Rain Brain Drain

Flash is here in studio…I’m all fired up for 4 days of working together, talkin’ baseball…AND THERE’S NO BASEBALL TO TALK ABOUT!  The weather forecast for the next week is absolutely ridiculous…I keep checking weather.com every 15 minutes or so, hoping magically something will change, but we look like we’re all in for it, don’t we?  Brutal.

I’m working on uploading pictures to The Blob.  If I did so right now, I’d upload the picture of Flash sitting on my couch…reclining, really…well, almost laying down…as we wait out the rain and watch Yankees on Deck.  I guess he’s really worn out by the healthy lean chicken salad dinner he ate!  C’mon, Man!  He’s going through one of his “I’m really watching what I’m eating” phases right now…(Meanwhile, we had rain-delayed Chinese food catered, so I threw down fried rice, broccoli, and several things that looked like chicken)….Flash’s goal is to get trim…no, ripped, he says.  I guess the guys who compete in Mr. America better watch out (if they still have that competition).  I think Flash is concerned because his body fat went up 1%…Wow.  Mine went up 5% in the last 20 minutes!  He is showing great restraint, I might add, walking back and forth past the candy on my office coffee table.  I’m impressed.  But I did ask him, because Blobbers need to know, which candy he WOULD eat if he were so inclined…and it’s the plain chocolate Hershey’s miniature that would have his fingerprints all over it.

KJ Can Hit the Curveball  Top of the show tonight, I asked Flash a couple questions, then tossed it out to Kim Jones at the stadium for her nightly report…First question was SUPPOSED to be about A-Rod, but I went with weather instead.  Unflustered, KJ does the latest weather report.  Meanwhile, I kick myself with a steel-toed boot.  Luckily, I finished just before Kim tossed back to me.  And how about Flash flashing his anchorman abilities?!  He transitions from talking about Phil Hughes to throwing it right back to KJ for her thoughts… there’s a Ron Burgundy in there just waiting to come out.

Hey, I’m a Weatherman!  Hope you got to see the weather update at 8:00pm.  I got to stand in front of the huge video wall on set and reference the latest weather radar, blown up on the screen behind me.  I haven’t done the weather since I went on the interview for my first TV job out of college…it was in Eureka, CA…the news director was Bruce Lang…and after I’d done a couple sports reads on camera as an audition, he told me to go stand in front of the weather board and vamp a fake weather forecast for about a minute and a half.  Just spur of the moment, think on your feet, ad-lib and don’t say something stupid…I just goofed around, made a reference to it being so cold that Nanook wouldn’t want to be in Eureka at that time, as I recall…and I guess it all worked out…I got the job…never to do weather again!  Ah, good times…good times.

Brief Halo Holiday

Great win last night…it’s an incredibly different feeling right now, isn’t it, when the Yankees get guys on base?  You get the feeling something’s going to happen, break loose, unlike just a week or so ago when they were struggling with RISP…And Jorge’s right…they are putting together some good, long AB’s…making the opposing pitcher work…Tex is part of that…now, let’s (and I think he’d agree) he starts adding some hit totals to the walk totals…if that happens, that O is gonna be even scarier for opponents.

The Blob is taking the weekend off…gotta get mentally prepared for Flash in studio for the Red Sox series starting Monday…haha…at that time, I’ll break out the new digi camera and try to catch the former catcher off-guard…if I can get a picture of him eating and post it to The Blob, I might actually beat Kim Jones to the punch on something when it comes to blogging!

Enjoy the games Saturday and Sunday…….only on YES!  (You should be hearing that promo in your sleep by now, along with the theme music to the Yankees Pre & Post Games!)

Channeling the Scooter

9:05pm  I just got back up to the set, in case there’s a rain delay (no, that’s NOT any sort of jinx!)  and when I told the studio guys that the gum story about Paul was in the Blob, I was reminded that it was Chris Luppe (Looper) who gets credit for a Mo-like save…unable to get to my office for a new piece of gum, Looper was kind enough to dip into his own gum stock and give me a new piece.  Meanwhile, Paulie wandered off to another part of the studio while I continued to berate him about what a bad teammate he is and what a great teammate Looper is…Ah, good times!

