Nickelback plan for Thanksgiving in Detroit

Nickelback responds to NFL Petition from Nickelback

Missing the Big 4 at Yankee Stadium Sucks!10 Experiences that Help Ease My Pain...

I'm devastated to be missing the Big 4 at Yankee Stadium today. But to be perfectly honest, only because I'm missing Anthrax.

I've been a die-hard New York Yankees fan for as long as I can remember, and Anthrax are my favorite metal band. No disrespect to Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica, but I saw them all at the Southern California Big 4 - their Bronx experience will likely be the same.

But missing out on the opportunity to stand on the same Yankee Stadium infield as Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriquez, Robinson Cano and Mark Texiera and revel in the performance of a band that I'm blessed to call friends? A band that are excited beyond words to play on the hallowed ground of a team they love as much as I do, and in the city they call home? That's the type of once in a lifetime opportunity I'm fairly certain I'll never have a chance to experience again.

Which got me to thinking: while I am missing out on this epic afternoon, I have had my share of chances to experience pop-culture history firsthand - here are ten of my favorites...

10. Yankees vs Braves, Game 4 of 1996 World Series
Since we're talking Yankee Stadium, I'll start with the Yankees, who played the Braves in the 1996 World Series. My Bronx Bombers lost the first two games of the series at home, then won Game 3 in Atlanta. I was in Atlanta and had tickets to Game 4, and it was ugly, New York trailing 6-0 after five innings. They had narrowed the margin to 6-3 when Jim Leyritz came to bat in the eighth inning facing Braves closer Mark Wohlers with two runners on - he took him deep, hitting a three-run homer to tie the game. The Yankees would go on to win 8-6 in extra innings, and win the Series in six. One of the most memorable long-balls in Yankee history, and I was there!

9. Lions vs Packers, 1994 NFC Wildcard game
Staying on the sports tip, I had a field pass for the 1994 NFC Wildcard game, where the Green Bay Packers hosted the Detroit Lions in the first found of the NFL playoffs on December 31, 1994. I worked for the Associated Press and was assigned to pre-game coverage in the parking lot - no small feat at Lambeau Field, one of the world's most sacred stadiums and host to some of greatest fans in sports. I needed to file my story and notes when the game started, which took most of the first half - I spent the rest of the game standing on the Green Bay sideline watching the Packers defense dominate the Lions, holding Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders to -1 yard, and the entire Detroit offense to -4 yards on the ground. Brett Favre ran out the clock by scrambling into his own end zone and giving up an intentional safety to seal the 16-12 Packers victory.

8. Anthrax, House of Blues Anaheim (October 27, 2004)
What was so special about this show? I'll tell you... Frank Bello had briefly left the band, and this tour featured Armored Saint's Joey Vera on bass for Anthrax. But here's where things get crazy - Frank joined Helmet, who also had a show in Anaheim, CA, this night. Helmet's show ended in time for Frank to attend the Anthrax show, and I sat in the front row of the balcony and watched Anthrax - sitting next to Frank Bello. How freaking surreal is that for a piece of Anthrax history that only about a half-dozen of us can share?

7. 2011 Sunset Strip Music Festival
I recently wrote a detailed review of this slice of history, which you can read here. In a nutshell? I experienced The Doors on Friday night at the legendary Whisky A Go Go, then saw Motley Crue headline the third annual street festival Saturday night, literally performing on the Sunset Strip. Two bands that made the Sunset Strip famous, back-to-back. It never happened before, and will likely never happen again.

6. VH1 Behind the Music - Megadeth
I'm no stranger to VH1, but there are a few appearances that stand out for me, including being a featured guest on The List and providing commentary for the Behind The Music on The Cult. But the appearance I'm most proud of? Being featured in the Megadeth Behind the Music. The band is in a dead heat with Anthrax as my favorite metal band, and this was an honor I will forever cherish. We did the interviews at the video shoot for "Motopsycho," and Dave Mustaine was apparently pretty nervous about what I'd say - I'd been a bit too honest about my feelings regarding the Risk album in Metal Edge, and he was worried those sentiments might roll over to the documentary. I'll never forget him coming up to me after reviewing the footage and thanking me for my support and friendship. He remains my favorite personality in metal, bar none.

5. Contributing to David Lee Roth's autobiography
From my favorite personality in metal, to my favorite personality in music - Diamond Dave! I reviewed his Crazy From The Heat autobiography for Metal Edge when it came out in 1998, and apparently Dave took a liking to what I wrote. I was sitting at my desk one morning (not early morning, trust me), and the phone rang - it was Eddie Anderson, David Lee Roth's right hand man. He said that David Lee Roth had a favor to ask (I still can't wrap my head around that, but those were his words!) - the man has been my muse for as long as I've known how to write a sentence, and he wanted to know if he could use part of my book review as the back cover of his softcover release. Ready for the kicker? Eddie proceeded to explain that Dave was not a fan of Metal Edge's history, but he was a fan of mine - would I mind if he just attributed the quote to me, and didn't acknowledge the magazine at all... I've had the pleasure of hanging with Dave many, many times - he even introduced me to John F. Kennedy Jr. - and as great as those memories are, nothing will top the honor of being immortalized on the back cover of his book.

