Itchin' for some pitchin' ...

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Posted Monday, April 26: It was easy enough to understand Yankee manager Joe Girardi when he said it might be better for Javier Vazquez to make a couple of starts on the road to avoid the boo-birds at The Stadium ... after yesterday's game, I don't care if his next start is home or away -- as long as it's in the minors ... and, as long as I'm at it, it is time for Marte to departe, also. ...

Posted Sunday, April 25: I can't believe that I am actually sitting here hoping for enough rain to wipe out all the sporting events I get to post on the site just so I can spend the next two days catching up on stuff, now that all my comupter / web site / software ills have been corrected. ...

Posted Saturday, April 24: The trickle of water on the basement floor these past few weeks didn't stop when the rains stopped ... turns out our washing machine -- after 15 years of noble service -- was on its last legs of spinning and rinsing ... went downtown to withdraw some funds for a new machine and the car wouldn't start ... one battery, alternator and tow later, I had my wheels back ... went out to dinner that night to celebrate the end of my "Computer Hell" week and told the bride choose her dinner fare wisely (cheaply) because I didn't want to make it a $1,000 day. ...

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Posted Friday, April 23: Had a nice conversation with a Web site tech just now and he assured me a lot of the problems I had been encountering had been corrected ... "Prove it to me," I said -- nicely ... so he does his software thing and is able to get onto my site with me and watch me work ... He said I try to go to fast and should learn to slow down to let the computer catch up with my moving around from page to page and place to place on pages ... He also spotted something I was doing incorrectly and gave me an alternative way to get the same thing done ... "That function doesn't work that way now," he said ... still a day behind everything, but a productive day nonetheless. ...

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Posted Thursday, April 22: Took me almost an hour to get this item and two other things posted ... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Posted Wednesday, April 21: I actually got about three hours of work done today to keep me from falling two day's behind in my work ... didn't last long, however, as whatever it was that wasn't working earlier in the week started to not work again and I was dead in the water ... I did get an e-mail from the Web site people that said they valued my business and were working hard to fix the problems ... at the end of the e-mail, it said it would do me no good to respond to this e-mail since it was not monitored ... why was I not surprised?

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Posted Tuesday, April 20: Another balking computer/Web site/software day ... the 24-hour time limit I was told about two days ago has passed so I call the tech service hot line again .... I get the same "... we know about and are working on it and expect to have it fixed in 24 hours" line again as well as another apology ... I'm a behind a full day's work now and I ain't happy. ...

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Posted Monday, April 19: Computer problems getting worse it is taking me three/four times the usual amount of time to post stories -- that is IF I can get them on the site ... I don't get everything done that I usually get done for the day. ...

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Posted Sunday, April 18: Oops ... computer problems here ... having all kinds of problems with the Web site as it's hit or miss in trying to post new stories ... call to the Web site tech people alerts me to the fact there "... is a problem here at our end and our engineers are working on it." ... I ask how long it will take to fix and am told they don't know ... they take my name, assign me a case number and tell me I'll get an e-mail when everything is fixed -- more than likely within the next 24 hours ... and the service tech apologizes to me ... ah, that made me feel better. ...

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Posted Saturday, April 17: Dunno about you, but mid-April nights are still a bit on the cool side for Little League games ... but the bride and I still go to watch the grandkids play ... bottom line, it's good to see that all the players are having fun -- which is the way it should be. ...

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Posted Friday, April 16: Last night, of course, was the deadline for filing our federal income tax forms ... here i was working on my store-bought, computer software "returns made easy" package when I noticed last year, I had hit the "send" button at 11:58 p.m. - two minutes early ... hit the "send" button at 10:15 last night and, while in the midst of patting myself on the back for filing "early" this year, a pop-up appeared on my screen saying the softward did not have the needed forms to complete the transaction and they would e-mail me when the forms were ready ... so i quickly file out an extension form online, print it out, stick it in an envelope and head out into the night ... my post office was closed, but there was a list of post offices open till midnight in the area so it was off to Parsippany, the closest one ... I had my extension letter hand-stamped and, when I asked the guy for the time, he said it was 11:54 ... still way earlier than last year! ...

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Posted Thursday, April 15: This particular Little League game started at 6 p.m. and it was now into the top of the sixth and final inning and it was cold ... the starting pitcher on one team is taken out (pitch count, I think) and placed at shortstop ... the kid is standing out there in his T-shirt uniform top with bare arms ... it's still cold and I'm sure he worked up a sweat ... nothing was done to cover his bare arms ... please, please, please take care of these young arms. ...

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Posted Wednesday, April 14: I have a friend who seems to take as Gospel anything he reads on the internet that is written by the new wave of "Web Journalists" ... he sends me the piece with a "... why doesn't the media cover this?" question attached to it ... I usually answer back with a "... because there is not truth to it!" answer and let it go at that ... one day, however, he sent me something that actually sounded legitimate (with the same question, of course) ... I Googled it and found out that the story originated in The Times four years ago and there had been a book written about it and a movie made based on the book ... I told my buddy this and suggested he step up his research habits a tad ... funny, he never answered me on that. ...

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Posted Tuesday, April 13: Interesting baseball segment on ESPN with announcers Joe Morgan and Orel Hersheiser the other night commenting on the extraordinary length of a lot of game so far this season ... Hersheiser attributed it to batters taking more pitches these days in an effort to make the pitcher work more ... Morgan said there were several ways he could shorten games and, when asked for Nos. 1 and No. 2 by the commentator, Morgan fumbled around a bit before repeating what Hersheiser had just said ... the segment closed with Morgan again saying he had "several ideas" to speed up the game, knowing full well he was out of time and wouldn't have to deliver ... what was NOT mentioned, however, was the three-minute TV time after each half inning ... maybe 'cause they were TV people and didn't want to talk about the problem being perhaps TV related? ...