By the way, Flash’s comment during the game about me being very familiar with sports bars was very funny, even though Michael painted it as taking a shot at me…Let’s just say Flash has spent enough time around me to know that, if I was in a sports bar, I would not order plain chicken fingers and a tall soda!
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A great Friday night to ya…Because of the potential of a rain delay and a longer night for the crew here in the studio, Italian food was catered in…(thanks to whoever pays the bill at corporate!)…I threw down some Caesar salad, penne, a few chunks o’ sausage and peppers, and a little bit o’ grilled chicken.  But I saved the best for last…a sweet, delicious, lightly dusted cannoli!  When I go back upstairs for the 4th inning cut-in, I’m gonna check to see if there are any left…and if there are, God help anybody whose fingers are anywhere near those things!  Because I will consume those along with anything else that’s in or near the box.

On a related note, I just heard Paul O’Neill say there’s a fight for carrot cake in the media dining area at the Stadium…no match for the cannoli here and the bodily harm I might do if there’s one left and someone else making a run for it!

Now for the Gum Story  Two nights ago, I went up to the set early to pre-tape a segment of the Pregame show…now, this might sound a little weird, but usually I chew some gum prior to doing something like that…freshen the breath, loosen up the ‘ol jaw, I guess…and because I believe in conserving and economizing…I might just pop the gum onto its wrapper (I chew Stride), tape the segment of 4 or 5 minutes, then retrieve the same piece of gum from the wrapper and “re-purpose” it.  It’s still fresh, isn’t it?

Anyway, that night I put the gum way off to the side of the top of the anchor desk so it wouldn’t be seen on the wide shot.  But it could still be seen.  So Paul Ferrigno, the man on Camera 3, hopped over and tossed the gum into the trash.  (INSERT SOUND OF CAR WITH BRAKES SCREECHING AND THEN CRASHING INTO A POLE HERE!)  I looked at Paul and said in mock anger, “Dude!  Why did you throw out that gum?!  You didn’t even ask me!  You just threw it out!”  There was momentary concern and confusion on Paulie’s face…either that, OR he was tuning me out and thinking hard about what to have for dinner that night…but there was a pause and a look of concern.  However, he quickly realized that I was kidding (I, like Will Ferrell, a fellow Trojan, believe that mock anger makes for good comedy).  Anyway, I think the rest of the studio crew got a few good laughs out of me dogging Paulie.  Still, I’m gonna make him buy me, like, a $100 worth of gum.  He just doesn’t know it yet, unless he reads this!

Let’s Go To The Tape  A somewhat kinder, gentler moment came the same night when I walked out to the set and noticed a fresh piece of tape on the set next to the microphones I wear on my lapel.  (I wear one wireless plus another hardwired one as a backup).  The small square of tape, usually about 2 or 3 inches square, is to secretly secure the two mike wires inside my suit jacket so they don’t pop out on camera…that would be unsightly, ungentlemanly and very un-GQ…I asked aloud, in a delighted tone, “Hey, who gave me the new tape?”  It could have been Paul, or Cam 2 operator Chris Luppe, or even lights out light man George Greczylo…or perhaps even prompter operator Terry Drugan, Esq., if he’s feelin’ frisky…But the answer was none of the above…it was audio man Jim Rankowitz.  Good job, Jimmy!  And I was so delighted that, do you know what he did the next night I came in?  There was a fresh piece of tape (like yellow duct tape) on which Jim had written “Fresh Tape”.  That’s a pro…good stuff.  I see a tin and gonic, his favorite…courtesy of the Blob, in his future. 

A Late Start to Blobbin

Wow, this game is flying and I’m just getting a chance to Blob!  I’ve been distracted by a lot of things tonight, including being partially consumed with the very strange sound coming from a floor below my office…it sounds like…well, like…a big guy with a bad case of gas.  It’s actually, I think, a jigsaw cutting something…but it’s a bit disconcerting every time someone walks in and the sound starts…I get a very sheepish look on my face and I have to say, “It’s ain’t me.”

Chatty Kimmy  I saw the live chat with Kim Jones went well!  A lot of questions, some very interesting and witty answers.  I really thought when she was asked who her favorite YES announcer is to work with, it was me WAY ahead of anybody else, but she did the whole diplomatic, “I love them all” thing.  It’s me, trust me.  I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of me writing that…and I’ll instantly slide down the list!