4. Working with the original lineup of KISS
I grew up on KISS, and Alive II was the first record I ever bought. I'll never forget walking out of Caldors with the album... Who knew that someday I'd make KISStory? To the best of my knowledge, there's not another person on this planet that has interviewed all four original members of KISS, done a band photo shoot with all four original members, and photographed an entire live show featuring all four original members. I can literally write a book of my KISS experiences, and have the photos to document them all - who knows, maybe someday. An honor and a privilege that I don't take for granted.

3. Ozzy Osbourne plays me Under Cover
I've had countless bands play me their new music before it's been released (or even completed, for that matter), but never quite like this... I was invited to the Osbourne house to interview Ozzy in summer 2005, and when we were done with the interview he asked me if I wanted to hear some of the songs he mentioned while we were talking - uhm, hell yeah! Ozzy leads me into his study and proceeds to play me selections from the Under Cover album on his stereo, with stories and explanations of each. I had tears in my eyes as he played me John Lennon's "Woman" after explaining how he recorded it for Sharon... Yeah, I wiped tears from eyes in front of Ozzy - what's more metal than that? Ozzy fucking rules. Period.

2. Paul McCartney & Roger Waters at Coachella
These shows were the perfect storms. I was raised on oldies, not the Beatles, so I discovered the Fab Four late in life - but when I fell, I fell hard and fast (I swear I appreciate them more as a result). A friend asked me to see McCartney at the Staples Center with him several years ago, and I was an instant convert. The Beatles are my wife's favorite band, and I absorbed the inner depths of their catalog like a sponge. Being able to see McCartney headline Coachella in 2009 with my wife and some of our closest friends was a celebration I'll never forget and one of the greatest concert experiences of my life. Roger Waters headlined Coachella on his Dark Side of the Moon tour the following year, and that was a much more personal experience for me - Pink Floyd are one of my favorite bands of all-time, and the set was an epiphany. Practically a religious experience...

1. Pope Benedict XVI leading mass at the Vatican
Yes, I realize I just called Roger Waters a religious experience - but music means that much to me. My wife and I went to Italy for our honeymoon and our time in Rome coincided with a mass Pope Benedict was celebrating at St. Peter's Basilica on October 9, 2008, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's death. We didn't expect to be able to attend, but we wanted to try... We found ourselves in a Vatican line that we assumed was for sightseeing, and when we passed through security and got to the front they told us we couldn't go further unless we were attending the mass. We said we were - and it was really that simple! It was literally a religious experience - Pope Benedict passed within a few feet of us, and people reacted as you'd expect, but also as you could never imagine. Think of the biggest celebrity in the world - this was a hundred times that. This topped anything I've ever experienced in music.

SLASH AND BURN @ SUPER BOWL XLVBlack Eyed Peas pack serious halftime heat

The only thing I found annoying about the Black Eyed Peas halftime performance during yesterday's Super Bowl, was the outpouring of hyperbole and criticism that followed.

We live in a culture of hatred and entitlement, and I'm finding it harder and harder to disguise my disgust. It used to be you needed a modicum of training, etiquette and professionalism to be a critic. Now all you need is an internet connection.

Spelling, grammar and any hint of education are optional, and typically frowned upon.

Just because you and all of your like-minded friends may agree that you hate the Black Eyed Peas, does not mean that the Black Eyed Peas suck. It just means that you don't like the Black Eyed Peas. I follow a disproportional number of rock fans on Twitter, and I could have predicted their reaction before the halftime show even started. But that was tame compared to the reaction at the party I was at, where I was standing between members of the Guns N Roses camp.

The tough crowd got even tougher when the "Sweet Child O' Mine" cover started and Fergie delivered a little Axl Rose slither as she cozied up alongside Slash, GnR's iconic ex-guitarist.

I'm an Axl Rose loyalist to the core - but, admittedly, even that collaboration didn't bother me that much. The Super Bowl halftime show is arguably the biggest stage there is in music - can you blame the Black Eyed Peas for pulling out all the stops?

Unfortunately, they didn't sound great. But it's the halftime SHOW, not the halftime CONCERT. The spectacle was huge, and it delivered. No, maybe the performers didn't deliver as well as they - and others - may have liked, but if you are watching the Super Bowl with the sole intention of critiquing ads and the halftime show, you're part of today's problem, not part of the solution.

The Super Bowl is a worldwide institution and, in a lot of ways, its prevailing hooplah has come to represent everything that's wrong with America as we spiral through the 21st century as a culture of lemmings that care more about being heard, than about right, fair or even articulate.

I never got the guy's name, but I had a great conversation in the third quarter about how much money was spent on advertising, and where all that advertising money comes from... Us.

We're in a recession, but we're still fueling an economy that continues to cater to excess at a time when we should be dialing our habits down. I don't care how much money Budweiser pays to license a classic Elton John song, their product still tastes more like stale piss to me than it does beer.

Which brings me back to the Black Eyed Peas...