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Posted Monday, April 12: Even when Tiger is asked a legitimate golf question these days, it seems that he answers it as if he feels the questioner is referring to his sexcapades that have come to light these last months ... after his fourth-place tie at the Masters, Tiger was asked if his "un-Tiger-like play" on his first five holes could have been the result of his not having played in the past five months ... Tiger's response started with a terse "Too many people are reading too much into that ..." ... Too many people, Tiger? ... how many interviews did you have in the 15 minutes between finishing your final round and appearing on TV for your little post-Masters Q&A? ...

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Posted Sunday, April 11: The fishin' was so nice, went out and did it twice. ...

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Posted Saturday, April 10: Gone fishin' ...

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Posted Friday, April 9: About the only thing I saw different with Tiger's round of 4-under 68 in yesterday first round of the Masters was that his playing partners did not self destruct as they usually do ... K.J. Choi shot a 5-under 67 and Matt Kuchar posted a 2-under 70 ... check back after today's round's scores have been posted, though -- and then see what happens on Sunday. ...

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Posted Thursday, April 8: At a time when you wonder where your money is going or what it's being used for when (or if) it gets there, it was refreshing to see an item put out by the New Jersey Fish & Game Council that says that 100% of the money spent on fishing licenses goes to the improvement of the state's fresh-water fishery. ...  

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Posted Wednesday, April 7: A recent survey of 30,000 parents and 30,000 Little League players taken in California gave each group 10 reasons for getting involved with Little League baseball and asked them to rate the 10 reasons 1 through 10, with 1 being the main reason for participating ... The players voted "Having Fun" as No. 1 and "Winning" as No. 8 ... the parents voted "Winning" as No. 1 and "Having Fun" as No. 8. ...

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Posted Tuesday, April 6: You have to smile about the stories about new Yankee Curtis Granderson being shocked at how nice the Red Sox fans treated him around Boston and at the ballpark and how Big Papi was going around hugging and chatting up several of the Yankees in the outfield before their Sunday night opener ... with all the stuff going around outside of baseball, these little "feel-good" stories make a nice read  ... then again, I have yet to see my first Little League game of the season. ...

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Posted Monday, April 5: Even though he gave up a run on two hits in 1.1 innings last night, Joba is better off for the Yankees and himself in the bullpen waiting for the seventh or eighth inning ... Marte belongs in the bullpen, too - but not the Yankees' bullpen. ...

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Posted Tuesday, March 23: Love these writers and columnists and "internet journalists" who write/say/blog that everybody should "... just leave Tiger alone" and then spend the rest of his column/broadcast/blog writing about Tiger ... same with people who say the media shouldn't be covering the Tales of the Tiger these days ... don't worry, people, when you stop reading about Tiger, watching Tiger and talking about Tiger, then the media will stop covering Tiger. ...

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Posted Monday, March 22: Brackets? What brackets? I'm lucky I had the dates right after the first four days of March Badness. ...

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Posted Sunday, March 21: Now that our rookie Governor has scared the tar out of education with his cuts and our educators have scared the tar out of us with what they want to cut, perhaps the two sides can get together and come to some sort of an agreement that actually approches the middle  ... the Gov can't be expecting to get everything back all at once and our educators can't really be expecting to continue the way they have been and not take some hits much like the ones we have taken in the past three years in the private sector ... this is what's going to happen, right? ...

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Posted Saturday, March 20: ... Nothing much here today -- so I'm goin' fishin' ... probably won't be nothing much there, either ... but at least I will be able to catch some sun for an hour or two. ...

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Posted Friday, March 19: ... Still one of the best sports shows on TV is Greg Gumble's "Real Sports" on HBO ... the reporters seem to have a lot of time to put together each segment and there is rarely something gets aired that leaves the viewer with unanswered questions about the topic ... a worthy watch. ...

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Posted Thursday, March 18: ... Happy Bracketball! ... the NCAAs start today which means a lot of college hoops on the tube the next four days ... hope you feel as good about your picks in four days as you do now! ...

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Posted Wednesday, March 17: Less than an hour after the story came out that Tiger was going to play the Masters, a British oddsmakers made Woods the 4-1 favorite to win the championship ... 3-1 if he leaves his tweeter at home. ...

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Posted Tuesday, March 16: Teachers often say they not only teach their subject but help prepare their students for the "real world" ... well, they have to understand that the "real world" includes what you and I have been going through the past three years - job loss, wage freezes, pay cuts, unpaid furloughs, rising health care costs and/or copays ... never did like to see teachers getting ripped for their "9 to 3" jobs or their "two-month vacations" because neither is true ... then again, in my 43-plus years of sports journalism, I've often had my job described back to me as "... getting to see all the games for free." ...

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Posted Monday, March 15: Our granddaughter Erin turned 12 today and the occasion was celebrated with a wonderful family party at her house yesterday ... this afternoon, after she got home from school, she called to say hello and I asked her if she felt any different now that she was 12 and no longer 11 ...  "Twelve is good, Grandpa," she answered, "Besides, eleven is so yesterday." ...

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Posted Sunday, March 14: This is the worst part of the year for high school baseball players ... waiting for the sun to come out to dry the fields is not an easy wait ... in the meantime, work on your bunting. ...

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Posted Saturday, March 13: It's not officially March Madness, but it might as well be with all the conference post-season playoff games we're getting to enjoy on the tube ... the more I watch the more I have to marvel at the size, speed and athletic ability of the players ... still can't get used to those below-the-knee, long-short pants they wear, tho ... don't understand the comfort level of their choice of wardrobe these days, either. ...

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Posted Friday, March 12: I hope we don't get treated to the same Yankee soap opera of "Finding a Job for Joba" again ... bring him in as a setup man in the seventh or eighth inning and let him cut loose ... he's just not the same pitcher when he starts and figures he has to pace himself ... let him set up today and close whenever Rivera decides to retire. ...

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Posted Thursday, March 11: The snow that has yet to melt will be washed away by the rains we're supposed to get this weekend ... which means our favorite baseball fields will be under water and soon be turning into mud pits ... hat's off to the crews who will be working on turning those field into the nice warm, sun-baked, perfectly-lined fields with which we'll be greeted by Opening Day ... problem is, once the field gets set, those darn "Keep Off The Field" signs have to go up ... I can understand why this has to be done, but each time I see one of those signs, I can't help but remembering driving by one of those "Keep Off ..." fields and seeing  about eight kids slumped on a bench with their bats and gloves still strapped onto their bikes - and no place to play. ...