Call Me Jinxie  Another reason I’ve been away from my Blobbin’ computer is because I’ve been up on the set most of the night, monitoring the Matt Garza perfecto attempt vs. the Red Sox, so I can do updates.  First time I do a check from the Trop, I announce Garza has a no-no through 4 and Michael says, “Way to jinx him, Bob”.  I do another update after 6, the perfect game still intact…then top 7, Jacoby Ellsbury leads off with a weak grounder past Garza for an infield hit.  Perfect game, gone…no-hitter, gone…Michael gets on me for jinxing it…Flash piles on…Good stuff.  Bring it on, I can take it.

Picture This  Also tonight, I was testing the new digital camera I bought so I can take pics around here, as promised, and post them on the Blob.  I’ve been doing tests in the studio, seeing if I need the lights up or down (we don’t always keep the studio lights on), which parts of the studio can be seen easily…and then, at some point, I’m going to go ambush the guys and ladies in the control room, paparazzi-style, and fire off some shots!  I hope to post them soon.  Have a great night!

Grab a Tiger by the Tail

9:35pm  As promised, here is the answer to the new Blob office bowl o’ chocolates pop quiz:  The most popular chocolate among the mini Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and Crunch is….
BABY RUTH!  Running a less than close 2nd place…Crunch.  karinct is absolutely right about the chocolately goodness (or lack thereof) of the Nestles chocolate, especially vs. the Hershey’s chocolate.  And running a very distant 3rd…Butterfinger.  They overwhelmed the half-emptied bowl…and because I didn’t want them to be all by themselves and lonely…I ate about 8 of them…you’ll see them on the WB Mason Postgame tonight…a couple will be in my 3rd chin, and when my top button pops off my jacket, you’ll know where the others went!
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As I sit here preparing to watch the Yankees-Tigers wrap their series in Detroit, with the Yankees potentially leaving town taking two of three, my thoughts are re-directed to grabbing a tiger of my own by the tail …

It never ceases to amaze my how two people can read exactly the same thing and come to completely different conclusions about what was written. I refer to last night’s Blob, Listen To The Man With Lots of Gas. I urge you to read it and then see with which commenter you agree (and, by the way, I appreciate ALL comments … freedom of opinion!)

d.schilero said, “I think you’re missing something here – when you WIN you have fun –
when you lose it is not fun – very simple. Yankee fans want to win!
What I feel is missing is not taking each at bat seriously – that means
going up and THINKING about how they can hit to make something happen.
I realize you are not going to get a homerun every time you bat but so
many times all they needed was a fly ball – make contact. That is what
the old, winning Yankees always did – they knew how to make things
happen. Also what a lot of people are also missing is that the league
has changed and there are other teams that are better than before – it
is not just the Yankees and Red Sox and there is also no guarantee that
there are going to be two teams from the East in the playoffs. So
please don’t minimize things by saying they just have to have fun!”

fran0322 said, “Bob, I agree with you about this team needing to relax and have
fun. But the newspapers and talk radio personalities make every loss
seem like a major crisis and a lot of the fans just buy into it. It is
a long season and people have to realize that teams lose games.
Everyone just needs to calm down.”

Now, here’s the deal. I think if you read that Blob, and the comments, you know I agree with fran0322. d.schilero brings up some great points in the mid-section about having to have better at-bats, making contact, making things happen. I agree. But I in NO WAY minimized their problems by suggesting they have fun, as if that would cure all their ills. It won’t.

Let me see if I can draw a comparison. If you had a job where everybody around you beat you down and yelled at you EVERY DAY and told you how bad you were at your job versus a job where you DIDN’T have to hear that every single day, where those around you didn’t panic and scream, but gave you some latitude to do your job and work things out … which job would YOU prefer? And at which job do you think you’d be more productive and have better results? I think the answer is pretty obvious, no? 

When it’s made a simple as “winning is fun and losing is no fun”… well, of course that’s the case. Who likes to lose? But, no team is going to go 162-0. It’s just reality. So, after some losses where your team is brutal, you kick ’em in the can … when they lose a hard-fought game, you don’t. You don’t hand-wring and yell and point fingers if they give an honest effort.  There are some of those games, too. But, I get the impression that, no matter what kind of loss it is, there are some fans smashing furniture and kickin’ housecats in their misery (figuratively speaking, not literally … I hope).

I really hope this Blob clarifies what I mean. If not, fire away … again, freedom of opinion!