They are a pop music phenomenon, not a live music staple. Their songs are built around club beats and designed for dance floors, not live performances. And if you want to compare them musically to any other act that's performed halftime in recent memory, you're just advertising your own tunnel vision.

Black Eyed Peas are a production team, not a rock band. And they're damn good at what they do. In fact, they are amongst the best. That show last night was visually stunning, even if the vocals fell a little flat. But you know what? At least they were singing (or trying, as the case may be) - I'd rather relish the effort amidst the spectacle, than watch a lip-sync laughathon.

It didn't take a sound engineer to know there were sound problems. All their mics cut out at one point or another, and that's not the band's fault. Who knows what they were actually hearing on stage? Am I making excuses? Yes, I am - but I tuned in to watch the Super Bowl, not play armchair quarterback and pass judgment on the bells and whistles that surrounded the game.

Last night's game was a phenomenal steak dinner. The Black Eyes Peas performance was akin to finding some wilted lettuce in a salad that is highlighted by some superb blue cheese dressing.

If you're tuning into the Super Bowl to get your music fix, I feel sorry for you - there's so much more out there, you just need to open your ears and listen. And if you're one of those people screaming that the Black Eyed Peas suck and are a musical travesty, maybe it's time to look beyond your own short-sightedness.

They don't suck,they're just not your thing. To the masses that are not metal fans, Slipknot suck so hard they should change their name to Hoover. That doesn't make me appreciate them any less. Green Day is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me - that doesn't mean that they suck, it just means that they're not my thing.

To each their own... But we live in America, where people are incapable of compromise. It's all or nothing, and our way or the highway.

If you're liberal, all conservatives are evil. Period.

And if you're a rock fan watching the Black Eyed Peas during the Super Bowl, you've judged them before you even stop to consider the very nature of what they do, or how they do it. Yes, their performance wasn't perfect, but they were playing the Super Bowl, not the Grammy Awards.

It was a football game, and they provided a halftime spectacle - and an excellent one at that. To say that Fergie can't sing is just flat-out wrong - she can sing, even if she wasn't in top form Sunday night.

If you would care to discuss how your definition of music is different than a Black Eyed Peas fan's definition of music, that's another story altogether - but, again, we are talking about opinions, not facts.

I just think back to how I felt growing up, being a fan of heavy metal and having people talk down to me because that wasn't what they consider "real" music.

I remember how it felt when people would tell me that Metallica sucked, when in fact they were just scared and intimidated of the band and what they stood for. They said they aren't music, they're noise. Those judgmental people helped shape me into the person I am today - and those memories are what make me want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

As Dan Akroyd said in the cinematic opus Spies Like Us - we mock what we don't understand.

As for the Super Bowl? Don't hate the playas just cuz you don't like the game.

And as for me? I like the Black Eyed Peas, and all the boom boom pow they deliver.

Every time Michael Vick gets hit,an angel dog earns its wings...

I believe that Michael Vick deserves a second chance in life, I just don't believe that he deserves a second chance to play in the National Football League.

He facilitated and expedited the rape of dogs, where females were bound to poles so that they could be forcefully and violently impregnated. The puppies were then raised and trained to be fighters and killers, neglected to sharpen their survival instincts, and tortured to instill a horrifying sense of fear and tolerance of pain.

Then the dogs were pitted against each other for Michael Vick and his crew's sadistic pleasure and gambling enjoyment.

If the losing dogs were lucky, they'd be killed in cold blood.

The dogs that weren't killed, were left alive to be tortured and abused more, only to fight another day.

This wasn't a momentary lapse in judgment on Michael Vick's part, and it wasn't an accident. It was premeditated, callously calculated, and carried out with painstaking attention to every heinous detail.

Over, and over, and over again.

This isn't about what Michael Vick allegedly did, this is about what he confessed to doing. There's no grey area in what may or may not have happened - it happened, and he's not denying a single bit of it.

According to a court of law, he served his legal debt to society. But what about his moral debt to society? The debt that can't be paid off by a donation to the Humane Society, or by visiting a handful of inner-city schools and trying to explain why what he did was wrong, despite the fact that he still makes excuses for his behavior.

Because, in the end, it didn't matter that what he did was wrong - when the time came to be held accountable for deciding to embrace being a thug instead of a professional athlete and role model, the Philadelphia Eagles welcomed him back with opened arms.

And when that opportunity turned into one of the most remarkable physical comebacks in the history of professional sports, Barack Obama - the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, and the man that hung his election on a mantra of hope - called the Eagles' owner to commend the team for giving Michael Vick a second chance.

Because everybody deserves a second chance.

Bullshit.

Michael Vick has been coddled since the day his opportunistic handlers realized he was a goldmine of athletic potential.

Money. Gifts. Attention. Excuses.

All in abundance. All without accountability.

He received a scholarship to Virginia Tech, and every opportunity in the world to advance his lot in life. To improve the world of those around him. And to be an example for others to emulate.

Instead, he chose to remain a thug. A thug who could tuck a football under his arm and run - a thug with carte blanche to take his miscreant ways off the street, and behind closed doors.

