Did you watch the game this weekend? It was terrific!
I’m loving this season… Philadelphia is going to the NLDS for the first time since the 1993 season. That season marked the first time I had seen Phillies baseball, as the new girl in town. We didn’t make it to the World Series that year… I think it’s time!
Yep, I ain’t too proud to beg.
I have a story on digg right now - and Bloomberg just submitted the same story (after me, mind you).
Give me a little digg love?
http://www.digg.com/football/JoePa_s_salary_made_public
It’s all about PSU, Joe Paterno, college football and taxes. Yep, I swear.
That’s right. Who says Philly sports teams can’t be #1?
ESPN just voted us the #1 city in a sports slump! Take that, Atlanta (who ended up #2).
ESPN says:
No four-professional-team city has gone as long as Philly without winning a title. There hasn’t been a championship parade on Broad Street since Moses Malone led the Sixers to the 1982-83 title. The Eagles came close in 2004, but fell to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Phillies reached the postseason this year for the first time since 1993. And the Flyers have been consistent regular-season performers who instantly melt down in the playoffs. Local hero Smarty Jones almost won the Triple Crown, but like the pro teams, couldn’t seal the deal, finishing second in the Belmont Stakes after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Good ol’ Philly. It’s home.
So the Phillies are in first place now (wahoo!). But that’s not what has been keeping me away from the blog.
It’s been a tough week or so. The judge made me cry on Monday (potential lawyers to be, look away) because he does not understand how difficult opposing counsel is being. Our negotiations have broken down, a fact that the judge used to chastise me that I should be ashamed of myself. He has no idea what’s really going on. Sigh. And I really can’t say. But let’s just say that this is, without a doubt, the most miserable case of my career. It has gone on for three and a half years. It is pro bono. And it is a horrible experience.
On Tuesday, I had a busy day. It was one of those high and low days, I won’t bore you with the lows but you know how it goes - when it peaks, it peaks, but when it valleys, look out.
I am really enjoying my new gig as Channel Editor over at b5 media - it’s a great community and it lets me do the kind of stuff I like to do (writing, marketing, brainstorming). Plus, the hours are wonderful since I can do much of it at night (hooray). We’re currently hiring, so be sure and check out the Job Board.
The girls love school - and soccer (Amy) and dance (Katie) have started, too. Our Saturdays are officially crazy these days.
So, you’re probably getting the sense that life has been a whirlwind, which it has. Some of it for the best. Some of it for some as yet unknown reason. I am trying to keep my chin up. Hope you are doing the same.
And oh yeah, GO PHILLIES!
Amy was up last night again, at around 2 am. This morning, she was very tired. Follows is our conversation when I asked her why she had been up:
Amy: “Mommy, I couldn’t sleep.”
Me: “Why not?”
Amy: “Lizards, owls… and the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Yeah, her and half of Philadelphia… Are you happy now, Special Teams?
Did you see this?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFW2zCQYIb0]
We may not have titles but we have really good guys. You’ll note that the Rockies have fled the dug out…
And here’s an excellent article the Inquirer’s Phil Sheridan.
Barry Bonds, this is what we call character.
The Atlanta Falcons are weighing their options with respect to NFL over-hyped under-performing quarterback Michael Vick.
Vick owns a house that has been the subject of a probe into illegal dog-fighting. Vick has denied wrongdoing and has not (yet) been charged with a crime.
Vick is one of the NFL’s highest-paid players. According to the terms of his contract, the Falcons could apparently void the remainder and not have to pay out the nearly $70 million.
While Vick led the Falcons to the NFC Championship game in 2005, he’s been criticized for his play last season which was viewed as wildly mediocre. It was, however, not his play that got him into trouble in New Orleans when he flipped the finger to his critics on national TV.
His run-ins with the law and bad attitude are increasing in a year that the NFL is cracking down on behavior off of the field viewed as an embarrassment to the league (Pac Man Jones, anyone?). NFL Commissioner Robert Goodell has made it clear that he’s the new sheriff in town. His job has more or less turned into everybody’s dad, enforcing the rules that team owners and coaches have been scared to enforce at the risk of scaring off their prima donnas.
Which brings us back to Vick. Vick was cleared in a controversial incident in Miami involving a water bottle that was said to have a secret compartment which contained illegal drugs. But three months later, Vick was back in headlines when his Virginia property was searched for evidence of possible illegal dog-fighting.
If Vick is charged or indicted by a grand jury, his contract would allow the Falcons to suspend him for at least four games. It’s been speculated that the Falcons could also justified cutting Vick altogether following a suspension. Recently, teams like the Cowboys have been successful in arbitrations involving cuts based upon suspensions. And not only would the Falcons lift a financial burden off of their shoulders with Vick gone, they would rid themselves of what is becoming a recurring public relations nightmare.
I say, let him go. The Falcons have little or nothing to lose. Vick hasn’t been performing well and his incredibly ballooning “I’m invincible” ego can’t be a draw for the team.