Now, some housekeeping
For those wondering if writer/researcher/web sensation Glenn Giangrande watched “Groundhog Day” in the allotted week’s time I gave him, the answer is a resounding yes. Glenn watched it and said he enjoyed it, although I don’t think it made his top 10 list. Meanwhile, from one of my first Blobs, the studio crew at that time DID watch “Jeepers Creepers,” but as yet has not screened “Jeepers Creepers 2”, although spurred on by this Blob, perhaps they will.

And I added some new chocolates into the rotation on my office coffee table. This past week I filled the bowl previously occupied with Hershey’s Miniatures (Krackel is the favorite) with the delectable trio of mini Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and Nestle Crunch bars. So, once again, pop quiz … which of those three was the favorite? The answer later tonight in Wednesday’s Blob, Part Deux …

Listen To The Man With Lots Of Gas

That headline should have gotten your attention…now I’m going to explain so you can “get wind” of what it means.  The guy who delivers the propane gas to our house came by today…he’s a big Yankees fan and we started talking about the 4-game losing streak, what’s going wrong, etc.  And he says, “I don’t like losing 4 in a row, but I don’t understand why everybody’s getting on ’em.  There’s too much pressure on this team to win every single night.  It’s like nobody’s having fun.”  No truer words have been spoken, nor truer gas delivered.  I mean, doesn’t it seem like some Yankees fans live and die 162 times a year, almost to a horrible, gut-wrenching extent?  That’s a rough way to live.  Now, listen, I’m like you…I want to see the Yankees win…so does the Gas Guy…but everybody has to breathe a little bit…air, not gas.  He noticed something I did from last night’s game…Top 9, right after Robbie Cano scored to make it 4-1…still 2 on, 0 out…Cano walks the length of the dugout talking and smiling, but when he notices the camera on him, the smile’s gone…almost as if his demeanor changed to say, “Sorry we’re still down by 3 and I’m enjoying the moment.”  Don’t they need more positive vibes like that?  Yeah, I know they get paid a lot of money to win, blah, blah, blah…but at the end of the day, they should still enjoy the game, enjoy a rally, enjoy a moment…and so should we…you, me, Gas Guy.

On a semi-related note, I’m eating black bean soup for dinner tonight….

Gotta Get Me Some of Those!  I got home last night and was flipping around the tube when I came across an amazing commercial…for HD Vision Readers…they’re glasses that, I guess, magnify stuff a little bit but in amazing HD vision…all I know is, some really depressed looking people were trying them on, and the second they did….WOW!  Huge smiles come across their faces and, apparently, all the misery in their lives is gone!  BAM!  Instant happy.  Life should be that simple.

PS On The Black Bean Soup  I noticed that while I was heating up my soup, I was standing in front of the microwave looking at it like it was TV…what the ???…does anybody else do that?  I would turn around to watch the game in the YES kitchen, knowing there was still about a minute left, but I’d still turn back around to the microwave between pitches…Guess what, Bob?  Still 50 seconds to go!  40!  30!  20!  10!  5!  Soup’s on!   

New City, New Series…Its Grrrrrrreat!

9:15pm Body Double Alert  I do this from time to time…while I was waiting to do the 7th inning cut-in, they showed Curtis Granderson talking to first base coach Andy Van Slyke…or was that Glenn Frey of the Eagles?!  I never really noticed the resemblance when AVS was playing, but now that he’s a few years older and grizzlier…

Man, string some hits together…Top 8, 2 on, 0 out…when the Yankees get CONSISTENT production, they go boom, boom, boom…(little Black Eyed Peas reference there)…and they score…but Damon liner, Tex deep but not deep enough and Godzilla K’s…it’s like when you drive on the interstate and every time you change lanes to speed up, a car moves into your lane in front of you and slows you down…very frustrating…but I think it’s also a sign that this team is on the verge of breaking out….One or two big hits…boom, boom, boom!
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When the Night Began  A little Tony the Tiger reference for ya there…enjoy.  When I was a kid, I actually auditioned for a Frosted Flakes commercial and had to say that very line…”It’s Grrrrrrreeeeeaaaat!”  Didn’t get the job and, to my recollection, never went on another audition.  Bet my parents were glad they spent all that $$$ on headshots.

It is a new city, new series…a chance for the Yankees to purge themselves of the demons from this past weekend in Boston.  Saw a quote from hitting coach Kevin Long that basically said, We had a chance to win 2 of 3 in the series, and we didn’t.  It’s true.  They put themselves in position to win but didn’t close the deal.  They can score a ton of runs, but can struggle with RISP.  They have some really good arms, but sometimes get lit up.  But through it all, they are 9-9 and treading water early as opposed to sinking.  That’s not an excuse for not having a better record, but it sure beats 6-12.