Should Michael Vick get a second chance? Of course he should - in life. Not in the National Football League.

America is a country in crisis, and our youth need role models to emulate, not a path of excuses defined by moral cop-outs.

Michael Vick was given every opportunity to rise above the culture he claims dictated his behavior and handling of dogs. Yet he chose to defy those opportunities, and mock the establishment that presented him with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to cash in a golden ticket.

Let his second chance at success be outside the National Football League. Let him use the college education that he got for free... What? He didn't graduate? Maybe he should have thought of that before he entered the NFL following his sophomore year of college.

He strapped his entire future to a professional sport that, even in failure, could make him enough money to last a lifetime. Yet he respected that sport so little that he needed to raise, train, torture and kill dogs for personal fulfillment.

It doesn't matter how many schools he speaks to, the real message to those students is loud and clear - you can make a grave, calculated, callous and criminal mistake so heinous that the end result would make anyone with a conscience's stomach curdle, and as long as you can blame your upbringing, even the President of the United States will have your back.

America needs to stop making excuses, and America needs to stop accepting excuses.

America needs to stand for something, or we'll fall for anything.

And right now, we're falling hard.

I've boycotted the Philadelphia Eagles all season long, refusing to watch or support any team that would give an opportunity to a man that epitomizes everything I think is wrong with America today.

I have also boycotted Nike since they announced that they would again endorse Michael Vick. If Nike choose to make him a face of their company, Nike are making a bold statement that they don't want me buying their clothing.

I am breaking my Philadelphia Eagles boycott to watch my Green Bay Packers make the trip to the City of Brotherly Thugs for the opening round of the playoffs.

Not because I want to watch Michael Vick, but because I want to watch the Green Bay Packers - a team I grew to love as a college student in Milwaukee, where they played half their home games. And a team I learned to love even more when I covered them for the Associated Press in the mid-'90s.

Make no mistake, the game is about more than football for me - it is a battle for control of America's moral compass. A compass that may be cracked, but a compass that can still be repaired.

I am not, and will not, end my boycott of Nike.

We need to stand for something, or we'll fall for anything.

And America needs to stop falling.

First Brett Favre, now the Metrodome...

If this doesn't sum up the Minnesota Vikings season, nothing will!

The Last Week In Tweets

Selections from my last week on Twitter. Among items not included in the recap are the bacon kid's dance remix, a McDonalds value meal that you won't find on the menu, and week two of the NFL... Want to join the fun? Feel free to Twit along with me @PaulGargano.




Jackasses of the week:
Kanye West & Terry Moran





• Let's lock Kanye West and Michael Vick in a steel cage and make them fight to the death... Then kill the winner.
(2:10 AM Sep 14th from web)

• I am not offended by bold statements. I am offended that bold statements need be toned down for people who can't think boldy.
(7:08 AM Sep 14th from web, in response to a Facebook debate
over the literal translation of the above statement)

• Word of the day: Churlish. I encourage everyone to use it in a sentence today (for example, to describe Kanye West)...
(7:45 AM Sep 14th from web)

• Kanye strikes again, but this time it's personal: http://tinyurl.com/rc48sw (thanks to @AdamsWorldBlog for pointing it out)
(3:13 PM Sep 16th from web)

• Terry Moran Twittering President Obama's off-the-record calling of Kanye a "jackass" is completely unacceptable.
(8:45 AM Sep 15th from web)

• "Credible" journalism needs to start with the audience: Demand integrity, and stop supporting the tactics of TMZ and Perez.
(8:48 AM Sep 15th from web)




This week's TV theme?
Boobs on the tube...




• New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills are rocking the old-school uniforms tonight on Monday Night Football, I love it!
(3:51 PM Sep 14th from web)

• True Blood finale was a letdown. I felt distant from characters during season two, and wasn't left aching for season three.
(1:39 AM Sep 15th from web)

• Why are most of the guys on Survivor: Somoa wearing only underwear? Except for Russell, he's wearing underwear and a hat.
(10:03 PM Sep 17th from TwitterBerry)

• I probably shouldn't be eating brownies and ice cream and drinking wine while watching The Biggest Loser, right?
(10:20 PM Sep 17th from TwitterBerry)

• Hung season finale could have been better - Too much setup, not enough laughs. Great show though, can't wait for season two!
(10:34 PM Sep 18th from TwitterBerry)

• Gross! RT @AdamsWorldBlog Why not combine the two? RT @PaulGargano My wife wants to watch Golden Girls instead of Lingerie Football League.
(10:50 PM Sep 18th from TwitterBerry)

• Watching season premier of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -
Shouldn't it be called "Curb Yo Enthusiasm"?
(10:42 PM Sep 20th from TwitterBerry)




RIP Patrick Swayze




• "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Patrick Swayze dies after long battle with pancreatic cancer. RIP http://tinyurl.com/l2vb9d
(5:09 PM Sep 14th from web)

• Dance, dance dirty, play hockey, move a penny without touching it, rob banks, surf, bounce at bars #ThingsPatrickSwayzeDid
(12:42 AM Sep 20th from TwitterBerry)