I’m also glad that Goodell has stepped up to say that he will not let the NFL become the poster child as a thug league, much as the NBA has become. These athletes are paid really well for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that children look up to these guys. And I agree that nobody’s perfect. But bad behavior towards your fans, drug use and other criminal behavior? It’s not acceptable. And, in the real world, you couldn’t flip off your customers and get away with it. So, Vick, welcome to what I hope is fast becoming the real world…
At first, I wasn’t going to comment on the Imus/Rutgers thing. I kind of felt like everything that could be said about it had already been said.
And then I heard this about the Imus flap: "These days, it seems like you can’t say anything without offending someone."
Excuse me?
Can someone please explain exactly when it was ever appropriate to make racial or other slurs?
Don’t make Imus a martyr. This isn’t a free speech issue. It’s about decency. And respect. And using some goddamn restraint.
The women’s basketball team at Rutgers - or any other team - should not be the collective butt of a very unfunny joke. It’s not fair, it’s not appropriate and again, it’s not funny.
These kids and they are just that, kids, deserve more than a canned corporate apology. They went out, they played their hearts out in a game that they seem to love and their "reward" is to be mocked publicly. In one fell swoop, their amazing year was seemingly denigrated and largely overshadowed by comments disparaging their gender, character, race and appearance. Nice.
And let’s stop referring to them like they aren’t individuals, and are just an entity that’s the butt of a joke. They are Katie Adams, Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Dee Dee Jernigan, Rashidat Junaid, Myia McCurdy, Epiphanny Prince, Judith Brittany Ray, Kia Vaughn and Heather Zurich. They had a season that went 27-9. They went to the national championship, the first appearance ever for the Lady Scarlet Knights. And while they didn’t win the big dance, they did win the Big East tourney title and the NCAA Greensboro Region championship.
Women’s basketball has been recognized as a sport since 1892, one year after men’s basketball was officially recognized. However, the first organized national tournament for women’s basketball was more than 75 years later, in 1969; the first men’s basketball national tournament
happened in 1939.
Women in sports have never had it easy, especially in sports that are thought of as traditionally male sports. I hope that we don’t just brush aside these kids as a team that "almost won", maybe we should think about what it is that they accomplished. I mean, beyond the stats and the tourneys. These girls, like the other female athletics in the NCAA are the role models for our children.
The names that I remember from my childhood were Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming and Mary Lou Retton. I didn’t know the names of women basketball players like Sheryl Swoopes, Rebecca Lobo or Dawn Staley. But my kids will. That’s very cool. And that is the real legacy of these women from Rutgers: they are a part of something bigger than just basketball.
It’s painful for me, as a woman and a mom, to see these girls being made the butt of a bad joke now. And I feel for them. I wouldn’t even know what to do if someone treated my daughter like that in this extremely tasteless and public manner. But what I do know is this: I am proud of all of the female student athletes who put themselves out there and play their hardest in a sport that they love. These girls know that they won’t get the recognition or the money or the kudos that the boys do. They just love the game. And some idiot spouting off for a cheap laugh doesn’t change that.
Someday, maybe one of my girls will sport a Kia Vaughn jersey. Then we’ll know who really had the last laugh.
I have a big mouth.
I know. You’re shocked. Shocked!
I can’t help it. I say things and I don’t think about the context and then bam. I’ve created addicts. I’ve made sober people drink again. I am a dangerous individual.
Not convinced? I once called a man whose son had died years before to question him about why his cable bills were coming to my client’s house (I didn’t know the son was dead, it seemed a fair question). The man was sooo distraught. I’m convinced that he went straight for the Jack Daniels. On the plus side, it made for good fodder for my book (In Practice, complete, if you want to be my agent, operators are standing by…).
And again today, sitting innocently enough in the judge’s chambers. I see a picture of Chase Utley.
He looked hot ready for baseball season (BTW, this isn’t the same picture, but he’s still a cutie).
This reminds me of the Phillies.
Which reminds me of sports.
Which reminds me of the Sports section of the Inquirer (this is how my mind wanders).
And I say to my colleague, “Donte Stallworth is in a substance abuse program according to the Inquirer” (note to the football-challenged among you: Stallworth is an Eagles receiver). There is mumbling to our right. Yep, folks, you guessed it. The guy in the chair next to my colleague is reading a 12-step program book. He then pulls out a religious book about God helping you not to worry and leaves in a huff - on the way to the bar, no doubt. My colleague said that he mumbled something about forgiveness. Oh Lordy. Please. I’m all about forgiveness. And I promise I’ll forgive Stallworth if he gets us to the Super Bowl next year…
Me and my big mouth. Keep Britney Spears away from me! I’ll just send her over the edge!
So, it’s late and I’m tired. I’m watching the Pats/Colts game (are you kidding me!) - yeah, lining up my Top Ten Monday before the end of the day (tomorrow promises to be a long day).
I am terribly disappointed that the Saints didn’t make it, after beating my beloved Eagles. I had made my peace with the Eagles losing last week, since if they had to lose, I was glad that it was to the Saints. They are one of those teams that you just have to like this year. Really.
And so with a nod to my previous top ten list about football, I’m bifurcating my top ten list (hey, they’re my rules) into two top five lists. The first is my top five list of NFL teams that I wouldn’t want to see in the Super Bowl this year.
The second is my top five list of NFL teams that I would liked to have seen make it to the Super Bowl.