Yes, I Am On The Cutting Edge of Fashion  First thing when I get home tonight, I’m throwing my digital camera into my bag…full disclosure…if you saw the 3rd segment of the pregame tonight, I was standing in front of the desk and and huge projection screen on our set…suit, shirt, tie, shiny black shoes.  But WHAT YOU DIDN’T SEE was the ankle-high white athletic socks I was wearing WITH the suit!  Very GQ…if GQ stands for GrotesQue.  I made quite a fashion statement…that statement was basically, “Hi, I’m a dork with a nice suit and white footie socks on.  Try not to be impressed.”  Here’s the deal…I keep all my suits, shirts, ties, etc. at work…so, for example, when I came in to work tonight, I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and old school Puma Basket sneaks with ankle-high white socks.  Not a dress sock to be found in my office anywhere!  I was hoping a couple of the socks I always seem to lose in the wash somehow magically appeared here at work…like, clinging stowaway-fashion to the back of my freshly laundered t-shirt.  No such luck.  That’s why, next time it happens, I’ll have the camera for the video evidence and I will post it on The Blob.

Thar She Blows  Always a delight to talk to Kim Jones just prior to our in-show chat during the first segment of the show, especially when the wind is blowing fiercely at whichever ballpark she’s at…which in tonight’s case, is Comerica Park in Detroit…we’re chatting, the wind’s whipping, she’s trying to keep it under control, at which point I always sing a few lines from Here I Go Again by Whitesnake.  That’s right, the same song (if you ever saw the video) where Tawny Kitaen is rolling around a car with the wind fiercely blowing her hair all over.  It takes me back to that magical time of yesteryear when MTV actually showed music videos.  Guess I’ll get back to the video now…not Tawny, the game…Blob ya later…

Revvin Up The Rivalry

1:20am  Wow, that ended up being a really weird kind of night, didn’t it?  Ken and I were only half-joking during commercial break of the postgame when we said it felt like we were doing breaking news on CNN…Bruney’s elbow barking, Ransom’s quad landing him on the DL, requiring one undecided roster move, while Wang being DL’d required another (David Robertson coming up Saturday, at least for a day or two).  All that depth when the Yankees broke camp seems to have evaporated into thin air, doesn’t it?

As for Mo, the point I tried to make with the guys in the booth on the postgame, which came out like “pajoesj flfjvhoiu fjefjdoif jdsli;fj foofoo” when I said it (I’m quite the wordsmith), is that on one hand, Mo’s blown save is understandable…he can’t always be perfect.  On the other hand, it’s hard to just shrug your shoulders at it given the intensity of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry…Mo is really a victim sometimes of his own greatness…there are worse things in life, though, than to be considered lock-down, fail-safe great, right?  Let’s just all raise a glass to Mo and look forward to Burnett vs. Beckett Saturday.  As Singy said, there are still 17 meetings between the 2 teams this season. 

PS  Enjoy the sunshine and the weekend!
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9:00pm  An Italian food update for you on 2 fronts…first of all, with Ken in studio, we ordered out…a little Spazzio’s…Kenny went with the Insalata Caprese to start (and he pronounced it in perfect Italian), and a chunk o’ lasagna the size of yer head for his entree.  I went Broccoli Rabe with Sausage for an app, Penne Alla Vodka after that.  Now, here’s the other thing… Kenny makes pretty good spaghetti.  Know how I know this?  While sitting in my office, post-meal, watching the game, Ken asked me if I had read his wife’s blog…huh?!  Where’s her blog, I ask.  At yesnetwork.com…check out the blog section.  So I point and click, and lo and behold, there it is…”Mrs. Singy”…turns out Ken’s wife Suzanne is quite the accomplished writer!  And she’s already written a few blog entries…the first mused about the renewal of spring baseball and Ken heading off to Tampa.  That’s where I learned about his ability to make spaghetti, along with a variety of other domestic talents.  So I asked Kenny, the former switch-hitter extraordinaire, if he could flip flapjacks with both his left and right hands…Nope, just left-handed.  But I’ll bet they’re delicious!
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Strap yourselves in!  For the next three days, it’s Yankees-Red Sox…first showdown of the season. And for this night…the Friday night opener…hang on extra tight to something, because Ken Singleton is in the hizzouse! (That’s about as “hip” as I can get without actually breaking my hip).