• I knew I forgot something: Wong Fu! RT @maidenman664 Don't forget dressing like a woman too #ThingsPatrickSwayzeDid
(12:59 AM Sep 20th from web)









• Megadeth "Endgame" (released today) is AMAZING.
Dave Mustaine is razor sharp and guitarist Chris Broderick shreds.
Best lineup since '98.
(3:33 PM Sep 15th from web)

• If Metallica's 12th studio album is half as good as Megadeth's "Endgame" (their 12th), I'll eat my copy of "Re-Load."
(5:59 PM Sep 18th from web)

• Megadeth has 12 studio albums, and only 4 were recorded with same band! "Peace" "So What" & "Rust" = all different lineups!
(5:21 PM Sep 19th from web)




• President Jimmy Carter blames "You lie!" on racism... Can we blame Carter's statement on senility? http://tinyurl.com/qov6k4
(11:05 AM Sep 16th from web)




• Read article on new lava planet (http://tinyurl.com/otguyb) and started wondering how matter began.
Now I have a headache.
(11:30 AM Sep 16th from web)




• KITTIE "In The Black"
came out yesterday.
Best album yet from queens of metal, a churning blend of melodic, prog and death.
(4:29 PM Sep 16th from web)







The Metal Edge Years...






• It depends, there are many... As a fan? Journalist? Fun? RT @bigmillion of all your yrs @ Metal Edge, what's yer fav memory?
(11:43 AM Sep 19th from web)

• Fun: Seeing @SebastianBach on B'way w/ @IAmJericho, Adrian Smith & sig others RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:27 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Fan: Flying in twin-engine w/ Bruce Dickinson, friendship with Queensryce... RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:30 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Journalist: 9/11 tribute issue, Dimebag tribute, Megadeth Behind the Music... RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:33 PM Sep 19th from web)

• So many more, including KISS, Ozzy, Drowning Pool, @ZakkWyldeBLS, Poison...
RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:43 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Forgot HUGE one: Writing back cov of David Lee Roth's autobiog. DLR is my muse. RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(3:04 PM Sep 19th from web)




Want to be a music writer?





• Never stop writing, never stop growing, and never forget why you love music... RT @bigmillion advice to get in music media biz?
(3:14 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Blogs are the new magazines, start your own! Be unique, be yourself, make it an extension of you... (re @bigmillion advice?)
(3:22 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Writers 3 worst enemies: Complacency, bad grammar and not editing your work. Respect your audience! (re @bigmillion advice?)
(3:28 PM Sep 19th from web)












• I'm in checkout line behind a blind person - It's amazing the things we take for granted... Like being able to see and hear.
(6:47 PM Sep 19th from TwitterBerry)

• After watching the blind guy, I'm not going to get angry about the fact that after 15 min in line, I left my wallet at home.
(6:50 PM Sep 19th from TwitterBerry)

Follow Paul Gargano on Twitter: @PaulGargano

The Last Week In Tweets

Selections from my last week in the world of Twitter. Not included in these festivities are the kid who loves bacon, protecting your chicken from Dokken, and a lot of back-and-forth about vampires... Want to join the fun? Feel free to Twit along with me @PaulGargano.



• You think? That white
album idea seems dicey.
RT @BielerBros68 I think this Beatles thing might just catch on, not sure...
(9:34 AM Sep 9th from web)





President Obama's Congressional speech
on health care reform:




• "Build on what works and fix what doesn't"
-President Obama on Health Care Reform
(5:31 PM Sep 9th from web)

• We interrupt the President for this breaking news: RT @THR
Ellen DeGeneres joins 'Idol' as fourth judge http://bit.ly/bL4bL
(5:35 PM Sep 9th from web)

• "To my Progressive friends... And to my Republican friends..."
Did I miss the memo that all Democrats are now "Progressive"?
(5:45 PM Sep 9th from web)

• Why am I cynical? Because politics are just like grade school: Everybody claps when someone else gets bullied or picked on.
(5:55 PM Sep 9th from web)

• Ellen is new 'American Idol' judge after Rosie, Pat Buchanan,
Tracii Guns and the Indian from the Village People declined...
(12:18 AM Sep 10th from web)





Remembering 9/11:





• Remember how you felt on September 11, 2001? Never forget... #WTC RT @sportsguy33 My 9/14/01 column: http://bit.ly/xoZvo
(10:05 AM Sep 11th from web)

• Nobody who died on 9/11 got a second chance. Freedom is a privilege, not a right. Respect it. http://tinyurl.com/l2xzfv #WTC
(10:06 AM Sep 11th from web)

• RT @realbrookewhite 9/11 reminds me to keep perspective...
it prompted us to be better people,more grateful & respectful...
lets not forget
(10:41 AM Sep 11th from web)





Season premier of the
Melrose Place remake:




