Day 100

I made it to 100. I'd put this in the minor miracle category, you? Sometimes it becomes a chore, but most of the time it is a pleasure to write about what is going on in my life, what I am feeling about current issues in my life and in the world. Lets see what I am thinking about today....

Went to Des Moines, Iowa yesterday for work. Let me tell you, nothing better than going to Iowa at 6 am the morning after a long weekend in San Francisco. It is funny to compare the two. San Francisco is so beautiful. The architecture and landscape are so different. Very old school, built in all of the hills. Amazing views of the bay. Then you compare that to Des Moines. Cold, flat, offers nothing. You wonder why anyone would live there when other than the fact that if you grew up there, you don't know differently. Then there are the people. San Francisco is very eclectic, all different races and people with their own styles. Des Moines is straight up white bread. At the show I was working yesterday, and I am not joking, I saw exactly one Black person. One. It was like going to the Paul McCartney concert all over again, minus the good looking people. It was quite the homely crowd at the show.

Big weekend approaching. Cousin Steve and his woman Julia, MD, and cousin Julie are all coming to town. We are very much anticipating the chaos that will surely occur Friday and Saturday nights. My mother in law will also be in town this weekend for Leah's cousin's shower, so we will have a ton on our plate. Throw in the big KU/Oklahoma game and the super Bowl, and you have the makings of an A-Plus weekend.

Speaking of my Jayhawks, we are on a serious roll and look like the team nobody will want to play come tournament time. I love peaking at the right time and we seem to be heading that way. We have won 11 of 13 and 4 straight since the infamous Moody free throw debacle at Missouri.

Cant believe we are at the end of January. Tomorrow I officially start the last month of my 20's. Let me tell you how much I am looking forward to it.

I haven't had the chance to weigh on on my opinion on the James Frey controversy, so I will. I take the cue from Mark P when I say that yes, while he did fabricate some of the details, the book was still viewed as great. I know Oprah was his biggest proponent and then had home on to scold him like a little school boy, but she did it only to make herself look good. Give Frey credit for going back to face the music, but the way she handled it was bullshit. Someone needs to knock her down a few pedestals. She acts and thinks she is the second coming. What a phony.

Song of the Day: "I've Gotta Have it" by Ed O.G. and The Bulldogs

Day 99

So we pick it up with Friday night's dinner. Leah and I met my cousin Kathy for Sushi at Tsunami. It was a strange but cool place. We sat at one of these low to the ground, almost Japanese style tables. The food, as well as the company was top notch. It was great to see Kathy, with law school books in tow. We had such a long day of drinking wine that we headed back to the hotel after dinner and a few drinks.

Leah slept in a little on Saturday morning, while I of course was up at my customary 6:40 am and got some work and KU/Tribe article reading in before Leah got up and we had breakfast. The good news was that KU played on ESPN at 9am, so I got to watch a little of the game before we went out to explore the city. When we headed out, rain drops engulfed us. We walked up to Ghiradelli Square and watched the making of chocolate. It was real close to our hotel so we walked back and got our car and drove over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. We walked around Sausalito with our umbrellas for a while, hooked up some salt water taffy, and enjoyed the amazing views of the bay through the clouds and fog. We then drove around to a few different neighborhoods in SF so Leah could see different parts of the city. We stopped for lunch and to momentarily break our diets at Barney's Gourmet Burgers.

Our dinner was unbelievable. We went to Gary Danko, which is a 3, 4, or 5 course dining "experience." It was such a great looking restaurant to start off with. They are all class in there. We walked over from our hotel and it was raining. When we walked into the restaurant, they took our umbrellas and bagged them. It was like they helped dry us off as well. We ended up going for the three courses. They had a 65 page wine list and said they offered to send over the sommelier to help us fins a wine that suited us. I'm telling you, we have never been pampered like this. The food was amazing. I had a Lobster and Shrimp Risotto for my first course, a Beef Tenderloin for my second course, and finished off with a Chocolate Souffle. Leah had the Risotto, Sea Bass, and the Souffle. It was such a unique dining experience. Something that everyone should do once in their life. I had 4 different people tell me the same thing and Gary Danko lived up to all of the hype.

We flew back today. Back to reality. I was stuck in a middle seat and we were over an hour late. Plus I have to fly out tomorrow morning to Des Moines for the day. Like I said, back to reality. But this trip was truly great. I know Leah had an absolute blast and all of my plans worked out for the most part.