I always love it when Kenny’s in the studio. Last year, he made his first trip here and I was blown away how easily he picked up the highlights and video on the monitors and talked about what we were seeing…not that I didn’t expect greatness from him, but here’s the hook…After Ken’s playing days were over, he was a sports anchor for one of the local Baltimore TV stations! So, OF COURSE he knew how to segue right from being on camera to picking up the video highlights!  I think I can learn a thing or three from him…but hitting from the right side of the plate will not be one of them!  I’m a lefty all the way (here’s where I would normally brag about my lifetime .340 batting average, if it weren’t really, like, .218).  I do, however, golf right-handed. That’s because when I was a pup, my Pappy said, “Learn right-handed like your brother. I’m not paying for left-handed clubs, there, Zippy.” OK, he called me Bobby, not Zippy…but the rest of it’s true.

My Eyes Are Burning!  No joke…as I was typing that last line, I looked up at the monitor in my office and saw Chris Shearn doing a Time Out spot during the Mike Francesa Show wearing a bright yellow shirt, powder blue tie and navy blazer. I have GOT to get him on the Garanimals wardrobe system for sportscasters!  Whew!  (No offense, Chris, but that combo was way outside even YOUR wheelhouse, Bro.)

The Blob Loves PeteAbe Some people rely on American Idol to achieve fame…others Rock of Love…and still others, Flava of Love…for bloggers, it’s getting a mention on Pete Abraham’s World Famous LoHud Blog. First of all, Pete has something like 380,000,000 followers.  His work is terrific AND entertaining. And if he ENDORSES your blog?!  Forget it…it’s like a blessing from the Pope…or Oprah…or Poperah. Kim Jones got the blessing and now, there’s no Keeping Up With the Jones!!!! Her blog’s on fire. Here’s hoping my respectful and overly gratuitous mention of Pete Abe launches The Blob into the stratosphere!

More Blobbin’ to come as the night rolls on….

Its Raining on the Blob

I need some form of new wave light therapy…a mood enhancer…to get me outta this gray-skied, rain-induced funk I’m in…how many others get this way?

Yesterday, I’m all fired up to drive in to work and talk a little Yankees-A’s…next thing I know, I get the call from producer Billy Boles…”Bob, early decision on rainout.  You don’t need to come in.”  So that means…no baseball for me Monday, OR Tuesday (My9 game), OR Wednesday (my one game off this month), OR Thursday (off day for Yanks).  I’m gonna go out of my mind! Is there a list of stuff for me to do around the house? Sure!  But do I really want to get to it?! Of course not!  I love doing the pre and postgames, and when there’s a four-day drought (no weather pun intended), it’s brutal.

But here’s the good news!  Ladies and Gentlemen, in his first appearance of the year, Friday night and Friday night only!…In studio, one of Baltimore’s favorite sons…KEN SINGLETON!!! That’s right, in the most limited of engagements, Kenny will be in studio with me for Friday night’s series opener at Fenway vs. the Red Sox. Can’t wait. Hoping for plenty of Blobbable moments…because let’s be honest…when it’s just me in studio, there’s not as much Blob-worthy material…”Hey, I realized in the C-Block I had lint on my left shoulder and you could see it on camera…in HD!”  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  Unless you want to know the eating habits of Chris, Paul, George, Terry and Quags in the studio?  Because I’d be more than happy to share that with you. Goodness knows Kim Jones and the game crew have quite a foodie following every night!  BTW, I’m thinking of bringing a digital camera to work and taking pics of the studio, guys in the studio, Kenny sitting next to me, etc. Things I see from my vantage point. I could even extend that to the control room, break room, bathrooms…no wait, I don’t need any lawsuits…I’ll stay out of the loos…But if the other pics are of interest to you, let me know and I’ll do it.

This WASN’T on my list  Like KJ, I got sucked into the vortex of Dancing With the Stars last night, since we were rained out…I am not a follower or fan of the show, although I do appreciate the, shall we say, athleticism of the female dancers???…But I knew the wife watches the show, so I figured I’d take one for the team and watch with her. And I lived to Blob about it. By the way, I have never read this anywhere, I’m only making this observation from watching, but does Tom Bergeron despise Samantha Harris? Watch how, when it’s her turn to talk, he kinda drops his mike off to the side with a slight smirk on his face and never really looks directly at her. He sort of looks off to the side of her. I notice this because, when I worked in local TV years ago, we had a male anchor who thought he was far superior to his female co-anchor and they didn’t get along, so when they were on a two-shot together ****-chatting, he’d always look off at the monitor to his right, where she sat, and not directly at her as she was speaking. He’d barely tolerate what she had to say, until it was his turn to speak again. Just sayin’…same thing on DWTS?