• The new Melrose Place is the worst show EVER...
And I can't stop watching.
(10:35 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• Melrose Place just gets worse and worse, but the force field protecting the remote from me just gets stronger and stronger.
(10:42 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• New strategy: Fast forward through Melrose Place and watch the commercials... I like the new Kohls campaign, good writing.
(10:49 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• Warning: Don't move to Melrose Place, because everybody there is shady and can't be trusted. People tend to die there, too.
(11:10 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)













• Just got my special edition @ZakkWyldeBLS Cabbage Patch Kid. Smells kinda funky, but it's fun to cuddle with...
(3:08 PM Sep 12th from web)

• Just messing around... RT @nikkinana so is there really a Zakk Wylde cabbage patch doll or were you just messing with us?
(8:01 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)




• The US takes the concert experience for granted. Want proof? Watch the South American scenes in "Flight 666"
- Goosebumps.
(7:44 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)









The vampire phenomenon:





• Finally all caught up with True Blood in time for Sunday's finale...
It was all believable until they made the vampires fly.
(12:38 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)

• Do the "Vampire Diaries" writers think nobody else saw "The Crow"? Not only are some lines the same, there's also a crow...
(11:37 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)

• Pop-culture vampire question: With all the women there are to prey on, why do they need to always fight over the same one?
(11:47 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)





Opening weekend
of the NFL season:




• @TheRealTMR @EricStangel And what's the lesson that Vick, Burress, Stallworth, McNair, and Marshall are sending the kids?
(12:10 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry) in response to:
Brett Favre named captain. A lesson 4 you kids, You can show up late and still be rewarded over those who put their time in
(by @EricStangel, 11:00 AM Sep 12th from web )

• Close your eyes: Harry Connick Jr sounds just like Frank Sinatra. Now open your eyes... He looks like Morton Downey Jr...
(5:39 PM Sep 10th from web, during NBC pre-game kickoff)

• Al Michaels during Titans defense intros: "We'll start putting up sub-titles next week." WOW! (Cue up Rev Al Sharpton...)
(5:53 PM Sep 10th from web)

• Already sick of hearing "noise, intensity, nerves" a factor for @Mark_Sanchez this year - USC is akin to an NFL franchise!
(10:46 AM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Everytime Favre gets sacked, it'll be because he missed training camp? Please... When he made training camp, he threw INTs!
(11:32 AM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Donovan McNabb has a broken rib? Defenses are warming up for Michael Vick. I can't wait for justice to be served NFL style.
(2:39 PM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Frank Gore was so open on that 49ers touchdown, they should change his number to 7-11. Way to blow the coverage, Cardinals.
(4:13 PM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

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BRETT'S BACK......To Rape, Pillage and Plunder (the Packers)

To hear the pundits talk about Brett Favre, you'd think he shot himself in the foot with a gun in a nightclub... Or killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol... Or was murdered by a girl young enough to be his daughter, who he was cheating on his wife with as he lead a double life... Or tested his entrepreneurial skills by funding a dog-fighting ring, then demonstrated his hands-on leadership abilities by not only breeding the pitbulls, but also raising them to fight, and torturing and killing the losing pups.

No, Brett Favre is clearly the NFL athlete most deserving of a media outcry, because he not only changed his mind, but he did it more than once.

Why are jails overcrowded? It's all those damn wafflers, I tell ya!

I admit it, I'm a Brett Favre apologist. I have a shelf full of Favre memorabilia in my office. I was one of his first interviews when he renewed his contract with the Green Bay Packers in 1994 and I worked for the Associated Press. And I was standing on a frozen Lambeau Field sideline when he led the Packers to a 16-12 first round playoff victory over the Detroit Lions on Dec. 31 of that same year.

My dad had Joe DiMaggio. I had Brett Favre. My dad will never get to see Joe D play again, so forgive me for reveling in the fact that I can now say that I "have" Brett Favre for at least one more season.

Is it really that bad that he changed his mind about retirement... Again?

Apparently it is, which leaves me a bit perplexed.

Michael Vick funded a dog-fighting operation where he raised, trained, fought and killed helpless dogs. This isn't a tax issue, where he can blame his accountant or business manager. This isn't even a DUI, where he can say he wasn't aware of what he was doing when it happened. This was a calculated and callous act that he did repeatedly, and without remorse.

It was an act that made it pointedly clear that Michael Vick didn't respect the NFL, or his role as one of the game's biggest superstars. If he did, he probably would have thought twice about moonlighting as a thug.

Yet the NFL welcomed him back with open arms and a laughable two-game suspension, saying that he has served his debt to society and deserves a second chance.

I say he lost his right to a second chance in the NFL when he decided that his place as role model and public icon was less important than the sick satisfaction he got by engaging in social activities previously relegated to gang-bangers and miscreants.

That doesn't mean Michael Vick doesn't deserve a second chance in life, it just means that he already made it pretty clear how little the NFL meant to him. To his credit, he did it with the same flair he exhibits on the field, spitting in the face of any morally grounded and warm-blooded football fan in the process.

Michael Vick has already proven that he can't handle life in the limelight, so why can't his second chance come in the real world? Remember that education he got from Virginia Tech? Why can't his second chance come on the shoulders of that, rather than in the game of football that he's already disgraced?