Song of the Day: "1nce Again" by A Tribe Called Quest

Day 98

So we are out in beautiful San Francisco, California. So far the trip has been pretty amazing. We arrived around 10:45 Thursday morning and checked into our hotel, got situated, and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to walk around and have lunch. After being there 5 minutes (passing an In & Out Burger without stopping might I add), I realized that this was tourist central. Like being at Navy Pier in Chicago. Anyways we did some walking around, saw the Sea Lions that lounge on the wooden planks in the bay and make crazy noises, then headed to Pier 39 for our trip to Alcatraz. We took the boat put there and took the 35 minute self guided audio tour. It was very cool and educational. (I promised Leah that I wouldn't write how she asked me on the way out of there were still prisoners living there - she's so cute, isn't she?) We took some solid photos which I will put up on the blog when I get back tomorrow night. Anyways, since it was such a long day a this point (we had been up since 3 am PST), we headed back to our hotel room around 4 for a much needed nap. We had 7:30 dinner reservations at Rose Pistola, a trendy Italian Restaurant. I'll say this, while we did both enjoy our meals, the menu could have given us more selections. I've never been to an Italian restaurant that only had 4 pasta dishes, but so be it. It was mostly Fish and other more upscale dishes. It was all good though, we both had great salads and I buried my entire penne with veal bollagnase. We capped off the night with a 10 block walk home through the North Beach neighborhood.

Yesterday we slept in (reasonably, 7:30), had some breakfast and hit the road over the Bay Bridge to Napa. We were at the Domaine Chandon Winery by 10:45 am ready to start the tasting. We took at 30 minute guided group to which was very educational. For example, I didn't know that Champagne is only called Champagne if it is from France and everything else is considered sparkling wine. We tasted three different sparkling wines and three different reds. We next headed into Yountville for lunch at Bistro Jeanty. Again, we stepped into a restaurant that seemed over our head. Its this French cuisine. We don't know what to eat. Anyways, we ended up both having french onion soup and splitting an amazing pasta with 5 different kinds of mushrooms. After lunch was the Niebaum-Coppola tour. This was the highlight of our day. We had a private tour of all of the grounds and got the full story behind the wine. The tour was a lot more of what we were looking for. We had a private tasting in a spectacular looking cellar. This time we had four different wines and two different cheeses. I was a big fan of the Ros'e and snagged a bottle for the road. We had two more glasses of wine while in the open tasting room before heading to Robert Mondavi. At this point, we learned all we needed to learn about the wine process, so we just toured the grounds at Mondavi on our own and grabbed another couple of glasses in their tasting room. We left here with another bottle as well. Around 4:00 we headed back to SF for a little relaxation time before dinner. If you haven't been to Wine Country, Napa or Sonoma, you must go. It was such a great time and so beautiful

I'll pick up the rest of the trips activities tomorrow.

Song of the day: "I've Got It Made" by Special Ed

Day 97

So we are out in SF and to be honest, I don't have time this morning to recap yesterday, so you will get a two day recap tomorrow. In its stead, will be a guest columnist, the great Mark P. This James Frey vs. Oprah story is all over the news, you would think it involved Al Qaida or something. But anyways, Mark P emailed me his letter to the editor he wrote to the Chicago Tribune and I thought everyone should read it. What he says is the way it should be:
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Recently, Oprah Winfrey has been making headlines by first building up, and then crushing down author James Frey after it was discovered that parts of his memoir, A Million Little Pieces had been fabricated. Why is she being celebrated for admitting a mistake? Why does the world seem to hang on her every last word and action? It seems abundantly clear to me that Oprah does what ever it is that will make herself look good at any given point in time.

When James Frey first appeared on Oprah's show to promote his book, it was Oprah who heaped praise upon herself for selecting this book to her book club. You see, at that point in time, she realized that people were being helped by James's words. Why in the world would she want to give credit to the author for that?!

After the rumors of fabricated truths, she made a surprise call in to Larry King supporting James saying that the central theme of the book remained, and that the rumors were, much ado about nothing. What has changed in that weeks time? Could addicts no longer be helped by this book? Could casual readers like myself no longer enjoy they story because he wasn't in jail as long as he said he was? Or, could it be that Oprah's PR army had decided that her becoming a defender of truth would boost her popularity even higher in the eyes of her loyal fans?

Anyone who has read A Million Little Pieces will tell you it is a great book. While its unfortunate that parts of the book were indeed fabricated, the details in question have no affect on the reading experience.

And to the thousands, or millions of Oprah's fans who let her make up your minds for you, think about this whats worse, an author who embellishes details of his own life in attempts at selling a book, or letting a talk show host make your life decisions for you?

Song of the Day: "Come Together" by The Beatles - Mark P selection

Day 96

I was swamped getting everything done before leaving and packing and watching KU play Texas A&M (we are up 14 with 4:50 left), so today we are going to be brief. This trip is going to be amazing. If I have internet access in our hotel room (which I believe we do), I will be updating the blog to tell you all about how much fun we are having. We are flying out tomorrow morning, getting a quick bite to eat and then heading to "The Rock," Alcatraz, for a tour of the famous island prison. We hope that the weather cooperates as there is rain in the forecast everyday this weekend. Tomorrow night we have dinner at a tredny Italian restaurant, Rose Pistola. I've been looking forward to this trip for 6 months and I am sure it will live up to all of the hype. We will be taking lots of photos, so a few will be posted on the blog after we get back.