A Couple Answers to Your Questions  From a previous Blob comment…both theduchess and makemeshiver would like me to detail David Cone’s game schedule on The Blob. They want to meet him. Oh, but why? David’s awfully shy, doesn’t get out much and prefers to sit quietly in a small room and read a good book….while drinking chocolate milk or a Fresca…but only when he’s visiting Neptune.  And makemeshiver added this…”Please tell A.J. Burnett his pitching is very sexy”. Absolutely!  Next time I see him, it’s the first thing I’ll say to him…”Hey, AJ, what’s up, Dude?  Your pitching is very sexy!  Uh, wait, no…that’s not me saying that!  Come back here.  That’s makemeshiver.  No, I’m not saying YOU makemeshiver…it part of the Blob.  No, I didn’t say you’re a blob, A.J.  You have a great body.  I mean, wait…it’s clear that you work out.  How much do you bench, Dude?”  You know what?  I think I’ll just tell him to read the Blob.  Have a great day!

Friday Follies

3:50 p.m.  How’s this for YES karma? I submitted my latest Blob this afternoon just after 3:00 p.m. with a mention of KJ and I co-hosting a Food Network show, and just minutes later she updates her blog with the news that Food Network reps were making everyone in the booth food. Quick, KJ, before they leave … pitch our show!!!

Now, time to answer quickly to a few comments made on this and previous Blobs … Thanks to theduchess for realizing in today’s Blob that I am no sexist. I think the world of KJ AND theduchess! In a previous Blob re: Hershey’s Miniatures in my office, I did answer which was the most popular, but someone asked about it, so I’ll rinse and repeat … the most favorite lil bar in the bowl is Krackel! And for those intrigued/perplexed by writer/researcher/web sensation Glenn Giangrande having never seen “Groundhog Day,” he assured me yesterday that he will see it within a week’s time. I told him the clock was ticking and, actually, he only had five days left. Ya got tomorrow off, Glenn! A whole day off to fit an hour and a half of Bill Murray magic into your life … with a side dish of Andie MacDowell, the very underrated Chris Elliott, and a dash of Needlenose Ned, Ned the Head, C’mon Ya Know Me Buddy!!! (For those of you who DID see the movie, which is everybody BUT Glenn, you get that last reference!
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Well, well, well … instead of just Blobbin’ right out of the gate today, I can’t believe that I have to clarify a remark made by me to the AL blog Leader, Kim Jones. But, because her fingers are the Fast and the Furious … In today’s edition of Keeping Up With the Jones, she revealed that in our pre-show phone meeting with producer Bill Boland (Billy Boles), I said, “You write pretty well — for a chick.” True. I said it. But KJ! You couldn’t add a comma and say something like, “I love it when he makes comments like that because I know that he respects my work and that’s just a fun way to take a shot at me,”? Maybe I need to start editing KJ’s blog. I just want to clarify that it wasn’t a sexist comment because ya know there might be folks out there who think that when they read it. I say it because her work is so good, both TV and writing, that she’s obliterated the line between men covering sports and women covering sports. She’s just plain great at it. Now, look at the body of the first part of this Blob … an 11-line paragraph having to explain a seven-word remark. Thanks for the angst and all the extra work, KJ … ain’t that just like a chick?!  Haha.

Feedin’ the animals
The previously mentioned Billy Boles with a great call today for lunch … a trip to the deli Rinaldi’s. He included me in the order and reminded me that this is the place where I always get the hot pastrami wedge with swiss and spicy mustard. So I ordered the same thing as always…and as always, I ate it like somebody was trying to take it away from me. I’m surprised I didn’t eat the paper and foil it came wrapped in. By the way, people have noticed how much Jones and I blog about food and what everybody on the staff consumes on a daily basis … I think we should be linked to a bunch of food blogs and Web sites … maybe we should co-host a show on the Food Network. “Bites and Burps, coming up next!”  P.S. Billy Boles had the #12 — chicken cutlet with peppers. He looks very happy.