West Coast road trips are always interesting to work…and when I say “interesting”, I’m just being nice.  I don’t mind ’em as much as most folks, I guess, because I’m kind of a night owl.  But I must say that the prospect of a rain-delayed 6-hour game doesn’t exactly appeal to me!

For those of you who have ever spent an extended amount of time out West, you know that the world of sports appears vastly different out there…what I mean by that is that we are used to 7:00pm games when the Yankees are home.  But when you live out West, that’s 4:00pm!  The Yankees’ game is in the books, on average, by 7:00 or 7:30 every night…you can watch the game early then go out…dinner, cocktails, whatever.

My first TV job out of college was in Eureka, CA, and doing the sports at around 6:20pm every night, I’d always show Yankees hilights in progress.  Then, on the 11:00pm news, I’d show the Giants and A’s hilights.

But the best part of the night was our post-11pm show routine.  Our studio featured a small set built into what was essentially a large steel shed building…(funny side note: during heavy rains in our area of coastal Northern California, you could actually hear the rain hitting the roof of our building ON THE AIR!  The sound was picked up through our microphones.)

Anyway, post-show, our director, technical director and one of our cameramen, and me, would stick around…move the cameras to their furthest point away from the set…and break out the wiffleball equipment!  The beauty of our set was that, on the left side (left field) was a weather board made of plexiglass, on which (prehistoric) our weather person actually wrote the temperatures of different cities in black eraseable pen!  Centerfield was the center of the set, behind where the news anchor sat…and rightfield was behind the right side of the desk, where I sat to do the sports.

We teamed up…2 on 2…and played some of the craziest games of Wiffleball ever…rocketing, and I mean absolutely ROCKETING, line drives off that plexiglass wall in left!  Sometimes, we’d just keep playing and playing, look up at the clock and it was, like, 5:00am!  Amazingly, we never broke anything, nor did we leave dents in any of the walls (that would have looked nice on-air!)…the bosses never knew about our WiffleMarathons.

You know how people say that, upon reflection, some of the best times you’ll ever have are times when you’re at a small place, just starting out, making horrible money?  Well, it’s true.  And I hope that, whoever reads this, no matter what you do, you make the most out of all your experiences and enjoy the heck out of them!  I sure did!

Update 9:45pm

Here’s a pop quiz for you as we watch an airtight game tied at 4…which analyst keeps a scorebook while watching the game?  A) John Flaherty, B) Jack Curry, C) Both, D) Neither.
Text your vote to…no, wait…don’t text your vote…just replay to this Blob and I’ll have the answer for you during the finale of tomorrow’s 3-game series, when both guys rejoin me in the studio for the pregame…

Meanwhile, we’ll all be lookin’ for you on the postgame tonight!

Update 8:10pm
Post dinner…Flash hasn’t even glanced at the chocolates.  Instead, I saw him reach into his little secret zip-up dinner bag and grab a few almonds…unsalted…dessert of champions.

Sidebar to the candy on my table…around Valentine’s Day, I bought some of those little hearts with sayings on ’em and put ’em out…I think MAYBE 8 were eaten…the rest remain… almost 2 months later…now, I’m not real worried about whether they are still good or not, because those little things could probably survive nuclear war with all the sugar and stuff in ’em…but 2 months later?  I really need to update my stock!

Update 7:35pm

Jack got a good laugh out of his fake quote, then started digging into a little Chicken Milanese from CPK…

Flash wanted it to be known to all of mankind that, in the 4 1/2 hours he’s been here, he has not TOUCHED a single piece of chocolate on my coffee table…I responded by saying “let’s see how you do AFTER dinner.”  That’s another update…but to reinforce his point, Flash added this…”I’m on P90X!  You can’t break me!”…Whatever Dude.
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“I can’t tell you how pleased I am that The Blob has returned.  When the calendar changed to 2010, I immediately began hounding Bob to begin writing again.  Having worked for the New York Times for 22 years, I’ve seen great writing…award-winning writing…but I consider the quality of writing in The Blob to be the kind of stuff that could, and I don’t think this is a stretch, change the course of history.  It’s THAT good.”

– Jack Curry, in a quote he never actually made but one that Bob wrote just to pump up his own blog.

Wow, thanks Jack!  Haha…as most of you know by now, I’ll do whatever is within my means, without completely embarrassing my co-workers, to make sure that The Blob comes to life and gets the attention it so richly deserves.  I’m not sure if I can win a Pulitzer, but at the very least, I wouldn’t mind being recognized by an important institution…like perhaps, the folks who hand out Nobel Prizes…or maybe the American Opthamology Association…I’d even settle for getting slimed on the Kids Choice Awards.

Jack is actually sitting right in front of me, on the couch that’s to the right of my desk…he has no idea that I wrote what I wrote, but don’t worry…I’m gonna tell him.  We’re watching the game with Flash (couch on the left) and studio director Mike Cooney, who’s opted for the right armrest on the couch on the left, for some reason….that can’t be comfy, can it?  I mean, who sits on an armrest?  Of course, it is a VERY comfy couch…a “sink into it, sleepy time” kinda couch.  And as soon as I can find the doggone USB cable to connect my digital camera to my computer, I’ll take a picture and show it to you.  Because, I mean, who DOESN’T want to see a picture of a couch…or sofa…or davenport…call it what you like.

OK, back to watching the game…I’ll let you know what Jack says when I tell him about his completely fake quote…

“Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I’ve just been
handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop
what you’re doing and listen. Cannonball!”

Ahhhh yeah…I couldn’t resist bustin’ out of the gate with a little Anchorman reference!

While the Yankees were down in Tampa, practicing, taking numerous reps in the batting cage, etc….I was busy taking numerous reps flossing, grooming, and shellacking my TV hair… which can only mean one thing…The Blob is back!

With that in mind, the season-opener on YES is Sunday night…pregame at 7pm…Jack Curry joining me in studio…a full hour to set the table for Yankees-Red Sox…then postgame after, as always.

In fact, check out the YES Network sked Sunday from 3:30pm on…review last year’s championship season, then watch our 2010 season preview, followed by the 1st Joe Girardi Show of the spring, and then the Tri-State Ford Pregame!

I’ll either be wearing a hint of London Gentleman or Blackbeard’s Delight…haven’t decided yet.  I’ll try to pass some of these tips along to Jack, though he was TV ready when he joined us.

Look forward to Blobbin’ with ya tomorrow!