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Posted Wednesday, March 10: One more month till Opening Day of trout season ... ice has melted away at Mount Hope Pond on the upper end enough to actually throw a few lures ... I mean, not that anybody I know would have spent 45 minutes there this afternoon throwing phoebes and rooster tails out to the edge of the ice and then using a very slow retrieve to bring them in ... well, maybe it was an hour. ...

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Posted Tuesday, March 9: Little League Baseball is approaching and many towns are already into indoor tryout/workout sessions ... getting close to me taking out the "Little League Primer for Parents" and updating it and posting it someplace on the site where nobody will miss it ... yes, it's that good -- I think so, anyway. ...

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Posted Monday, March 8: That huge sigh of relief (and in some instances, shrieks of delight, I'm sure) you heard last night around 8 o'clock were from those who had been complaining all day about not being able to view "The Oscars" on ABC's Ch. 7 because of the snit-fit going on between the station and CableVision, my provider of choice for internet, phone and TV ... let someone else argue who is right and who is wrong here, just let me know how much it's going to cost so I can make a decision ... in the meantime, I'm protesting by not buying any of the gowns the ladies wore on the red carpet for the show. ...

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Posted Sunday, March 7: Watching the Yankees on TV makes me think that maybe they should put names on back of the pinstripes ... just so we know who No. 87, and No. 76 and No. 98 are without having to listen too hard. ...

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Posted Saturday, March 6: You have had to be rooting for Jan Rosenberg and Adam Ramadan from Morris Knolls, who are in Atlantic City today for the state wrestling tournament ... Ramadan lost his first bout yesterday and Rosenberg split his two bouts and is still alive in the consolation rounds of the tournament ... you don't have to be from Morris Knolls to be pulling for Rosenberg, either. ...

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Posted Friday, March 5: Make "Shutter Island" is your next must-see movie ... I would make a bad movie critic, tho, because I go to the movies for some relaxing entertainment and am not looking for mistakes or imperfections so i can write some smart-alec movie review ... still, "Shutter Island" should be your next must-see movie ... it just could be one of those movies you see twice and marvel about all the things you missed the first time. ...

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Posted Thursday, March 4: As good as it was to see baseball back on TV yesterday afternoon, it was even better to watch the ESPN highlights later on that evening ... the camera crews were in mid-season form capturing some pretty swift double plays being made ... crack of the bat, sunshine, green grass, shots of fans in the stands ... and then I had to go and ruin it all by going through my mail and opening up my oil bill. ...

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Posted Wednesday, March 3: Just read that the PGA Tour has a 456-page report on golfer John Daly that chronicles his misdeeds (at least the ones for which he was caught) in his 18 years on the tour ... the info was put into public record because of a libel suit Daly failed to win ... the PGA has placed Daly on probation six times; ordered him into alcohol sounceling or rehab seven times; cited him 11 times for conduct unbecoming a professional; and fined him close to $100,000  ... wipe that smile off your face, Tiger! ...

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Posted Tuesday, March 2: After a 13-year legal dispute, California Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman approved a case-settling deal that would have donated the suit that O.J. wore on the day he was aquitted of double-murder to the Smithsonian Institution for display in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History ... problem was, nobody asked the Smithsonian people if they wanted it ... and you know what? ... they don't. ...

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Posted Monday, March 1: Yes, I believe in miracles ... but if USA had won the gold medal by beating Canada yesterday, I wouldn't consider that a miracle at all, as had been suggested by some media types ... just two good groups of NHL players going at each other -- but no miracle  ... besides, USA beat Canada earlier and how many miracles are allowed in one Olympics? ... the real "Miracle on Ice" came about 30 years ago when USA won hockey gold ... but that was when the Olympics were for amateurs and the professionals had their own little tournaments in which to play. ...

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Posted Sunday, Feb. 28: Still one of the best moments in sports for me -- the handshake lineup after the final game of a Stanley Cup hockey series ... and that also includes the ritual that just happened today after the Canada 3, USA 2 gold medal OT game ... it was especially rewarding to see the Canada crowd give a very polite round of applause to USA goalie Ryan Miller and see him acknowledge it with a little wave of the hand ... after all, those people in the stands really do know their hockey, eh? ...

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Posted Saturday, Feb. 27: This idea is for the NJSIAA and is, as usual, free of charge ... now that it is unlawful to raise prices to more than regular-season prices for your post-season tournament competitions, this is what you must do ... if the average regular-season price is $3 for adults and $2 for students and seniors, raise the regular-season prices to $6 and $4 and then give 50% off to all adults, students and seniors ... once the tournament season rolls around, keep the prices the same but don't offer the discount ... then maybe John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), who feel that the NJSIAA is making a business out of high school sports and has campaigned vigorously about the higher ticket prices of state-run tournament events, can go back to doing something important. ...

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Posted Friday, Feb. 26: The thought of the power going out and not having lights, cooking, heat, TV, etc., is bad enough ... but no computer? ... OMG!!!!!!!!!! ...

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 25: To the Daily Record, my favorite local daily newspaper: NO, I DON’T WANT TO TRACK THIS SNOW STORM ON TWITTER! ... I’m told that if you write in all-caps like this, it means you’re shouting ... I’d text the paper instead, but I’m all thumbs when it comes to that method of messaging. ...
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Posted Wednesday, Feb. 24: Wednesday, March 3 ... 1 p.m. on the YES-TV network ... Yankees vs. Pirates, 1 p.m. ... exhibition baseball, yes, but it's also the first must-see TV I have pencilled in since, since ... oh, yeah! ... last year's World Series finale. ...

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Posted Tuesday, Feb. 23: My ill-fated and ill-advised Super Bowl selection of the Colts to win the big game was decided by the appearance of Saints QB Drew Brees on the cover of Sports Illustrated ... the "SI Cover Jinx" was just the thing I needed to make my choice ... in this week's SI, a reader writes in to explain that all it took was a little "New Orleans voodoo," to offset the SI Cover Jinx. ... powerful stuff, that voodoo. ...