But I digress from the issue at hand... Brett Favre's the bad guy!

Damn Brett Favre, for playing football with the same zest and enthusiasm now, that he did 15 years ago. Damn him for playing the game with a smile on his face, and a vibrancy that shames guys half his age. And most of all, damn him for feeling scorned by the team he spent his entire Hall of Fame career with, and choosing to exact his revenge on the football field, rather than doing something illegal, shameful, and potentially hazardous to the world we all share.

Damn Brett Favre and his simplistic, down-home view of the world. Why can't he learn something from Plaxico Burress, Donte Stallworth, Steve McNair or Michael Vick? These guys are the NFL's real role models. These are the guys that embody the true spirit of professional sports, and the competitive spark we hope to ignite in today's youth.

Is decisiveness too much to ask for? We don't care what you decide to do, just stick to your guns and do it! Own your decision! Know that whatever you do, we'll be there to support you... Even if it might cost someone their life.

As long as you don't change your mind.

And if you do change your mind? You run the risk of being no better than Brett Favre - an embarrassment to the game of football, and a mockery to the NFL, where the NBA and Vince McMahon have apparently become the new moral compass.

Farewell Favre (This Time He Means It)

Brett Favre retired today.

Again.

But this time I think he means it. Last year, something just didn't seem right. Now, there seems to be a natural finality to his legend.

And I still think there's more to the story of him leaving Green Bay than we've been privy to.

I interviewed Brett Favre at Lambeau Field, when he signed his first contract extension in 1994 and I was an editor for the Associated Press. It was long before anyone could even fathom that he might become the most prolific quarterback in NFL history.

At the time, Green Bay was still stinging from the fact that Don Majkowski proved little more than an injury-plagued one-season wonder, never replicating the 'majik' of his all-star campaign in 1989.

Green Bay - both the team and the city, because you can't talk about one without talking about the other - had high hopes for Favre, but the fervor was nothing like it would be when signed his seven-year extension three years later.

He was a southern-bred bundle of unrealized potential at the time. More of a 'hope for the best' signing than a Hall of Fame franchise tag. And his laid-back Mississippi state-of-mind was a perfect fit for the limited northern exposure of the frozen tundra.

Speaking from firsthand experience, Wisconsin is hardly a media shark tank for professional athletes. If anything, it's a microcosm of Midwest simplicity. A far cry from the all-seeing eyes and ears of New York. Forgiving, and maybe even a bit forgetful, to be polite.

In New York, the media will create drama where it doesn't already exist. And if it exists? They'll turn sparks into a bonfire.

In Wisconsin, drama is having to choose between deer hunting and a family wedding.

Reading between the lines of Favre's muddied departure from Green Bay, there was some bad blood brewing between the quarterback and the franchise he had revitalized over the past decade-plus.

Brett Favre was the boy who cried wolf with retirement, but Ron Wolf wasn't there to hear him. The Packers forced Favre's hand, and he fumbled, rushing the call a year ago. Green Bay shouldn't have been too surprised, they'd lived and died by his gunslinging ways for 15 years, and he's got a track record of iffy decision-making when he's rushed in the pocket.

And like more than a few plays he'd made on the field, Favre and his schoolboy demeanor wanted to reel back his career-ending retirement bomb. But it wouldn't happen on the Packers' playground.

When a well-worn Rocky was explaining his comeback in Rocky Balboa, he said "there's still some stuff in the basement."

Was anyone really that surprised to find out that Brett Favre still had a few pump fakes left in his shoulder?

Those tears he cried at last year's press conference? Could they have been tears of confusion, hurt, sadness or betrayal? Right, wrong, indifferent or otherwise, it's unlikely Brett Favre truly wanted to end his career anywhere but Green Bay.

But Green Bay didn't want him back.

So he went to a team that did want him, because he needed one last chance to extinguish that fire that was still burning down below. It was the same fire he always felt, this time heightened by a hope to avenge his exile from title town.

If it couldn't be Green Bay, where better than Broadway?

New York never embraced Favre, they embraced the legend of Favre. They knew he was a stopgap. And to compound the issue, the players had to know in their hearts that they weren't a Super Bowl contender. The chemistry just wasn't there with the Jets. Locker room favorite Chad Pennington may have been replaced by a legend, but he wasn't a New York legend, and he never would be.

Brett Favre was a deity in Wisconsin. In New York, he'd play second fiddle to Peyton Manning's kid brother.

To add insult to injury, due south on I95, Pennington was playing with the composure that he flashed the Jets in '02.

Chad had more juice than Tropicana, and Favre was running on pulp.

What made New York the perfect swan song? The chances of a fairy tale ending were slim, the fun factor of the game would be marginalized in the media glare, and an emotional attachment wasn't likely to prolong the decision-making process.

Few fans were shocked when Brett Favre re-announced his retirement earlier today. Yes, it is the end of a legendary career, but this time the end felt right.

As for his legacy... Was Reggie White's tarnished in Carolina? Joe Montana's in Kansas City? Vince Lombardi's in Washington?

