picture' about legendary Hollywood film producer Robert Evans, he talks about the night that he attended the premiere of the film The Godfather in New York, and walked the red carpet with his then wife Ali McGraw and the Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

His famous quote about that experience, "...I had the most beautiful woman in the world on one arm, and the most powerful man in the world on the other."

Working through more kinks - going live soon

Stop me if you have heard this one before: the radio shows are still in a holding pattern on the runway, ready for take-off. We're just experiencing one minor technical glitch.

In short, we are able to broadcast our voices onto the network, but the commercials and sound effects, both of which are vital to the show, are still not getting through our hardware equipment. We will be attempting to fix this again on Wednesday night, and if all goes well, we will begin broadcasting shows on the Sports Journey Broadcast Network starting on Monday July 6.

I'll keep you posted - thanks for your continued support and patience. I promise it will be worth the wait.


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SHOWS WILL DEBUT JUNE 7 & 8

Okay folks, I know that this seems very much like "The Song Remains The Same", but we were in the process on this Saturday night, watching Detroit defeat Pittsburgh 3-1 in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals and watching Orlando eliminate Cleveland tonight in the NBA Playoffs, of setting up to finally launch our sports shows this week.

For those not yet dialed into this situation, I'm going to be hosting a pair of sports talk radio shows on an Internet broadcast company called Sports Journey. But there have been a few delays along the way.

Tonight, it feels like I'm sitting inside the rocket, having it warm up on the launch pad, only to have mission control give us the thumbs down just prior to the final countdown before liftoff.

The bottom line is that we will get these technical issues worked out this week, and I can tell you that we will be debuting the two shows next week:

- Sunday Scores and More will debut next Sunday, June 7th, at 10AM
- SportsRock, which airs weeknights, premieres next Monday, June 8th, at 10PM

Thanks for your continued patience and support, and I look forward to talking about sports for your listening enjoyment next week. I will post more information this week as it develops...

Tom Petty stars as "The Boy Who Cried Crief"

Yes, the waiting is the hardest part.
Okay, okay, so one more freaking week, jeez....

Sorry folks, but the long awaited and much anticipated launch of Sunday Scores and More is now scheduled for Sunday May 31, which is 9 days from this posting. It will happen then, and we will have some great guests, and I will have much more on this in a few days time.

My thanks to all of you asking about the start of the show and for your support of both it and the weeknight version, SportsRock, which debuts the next night June 1st at 7PM local (10PM Eastern). Thanks - more to come...

Radio show updates and a quick take on Metro

Hey there Crief Case fanatics: can't get enough of my takes? Want to hear me as well as read me?

Well, we are getting closer to the launch of my radio shows on the internet. Here's the latest info:

- Sunday Scores and More will make its debut on the Sports Journey Broadcast Network on Sunday morning, May 24. The air time will be live from 10AM to 1PM Eastern time, which means 7-10AM Pacific time. My co-host will be Ray Manukay, and we are close to announcing our update anchor. Please check out the blog site that we have set up for the show, including details of guests for the first show, by clicking here.
- SportsRock, a nightly two-hour hosted by me from 10PM to midnight Eastern (7-9PM Pacific) Monday through Friday nights, begins on June 1st. For more info, you can visit the blog site set up for that show by clicking here.

Meanwhile, I will keep you posted on other appearances I'll be making on other shows as they happen.

**********

So as many of you know, I use the local bus and train service here in Los Angeles to get around. For the most part, it is one of the best kept secrets in SoCal, that you can actually get where you need to without driving a car and sitting in traffic, provided you are willing to do a little prep work and route yourself.

But I wanted to take a minute to express some frustration with the folks at Metro, because they could be doing a better job of serving the community and they need to do a better job. A couple of issues that I have are:

- Customer Relations: while its nice to have the ability to call Metro's 800 number and get routed on-the-fly, the service is only available between 9-6 weekdays, and fewer hours on weekends. This should be available 24 hours a day. Furthermore, there is no one live to register complaints about service (or lack thereof), which is very frustrating in the moment.
- Drivers: these fall into two categories: one group is dedicated, friendly, courteous, and try to do right by the riders. However, I would say that this group only makes up about half of the drivers. The other half are surly, unprofessional, and uncaring. They are unhelpful and disrespectful. This needs to be addressed further.
- Lack of Real Time Tracking: Other area bus companies, such as the Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica, have the ability to track their buses in real time using GPS. So if you are waiting for a bus that is late and you call their CS line during business hours, they actually pinpoint where the bus and let you know when it will arrive. How its possible that Metro can't do this is beyond me. It would ease a lot of frustrations with passengers if they could get updates on late arriving buses.
- Safety: For the most part, Metro is good about the safety of their passengers. Still, there are certain bus lines that have buses get so jam-packed with passengers that it is unsafe for them to ride. The 720 line that runs down Wilshire Blvd is notoriously overflowing with passengers during most hours of the day. Why they don't correct this problem with more buses running is beyond me. Perhaps they are waiting for an accident which causes passenger deaths, leading to media-driven outrage and/or wrongful death lawsuits, before they correct this...
- Fare enforcement: This is the worst one. In other cities, you have turnstiles that prevent people from riding the trains without paying the fare. In Los Angeles, they use the honor system, which doesn't really work well. So, in order to recoup what must be staggering losses, they've started using LACSD officers to check fares at various locations. The problem though is two-fold with this: (1) they are constantly slowing down people trying to get onto connecting trains by checking people AFTER they've completed their ride. Shouldn't the idea be to check people BEFORE they get on the next ride? And (2) are you telling me that the crime and murder rates in LA County are so minuscule that we can allow these officers to spend their time checking for fare-jumpers as opposed to solving more important crimes? Plus, it just seems disingenuous that Metro, which from my experience has about a 75% on-time rate (which could be much better), is hassling customers when it isn't providing impeccable service.

Don't get me wrong, I swear by Metro, it's been better than I could have ever anticipated it would be. But it could be so much better than it is right now.

guest spot with Lake Lewis May 6

So as preparations continue for the launching of not one but two radio shows, I took time out of my busy schedule to appear as a guest on the Sports Journey radio show with Lake Lewis. Sports Journey also happens to be the name of the network that both of my shows will be appearing on.

To listen to an archived version of the show, click here. I appear at the top of the third hour talking NHL Playoff hockey with Lake, and also taking some good-natured ribbing for burying his Capitals two weeks ago when they trailed 3-1 to the Rangers.

Hope you enjoy it, and very soon, all details will be fully unleashed.