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Posted Monday, Feb. 22: Every "board of education" story I've read since our new governor announced cutting back state aid to school districts that have more than the 2% state-regulated surplus funding on hand has dealt with cutting teachers, school aides, programs, services and - in one town - cutting back kindergarten from a full-day program to a half-day program ... I have yet to read anything about cutting back on salaries, pensions or benefits (something I'm sure you and I have already experienced) of existing teachers or cutting back on (dare I say it?) the number of administrators and/or assistant administrators or their salaries and benefits ... I have also yet to read where a town has decided to use its surplus to make up for the state aid it will not be getting. ...
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Posted Sunday, Feb. 21: I'm sure you have all been here before ... You're at your favorite restaurant enjoying a nice quiet meal ... the place has a nice conversational buzz to it as you eat and converse with your dinner partner or partners ... you hear the unmistakable sound of a cell phone ... and the next sound you hear is one of the other diners practically shouting into the phone as every word of his part of the conversation comes over loud and clear in the dining room ... you feel like screaming, "Hey, pal ("pal" may not be the first word that comes to your mind, though), why don't you go outside and yell -- save some minutes!" ...
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Posted Saturday, Feb. 20: Memo to Gov. Christie and Prez. Obama .. one of you gentlemen has to get this guy John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) on your staff, pronto ... this N.J. Assemblyman kept the NJSIAA from raising its ticket prices for high school post-season wrestling tournament tickets to $6 for adults and $3 for adults and seniors from whatever the host schools charged for the regular season, an average of $3 and $2, it was determined ... while I very much appreciate saving a buck off my old part's ticketing, I'd much rather see the good Mr. Burzichelli hard at work on a few other big-ticket items -- such as (ahem) taxes, maybe? ... or maybe health care? ... Social Security? ... maybe he can help bring down gas and oil prices -- a buck there would be nice ... think he could help you with the teachers, Mr. Christie? ... any of these tasks would also keep him tied up enough for him to stop pushing this idea of his to have the state get control of high school athletic programs. ...

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Posted Friday, Feb. 18: Tiger had his "press conference" this morning ... it was conducted his way with only the people he wanted in attendance (except maybe one - his wife Elin) ... oh, yeah -- no questions were allowed from the press he hand-picked to be at his show ... it was more like a monologe than a "press conference," however ... his words were carefully scripted and read ... he seemed sincere, apologizing for his indiscretions and repeating over and over that he was wrong in what he did and he is the only one to blame for everything ... he took a couple shots at the media, which was expected, and expressed a desire that the media stop following his family ... I always liked Tiger as a player and then later as a person once he got through a little rough patch very early in his career ... I hope he comes back to the tour soon because I love to watch him play ... but I just can't ignore the feeling I got watching him on TV that he was more sorry he got caught doing the things he did than he was for doing them. ...

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 18: I'm not one who moves around my day so I can be in front of the TV when the Olympics come on the tube but I was still surprised - and a big annoyed - to read this morning that American Idol drew more viewers than the Olympics last night ...

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Posted Wednesday, Feb. 17: Just when you think spring is never, ever, never going to get there, we read that pitchers and catchers are reporting - Yankees today and Mets tomorrow ... next we'll have to see if Johnson and Granderson can replace Hideki and Damon ... and how will the Yankees be without Melky on the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse? ...

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Posted Tuesday, Feb. 16: Toughest job in the world right now? ... Gov. Chris Christie comes to mind first ... a close second goes to President Obama and area athletic directors putting high school sports schedles back together after the recent flurry of snowouts ...

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Posted Monday, Feb. 15: Kudos to Morris Hills High School boy winter track coach Sean Robinson and his team for their highly visible show of support and congratulations for the Lady Knights section state championship team ... Robinson had his team gather near the girls as they were getting their award and give the girls a hearty round of applause ... you hear coaches talk about "it's all one program" and "team unity between the teams," but Robinson DOES something about showing it, too ... remember, this is the coach who went to New York City to watch a runner from a competing school run so he could be there for the kid's expected record-breaking performance ...  

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Posted Sunday, Feb. 14: Hate to have Tigers' bill for Valentine's Day flowers. ...

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Posted Saturday, Feb. 13: Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Glouceser, wants to the state Department of Education to oversee high school athletics - not the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), a private, nonprofit organization that now serves 425 high schools ... seems Burzichelli is outraged (his word) that the NJSIAA is charging $6 for adults and $3 for seniors and students for admittance to state sectional wrestling matches (up from a norm of $3 and $2 for the regular season) ... Burzichelli, you may recall, raised a stink about the NJSIAA's spending practices several years back and a lot of things were changed in the organization because of it ... Burzichelli claims the NJSIAA is making millions at the expense of taxpayers -- but the NJSIAA claims it showed a $9,624 profit for the 2008-2009 school year and lost money in five of the seven previous years ... while I appreciate Burzichelli watching out for my senior dollar, making the state Department of Education the watchdog for high school athletics is not a good move at this point ... the state has problems enough of its own. ...

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 11: Morris Hills athletics director Rob Haraka and Dover AD Sean Bullock are to be applauded for the work they put in to save the Morris Hills-Dover boys basketball games at all three levels this month ... the freshman, junior varsity and varsity games had been originally scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25 at Dover, but that date became a weather casulty when Morris Hills and Morristown had to move their snowed out Feb. 11 game to that date ... in making that announcement, Haraka said that the Morristown game took priority because it was a conference game, but every attempt would be made to reschedule the non-conference Morris Hills-Dover games .. later, Haraka announced a date had been found for Morris Hills-Dover and the three games would be played on Monday, Feb. 22, at Dover (freshman at 4 p.m., JVs at 5:30 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m.) ... the formation of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference put the neighborhood rivals in separate conferences this season, but the ADs wanted to continue the rivalry and made the original booking ... it was a good move then and it is a good move now that, amid all the work rescheduling games, sites, officials, transportation and the like that had to be done this week, Haraka and Bullock found time to work out a new date to keep this long-time rivalry alive and well ... great job! ...