"I think if you live some place long enough, you are that place," Rocky Balboa said in his own swan song.

Brett Favre is Green Bay, and always will be. No season in New York will ever change that, nor will it tarnish his place as one of the game's all time greats.

It didn't matter if Rocky won or lost, what mattered was that Rocky did what Rocky had to do, and that when he was finished, the beast was gone from the shackles of his basement.

Brett Favre has unleashed the beast.

Next stop, Canton.

* * *
There's not a journalist I enjoy reading more than Peter King, or a football player I've enjoyed watching more than Brett Favre. When Favre was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1997, King wrote a piece that not only captured his eloquence as a writer, but also Favre's true character, both on and off the field. Click here to read the column.

UPDATE (02.13.09)
As an interesting follow-up to the above column, Favre did an interview with ESPN today detailing his anger towards the Packers and how they handled his departure, as well as his lack of comfort in a Jets uniform. Click here to read the article.

UPDATE (02.16.09)
Peter King offers more insight into Brett Favre's retirement in his Monday Morning Quarterback column for SI.com, the Sports Illustrated website.

Week In Review: 01/16/09

I'm going to blame my inability to think in anything more than short, stumbling grunts this morning on my last glass of Chianti last night, because I know it didn't have anything to do with any of the glasses before the last one. What does that have to do with "The Karate Kid"? Nothing, but I'll get there...

Last night (pre-Chianti) one of my contact lenses ripped in half... Strange thing is, it happened while it was in my eye. This morning, my glasses broke. Strange thing is, it happened while they were on my face. Common denominator to both incidents? Me. Strange things happen to strange people, I guess. Fortunately I had a spare pair of contact lenses and was able to fix my glasses. Unfortunately, I don't particularly like wearing contacts, and the Super Glue it took to repair my glasses isn't really making a fashion statement. It's not exactly tape on the bridge or a shattered lens, but it's definitely more Bakersfield than Beverly Hills. Not that I'm ever Beverly Hills, but if I ever make it back to Bakersfield, it'll require a lot more than Chianti.

No matter how awkward I feel, it can't compete with how Ryan Seacrest must have felt after trying to high five a blind guy on "American Idol" Tuesday night.

Speaking of momentarily losing one's self, a study was released this week and the findings suggest that drinking coffee decreases the probability of Alzheimer's and dementia in later life. I drink a lot of coffee. I guess I'll have to wait few decades for the dementia to go away. If you clicked on the link to the findings above, you no doubt saw this picture (and recognize that cup as espresso, not coffee):

I'd like to report my own findings: Smoking cigarettes with your coffee also decreases your probability of Alzheimer's and dementia in later years. How? By decreasing your chance of making it that far.

NAMM is this weekend in Anaheim. I'm doing what any logical person should do: Leaving the state of California altogether.

And on to "The Karate Kid"... If you think I'm long in the tooth, try ESPN columnist Bill Simmons on for size. Or you can just let me cut-and-paste a brilliant analysis he made in his column this week. He was watching the Eagles/Giants playoff game last Sunday and, in the waning minutes, was clearly about as into it as I was when he found a "Karate Kid" marathon (yes, all four movies!) on the ABC Family channel. We'll now join his story in progress...

"Just as it was becoming apparent Eli [Manning, Giants quarterback] had a better chance of eating one of the goalposts, digesting it and crapping it out than of throwing a decent pass in the Giant Stadium wind, 'Kid II' was finishing up and 'Kid III' was looming. So all wasn't lost. I spent the next hour trying to find similarities between Eli and Daniel-San, ultimately coming up with seven: Both wanted to live in Jersey over California; both possess the hard-to-explain ability to tick people off (even complete strangers); both won championships as huge underdogs that, in retrospect, make absolutely no sense whatsoever; both received serious officiating help during those titles (Eli for the various holding infractions during the Helmet Catch that weren't called, Daniel-San for winning the All-Valley Karate title on an illegal kick to the face); both have terrible body language when things are going badly for them (to the point that you lose all hope pretty much immediately); both had signature moments that were surprisingly similar both in stature and surprise (the Helmet Catch and the Crane Kick); and both eventually found forbidden love with a 65-year-old Japanese war veteran. Oh wait, that was just Daniel-San. Sorry, Eli."

Don't be afraid to say it, Bill Simmons is something of a genius... Not convinced yet? In said column, he also admits to counting the points, rebounds and assists of one of Michael J. Fox's teammates (#45) in the final basketball game in the movie "Teen Wolf." Gotta love it!

Finally, what's any mention of "The Karate Kid" without taking a moment to acknowledge the second installment's theme song, and Peter Cetera's first solo release since departing the band Chicago? Incomplete, that's what! Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the video for "The Glory of Love," complete with Peter Cetera's great hair, the movie's gripping footage, and more mushy lyrics than Celine Dion could shake her stick figure at:


EYEGLASS UPDATE: It's been about six hours since this post went up, and I've already had to glue my glasses back together twice. How is it that Super Glue can hold a car in midair on the package and in their logo, but can't hold the frame of my glasses to the rim of my lens?