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 11: Slipped on some packed snow during my snow removal project this morning and pulled my hammy ... most athletic thing I've done in 25 years. ...

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Posted Wednesday, Feb. 10: It's official, spring is right around the corner ... my Bass Pro and Cabela's spring fishing cateloges are in the house and the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue just now arrived in the mail (and no, cover-girl Brooklyn Decker is NOT related - sorry, guys) ... with pitchers and catchers looming and trout season a mere two months away as of today, it's time to go into snow removal mode and work on all this un-springlike white stuff ... still, the thoughts of spring are what counts. ...

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Posted Tuesday, Feb. 9: Got a notice this afternoon from the Morris Hills athletic department that the boys junior varsity tennis match against Delbarton that had been scheduled for Thursday, April 1, has been postponed  ... geez! ... we getting that much snow? ...
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Posted Monday, Feb. 8: Memo to Self: "Self, don't ever again attempt to dope out another football game. Make that never, never, ever again." ...

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Posted Sunday, Feb. 7: The Colts minus the 4 1/2 -- mainly because of Peyton Manning ... that's my Super Bowl pick for today and I�m stickin' to it ... I just don�t see Manning getting rattled on the field about anything -- and that might prove the difference in a close game ... however, methinks it won�t be close ... as for the over/under number of 56 1/2, that depends on Saint QB Drew Brees -- if he has even an average game for him, the Saints could score a lot of points ... but if he gets rattled, they won�t ... so the picks here are the Colts, the rattle, and the under- say, Colts 35, Saints 14 (which wins me the final score in a box pool to which I contributed).  ... enjoy the game. ...

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Posted Saturday, Feb. 6: "Hi, this is the Morris Knolls High School athletic department and we are all very happy to be here today!" was the spirited manner in which Knolls AD Ken Mullen answered the phone yesterday afternoon ... Mullen was in the middle of weather reports, calls from other ADs, coaches, parents, fans and media types wanted to know how the impending snow storm was affecting Knolls athletic scheduling ... some of the events involving Knolls athletes went on as scheduled and some were postponed ... busy, busy, busy day in the Knolls athletic department -- as it was at Morris Hills and other athletic offices throughout the county, to be sure ... but as far as Mullen & Co. being happy? ... maybe at the end of the day - maybe at the end of the day. ...

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Posted Friday, Feb. 5: With all the people saying that Peyton Manning can't be beat, how come the line on the Super Bowl has moved only one or two points (depending on which newspaper you read) since the original number came out? ... and don't expect that five-point spot to remain, either ... Vegas isn't going to go into the biggest betting day of the year and take the chance they'll be giving all that cash back in case there is a push. ...

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 4: There is a Web site that suggest the over/under on how many times New Orleans' Reggie Bush's game guest Kim Kardashian will appear on camera during Sunday's Super Bowl telecast is 2 1/2 ... you have to be kidding! ... that's way too low ... grab the over on this little gift ... Reggie says the same thing, "... especially if I score a touchdown." ... did you really say "if," Reggie? ... now there's some food for thought. ...

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Posted Wednesday, Feb. 3: Colts or Saints ... Over or Under ... chicken wings or pizza ... Snapple or Pepsi One ... so many Super choices to make ... I have to try to get back all those M&Ms I lost on the J-E-T-S two weeks ago ... not to worry, tho, I'll let you know in plenty of time so you can go the other way. ...

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Posted Tuesday, Feb. 2: There is no truth to the ugly rumor that when Jets coach Rex Ryan went outside and saw his shadow this morning he gave it the bird ... and, in a late development today, it was learned that Ryan's wallet will be casting a smaller shadow as the Jets fined their finger-flippin' coach fifty thou for his grand gesture. ...

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Posted Monday, Feb. 1: Nice of Coach Ryan to officially apologize for his one-fingered salute - the old international gesture of ill will - he got caught on somebody�s cell phone camera giving fans who were booing him at a mixed martial arts event in Florida ... he could have said he was: 1) merely pointing out how many second halves of playoff games against the Colts he had coached poorly; 2) raising his hand for seconds; 3) showing where his Jets should have been rated in the playoffs; 4) showing how many times his team missed the playoffs and made the playoffs, all in the same season, and; 5) offering the fans one half of a peace sign. ...

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Posted Sunday, Jan. 30: Cooper, our 7-year-old grandson, has lost his two front teeth ... he yanked out the first one and the school nurse did the honors on the second ... the gap-tooth grin he gave me when he visited the other day prompted a photo op but, when I got the camera and told him to give me that grin again, he quickly covered up his mouth with both hands and turned away ... Bob Jr. explained he was a bit self conscious ... Cooper finally relented and, later that night, my son called to Cooper was no longer camera shy ... I asked how that had happened and Bob Jr. said:  "I told Cooper he looked just like a hockey player."

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Posted Saturday, Jan. 30: One of the first headline-writing lessons you get in the newspaper business is to avoid multiple-line headlines where the first line doesn't make sense ... so I'm glancing through one of my favorite dailies the other day and "Fewell Fired" strikes my eye as the top line of a three-line headline ... Fewell is the newly hired defensive coordinator of the New York Giants and my first thought was -- Wow! That was quick! ... so I stop my page turning and take in the whole headline where I finally get the true story:

Fewell Fired
Up For New
Challenge

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Posted Friday, Jan. 29: Looking for a sign - any sign - before making my Super Bowl selection ... reviewed all the stories in Sports Illustrated and found many reasons to take either the Colts or the Saints ... Colts opened at 4 1/2 and are now 5 1/2 ... the over/under is 56 1/2 ... (the 1/2 will always be there, no mater how much the numbers move -- Vegas does NOT want a push on this game) ... one SI writer picked the Colts, 31-27 -- which means the Saints and the over although the writer didn't stray too far from the Vegas numbers ... still, could not find anything definitive  for a selection ...  then there it was, right on the cover, a nice photo of Saints' QB Drew Brees getting ready to throw against the Vikes ... Sports Illustrated cover jinx, perhaps? ... problem is, what will be cover be next week? ... what are the odds that it will be Peyton Manning? ...

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Posted Thursday, Jan. 28: Couldn�t help but notice the show that CBS-TV had scheduled last night for our viewing pleasure after President Obama had delivered his State of the Union address ... after watching Mr. Obama speak to the nation with VP Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seated somberly  behind him, we were treated to ... ready for this? ... "Two and a Half Men." ...  
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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 27: My buddy Peter Vecsey of the N.Y. Post beat me into print with this idea yesterday but, what the hey, he knows I don't steal ... I was going to lament about the end of football season (except for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, of course) and mention something about the Knicks losing by 50 at home to the Mavs ... Peter beat me to it, though, when he wrote about the soon-to-be absence of football and added ".. I have to give my undivided attention deficit to the basket cases" ... Peter noted the 50-point loss by the Knicks and the fact that the Nets had lost their last three by a combined 89 points ... if you didn't read this in the Post, it's because his column might have been shortened ... but if you're a real NBA  junkie, you'll want to subscribe to his column by e-mail, so contact him at peter.vecsey@nypost.com  ... you see, he HAS to follow these two teams ... I can always fall back on Law & Order reruns. ...

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Posted Tuesday, Jan. 26: This is what an insider is said to have told "People Magazine" recently: "Tiger wants to go back to being a golf star with major endorsements ... he wants his clients, who have kids of their own, to think he is a good family man. He had hoped all along that his wife's initial furor would die down so they could discuss the situation and behave rationally." ... tsk, tsk -- Tiger asking for a mulligan? ...

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Posted Monday, Jan. 25: OK, Garrett Hartley ... why didn't you tell me you had a dream the night before Saints-Vikes that your field goal in overtime would send the Saints and all their "Who Dat?" fans to Miami and the Super Bowl in two weeks? ... that's a pretty significant piece of information when you consider the Saints were 3 1/2-point favorites to win yesterday's NFC title game and that they won by Hartley's field goal  ... so while the Saints were big winners on Bourbon Street you can bet they weren't thought of too kindly by Saint backers in the back rooms and back alleys and betting establishments (both legal and illegal) around the USofA ... I had the Jets and Saints being Super foes in two different office pools - one based on straight-up wins which is now between the four who picked Colts-Saints out of the original 80-some entrants - and the other based on the point spread, a pool in which I am no longer alive because the Saints failed to cover the 3 1/2-point spot ... two out of four teams alive in TWO pools and I end up with bupkus ... and then I have to read about Hartley and his dream this morning! ... see why I stopped gambling? ...
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Posted Sunday, Jan. 24: Can't help myself ... J-E-T-S! ... as much as I like to watch Peyton Manning, too! ...

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Posted Saturday, Jan. 23: So the Yankee-Johnny Damon talks are NOT dead ... good ... I hope he decides to stay and take the Yankee offer of a cut in pay ... he adds too much to the team and I get the feeling he really doesn't want to go, anyway ... shame he has to exist on 5 mil a year, tho. ...

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Posted Friday, Jan. 22: Months ago, my old pal Tom Haynes, patriarch of the Rockaway Borough Haynes family, asked me if I knew the name of the major league pitcher who was the winning pitcher in an All-Star game without retiring a single batter  ... not a trick question, either, he added ... I Googled, Yahooed and search-engined and could not find the answer ... "Oddities of All-Star Games" was no help ... an e-mail to the Elias Sports Bureau in New York City went unanswered ... every so often, I'd go through a batch of All-Star game linescores - to no avail ... the other day, thanks to Mr. Haynes running into an old friend who knows more baseball than the two of us put together, we got the answer ... the pitcher who should be a trivia answer in any baseball fans' memory bank is Dean Stone, a lefthander who had an eight-year major league career between 1953 and 1963 and was 29-39 with six teams ... his best year was in 1954 when he was 12-10 with a 3.22 ERA  with the Washington Senators ... it was that year when, pitching for the American League All-Stars in Cleveland on July 13, he came into the game with two outs in the top of the eighth to face the lefty-swinging Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers with the Cards' Red Schoendienst of the Cards on third and the National League winning, 9-8 ... Schoendienst tried to steal home on Stone�s first pitch but was out at the plate to for the third out of the inning ... the AL scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth and Virgil Trucks came in to pitch a scoreless ninth that made Stone the winning pitcher -- without retiring a batter. ...

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Posted Thursday, Jan. 21: With all the talk about the Jets' defense, Peyton Manning, the "give-up" or "lay-down" game in Week 16, and coach Rex Ryan's Super Bowl prediction, it says here that Jet rookie QB Mark Sanchez holds the key to Sunday's AFC championship game ... first off, he can't be sitting on the bench after having a bad series looking as if he just got yelled at for sneaking a hot dog ... rookie or not, players look up to their QB for leadership ... Sanchez has to be "up" all the time, not just after a big pass play or a score  ... he's going to have to come back to the bench after going three-and-out or throwing an interception and go around slapping shoulder pads, being upbeat and making his offense feel the same way ... he's going to have to have his offense believing that what they are going to do next will work ... no sulking, no pouting, no brooding -- it must be "Go, Jets!" all the time with Sanchez ... QB or not QB, that is the question. ...

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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 20: Here we are, not even three weeks into the new year and we've already had our first "Parent from Hell" incident ... as usual, the teams, names and towns will remain anonymous here but the teller of the tale is to be trusted or else I would't be sharing this stuff with you ... it's a 12-year-old travel basketball game that is in the final quarter and the score is close ... close enough for a fan on one side to let out a "loud scream" as one of the players on the other side is about to shoot a free throw ... later, it's a loud "Miss it!" from the same big mouth on another free throw ... couple minutes later, big mouth is banging on the bleacher seats during a free throw ... finally, a fan from the other side yells out for the person to stop ... this is meant by a "Shut up and sit down" retort ... after the game, the coach who was having his kids yelled at asks the opposing coach if this shouting and yelling goes on at all his games ... "What shouting and yelling?" was the answer ... this was a game between 12-year-olds ... so what happens when the competition gets serious? ...

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Posted Tuesday, Jan. 19: Several years ago, our newly minted governor Chris Christie coached a Little League baseball team in Mendham ... I was doing some work for the Mendham-Observer newspaper at the time and one of Christie's coachly duties was to e-mail game reports so I could construct a story about his games for the paper ... Christie was very good about this -- until the day he decided to write his own story, that is ... he told me something like he always wanted to know how it felt to be a sportswriter ... he asked how he had done and I told him he had done "just OK" but that I preferred he give me his information the old way -- just the facts, stats and highlights, please ... I also told him that if he continued to try to do my job, I would be forced to show up at one of his games, sit in the stands, and help him coach from there -- loudly, too! ... I also suggested strongly that it would be best if he did not give up his day job ... we laughed about the exchanges back then, but there is no laughing today because today he begins the most important day job he has ever had ... good luck with that, Coach. ...

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Posted Monday, Jan. 18: Colts only 7-point favorites over my new favorite NFL team? ... after the Jets were 18-1 to win the Super Bowl going into this past weekend? ... will be interesting to see how the number moves through the week ... as expected, the post-game reads on the Vikings' final TD against the Cowboys has been split -- Cowboy fans thought it was classless and Viking fans said stuff like "if you don't like it, stop it." ... I still think the strutting, prancing around and posing after making routine plays is much, much worse 'cause that just ain't football' no matter how you look at it. ...

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Posted Sunday, Jan. 17: Best call of the day: The Jets going for and making a first down on a 4th-and-1 with 1:09 left in the game that iced their 17-14 victory over the Chargers. Not a real gutsy call, but not exactly a no-brainer, either. But it's a good thing for Rex Ryan it worked.  ... Worst call of the day: The 4th-down TD pass Brett Favre threw with two minutes left in the Vikes' 34-3 victory over the Cowboys. Even the TV "experts" after the game disagreed on whether this was "just football" or "rubbing it in." ... Both plays will make for some interesting Monday-morning reading, though, right? ...

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Posted Saturday, Jan. 16: I cannot believe I am about to write this, but ... Go, Jets! ...

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Posted Friday, Jan. 15: Morris Knolls girls basketball 46-42 OT win over Pope John on the road has to be the best comeback game of the season - in any sport ... down by 13 at the half after scoring only one free throw in the second quarter, the Lady Eagles fought back with 18 fourth-period points and sent the game into OT on a three-point field goal by Mary Ninivaggi ... in overtime, Jen Jarvis scored four of her team-high 18 points and Ninivaggi hit three pressure-packed free throws to account for all seven points for the Lady Eagles ... Kristen Randolph and Christina Vittorio combined for 22 points ... nice game, ladies -- VERY nice game. ...

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Posted Thursday, Jan. 14: Here we have Perry Fewell, the new Giants defensive coordinator, on the job for less than a day when he made his first mistake ... the former Bills defensive coordinator and seven-game interim head coach was also Giant head coach Tom Coughlin's secondary coach in Jacksonville for five seasons ... Fewell said all the right things about his new job and new team until he mentioned that the franchise "... is known for defense." ... wrong, Coach, the word here is WAS ... if is a franchise that WAS known for defense. ...

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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 13: So now the story is that if (when?) Leno goes away, Law & Order moves into the time slot ... cya Jay, baby - don't let the door hit you in the chin on the way out. ...

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Posted Tuesday, Jan. 12: Sorry, Mark, but the time for the tears and apologies has long passed ... would have rather heard and seen all this at the Congressional hearings years ago, but you stated you were there to talk about the future and not the past ... now, however, you figure it helps you to bring up the past and apologize for your misdeeds and lies ... of course, you have seen that the fans embraced other players who have fessed up on 'roids use, right?  ... enjoyed watching your home runs and your record chasing but felt cheated, somehow, when your name surfaced as a possible drug abuser ... at the time, I didn�t blame you for not fessin' up because they didn't catch you -- heck, would I run up to the police station here in town and turn myself in for going 90 on Rte. 80 the other day? ... still, I still think the time was then, and not now. ...

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Posted Monday, Jan. 11: Let's see, now -- Leno moving back to his old 11:30 p.m. slot again ... Conan might not be on anywhere ... Letterman is enjoying every minute of it ... Simon is leaving American Idol but coming back with The X Factor ... Sarah is coming to Fox to be a political (snicker) commentator ... the bride's favorite cooking channel and home improvement channel have been yanked off cable ... TV or not TV? ... that's some question ... as long as they don't mess with Law & Order (and its reruns), Bones, and Burn Notice, I'm a happy camper ... wait a sec, maybe they should put a little more meat on that skinny little thing on Burn Notice, tho. ...

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Posted Sunday, Jan. 10: There are times when I think some TV commentators forget that we're watching the same game as they are watching ... take Joe Theismann during yesterday's Jets 24, Bengals 14, for instance ... now, I like Theismann because I think he's one of those ex-players who actually took the time to learn the TV trade ... I usually like his insights into the game, especially from the quarterback position ... but yesterday, Theismann noted that Bengal QB Carson Palmer was not "... following through and getting his body into his throws" after Palmer had thrown a ball well over his receiver's head ... made sense, especially after seeing the replays  ... later, however, when Palmer connected on a pass later, Theismann immediately went into a discourse on how his mechanics were much, much better, and listed all the things he did correctly that led to the completed pass ... problem was, the replay showed Palmer NOT doing what Theismann said he had just done -- he did not step through the throw and his follow-through was anything but correct -- it might as well have been a replay of Palmer's previous incompletion when Theismann correctly pointed out all the wrong things he was doing ... this time, the replay did not back up what Theismann was saying. ...

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Posted Saturday, Jan. 9: Just finished watching Jets 24, Bengals 14 and Cowboys 34-14 and, dunno about you, but I think I saw more prancing, posing and preening in the first five minutes of Game 2 than I saw in the entire Jets-Bengals game ... an excited Jets QB Sanchez running around jumping up and down is one thing, but the stuff that annoys me is the posturing done by players for doing the job they are paid nicely to do ... seems as if every tackle that is made, the tackler must separate himself from the rest of the players and strike a pose ... one thing we did NOT see, however, were any displays by Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco (two catches for 28 yards), who was once again held in check Jets CB Darrelle Revis ... that is, if you can believe the little crying display Ocho was putting on for the TV cameras at the end of the game. ...

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Posted Friday, Jan. 8: Didn't know how to fill out my NFL post-season playoff office pool until I read that Jets first-year coach Rex Ryan boldly announced that his club should be the favorite to win the Super Bowl ... Rex is no Broadway Joe, but it's good enough for me ... anyway, his brash announcement has saved me the trouble of trying to figure all this out ... Jets, Jets, Jets, Jets ... all four rounds on the AFC side have been filled in ... oh, yeah -- the Saints will make it through on the NFC side ... right, Rex? ...

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Posted Thursday, Jan. 7: Giants co-owner John Mara made no secret about the fact he was totally displeased with the team's defense this past season ... so far, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan and defensive line coach Mike Waufle have been fired ... safe to say the defensive coaches in charge of the cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers are no making any long-range plans that involve maintaining residence in this area ... defense is important to Mara & Co. ... think Mr. Obama is taking note of all this? ...

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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 6: Speaking of birthdays, No. 68 yesterday was the best ... started out with Dennis buying breakfast and the waitress putting a candle in my bagel at our weekly meeting of the 'Old Parts Breakfast Club' ... later, had a wonderful half-hour phone conversation with my soon-to-be-90-year-old father, who loves living in sunny San Deigo with my sister Judy Ann ... then, a lengthly IM chat with my brother Jim in Clearwater ... a loud and enthusiastic early-afternoon "Happy Birthday" seranade from Cooper, 7, and Faith, 4, over the phone from Hackettstown was followed by a similar seranade from Erin, 11, and Jake, 10, from Green Pond ... and then a nice quiet dinner with the bride, who even picked up the check! ... pizza and birthday cake coming up Saturday with Bob Jr. and Leanne and the four grandkids ... I love it! ...
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Posted Tuesday, Jan. 5: The Giants did what they had to do by parting ways with first-year defensive coordinator  Bill Sheridan ... too bad the defense left months ago. ...

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Posted Monday, Jan. 4: Apparently, ex-Giant Michael Strahan isn't buying any of this "apology" stuff from today's Giants ... on the Giants post-game (or was it the pre-game?) show yesterday he said that the Giants had "... just mailed in the rest of the season ... they had stamped the envelope earlier in the season, but they finally put it in the mail two  weeks ago." ... getting outscored 85-16 in losing the last two games and not making the playoffs is enough to make fans turn on any team ... ex-teammates, too. ...

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Posted Sunday, Jan. 3: Speaking of test in sports these days, how hard must it be for Morris Hills shotputters Bryan Scudiere, A.J. Ulinski and James Lane - and every other thrower in the state - with Morristown's 6-4, 240-pound junior Nick Vena out-tossing them by 20 feet or more at each competition ... here the Knights' trio finished fourth, seventh and 10th respectively in the Polar Bear Invite last week with throws in the low- to mid-40s only to have Vena win the competition with a toss of 66-10.5. ... Lane is the lucky one -- he's a sophomore and will get to compete in his senior year with Vena off to some college breaking all kinds of NCAA records. ...

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Posted Saturday, Jan. 2: I always thought the hardest test for a high school athlete was football two-a-days in August ... running in the rain/mud/cold/heat in cross country ranks up there, too ... swimming lap after lap and running line-to-line sprints (and punishment laps) in basketball is no picnic, either ... but the biggest test of all has to be being a wrestler and maintaining weight during the holidays ... there is either a lot of extra work involved or a lot of extra will-power -- my guess here is that it's probably a lot of both! ...

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Posted Friday, Jan. 1, 2010: Happy New Year! ... may 2010 bring you much health and happiness ... enjoyed a wonderful early dinner out with the bride last night and then came home to watch The Ball drop ... the scene at Times Square was as exciting and inspirational as always ... problem is, I fell asleep (extending my own personal 34-year record) and didn't get to see it all until they showed it again on this morning's news. ...

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Posted Thursday, Dec. 31: While we welcome the year 2010 later tonight, the Chinese won't ring in their new year until early February, when The Year of the Ox ends and the Year of the Tiger begins ... if anybody can find him ... it remains to be seen if our Tiger can change his stripes, as he has promised ... he's off to a good start, though -- Elin has already made some major changes to his face. ...  

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Posted Wednesday, Dec. 30: We're what, 10 days into the college football bowl season? ... I'm in an office pool where 80% of the subscription fee is returned to the winner and 20% goes to the person with the worst record ... I have been rooting against myself for the past two days now -- 20% is better than nothing, right? ...

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Posted Tuesday, Dec. 29: The Jets have it wrong ... they were NOT  in control of their destiny, Colts rookie coach Jim Caldwell was ... Caldwell did, however, put the Jets in control for this week (Jets win and they're in the playoffs) when he took out starting QB Peyton Manning for backup Curtis Painter, who hadn't taken a snap in a game all season and it showed ... OK, so Mannning's exit ruined any hopes I had with my Colts' pick in the King of the Hill office pool but, truth be told, I'd have rather seen Caldwell put in just called-up Drew Willy (Buffalo State, Randolph HIgh School) than Painter ... Caldwell is taking a lot of heat for his decision to "rest" his regulars for bigger things, but from the looks of the Colt bench after the Jets went ahead for good, it didn't look as if any of his players were ready to proclaim their boss "Coach of the Year." ...

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Posted Monday, Dec. 28: Thanks, Charlie Sheen, for making it impossible for me to watch "Two and a Half Men" on TV again with the same enjoyment as before ... that was a nice Christmas-time read, your "domestic violence" charges that now may or may not include a knife, marriage counseling and a restraining order ... At least you cleared up one thing for everybody - now I know who the half-a-man is. ...

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