Song of the Day: "Going Back to Cali" by The Notorious B.I.G.

Day 95

Funny how some days at my job are very slow and others I am swamped with everything at once. Today was one of those days. I'll say this, it made this day go by pretty fast. The good news is that one of the distribution centers for my account on the west coast just placed a 960 case order of 7 products for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The west coast operation is the newest and the one most in need of a kickstart. That order is basically a months worth for the entire distribution center so that looks great in the eyes of the higher-ups at the corporation. The bad news was that it took almost two and a half days to get this entire order squared away. I've been informed today as well that my bosses would like me to spend 3-4 days in the Las Vegas and Phoenix markets working with the reps in the field there, particularity the Vegas market. I've been told these 900 plus case orders are out there at every major hotel/casino and are there for the taking. Its all about who you know, the ins you have, and how low your pricing can be. Typical Las Vegas.

Speaking of which, I may or may not be going to Vegas the weekend of March 10th. I love that city. It is not for everyone though. When I go to Las Vegas, my days consist of sitting in the sports book and betting games all day, getting some eats, more gambling, and hitting some clubs at night. The last time I went was last March the weekend of the conference tournaments. I got in Friday morning and literally sat in the sportsbook at Mandalay Bay from 9:30am to 8:00 PM and watched and bet on college hoops games. I had both meals at the NY Deli at the sportsbook. Talk about a day right up my alley. I then went back to my room, showered and relaxed a little before hitting a few tables, and then went to Light, the club at the Bellagio. I was there until the wee hours before we hit another late night spot Drei's. You gotta love a place that when you walk out at 6 am there is a line 50 deep to get in. I hit the tables again before breakfast and then back to the sportsbook for the 10:00 AM tip offs. The cycle repeats. I go zombie technique in Vegas. I require a couple of two hour naps in my 48 hours there and I am good.

When I say it isn't for anyone, this is what I mean. I took Leah to Vegas for her birthday 4 years ago. Lets just say we both agree we will never go together again. While she wanted to walk down the strip, check out all of the Casinos, do some shopping, and eat at the fancy restaurants, all I wanted to do was gamble or nap. Nothing better than hitting the tables with your wife over your shoulder asking you why you are "losing all of our money." Leah even admits to this day that she has zero interest in ever going back, but I love that place.

Song of the Day: "First of tha Month" by Bone Thugs N Harmony

Day 94

SF week baby! T-Minus 4 days until Leah and I hit this magnificent city. I cannot tell you how excited we are. Its going to be great..... We had a solid weekend here. Friday night we hit up Joe's Stone Crab with Jessica. It was real solid. This time was a different experience for me and for Leah. Going to this restaurant and a diet is tougher than I thought it would be. First and foremost, I said I wasn't going to have desert, which is so tough for me here. Their Peanut Butter pie is to die for. P went for his birthday last night and had it and said it was one the best deserts he has ever had. The other delicacy I was going to have to do without was the sweet potato fries, which are amazing. No Onion straws either. All of my go to's were cut out, except the Stone Crabs and the tomato, onion, and blue cheese salad. I said I was going to be strict until the trip where I would be cheating a little and I have stuck to it. I even worked out 6 days in a row last week. On the elliptical machine during Pardon the Interruption everyday. Makes the run go by a lot faster. Saturday I got on at the beginning of the KU game. It is the solid move to do that during the game since I literally am not paying attention to the fact that I am actually exercising and the next thing you know, 30 minutes has passed. I've only got three real days of working out this week because of the trip, but I know we will be doing a ton of walking this weekend.

Again, I have to prop up the big Mark P birthday bash on Saturday night. When looking back and being reminded of some of the stupid things I did (like recite the entire "converse weapons" old school commercial to one of Mark P's co-workers - what a p-rod I am) and some of the classic conversations we were having (like talking to some random Michigan State fan about what a whiner Tom Izzo is), it was such a fun time. Any night I do at least two jaeger bombs, good times always follow. The best part of it was that Jessica was nice enough to take the dog for the night so Leah and I could sleep in and not have to take the dog out in 20 degree weather at 7 AM the next morning.

Also gotta give some dap to my future brother in law Justin. He just spent the weekend in New York for his bachelor party. If you know Justin, you know he isn't a big party guy. But my sources in New York tell me he drank more this weekend than he has in the last two years combined and stepped it up big time, including a trip to Scores - a Howard Stern fan's Graceland. I am very jealous. I am also not that upset that I didn't have to witness Justin puking several times. Excellent job my friend!

Don't get me started on this proposed Coco Crisp to the Red Sox deal involving their top prospect Andy Marte. When it goes down, I will rant on about the cheapness of the Dolan's.

Here is a question for you. Lets say you are a big Steelers fan and your team is no going to the Super Bowl. You father comes up with tickets and Detroit is only a 4 hour car ride away from Chicago. The catch is your fiancee's bridal shower is that same day. What do you do? This is a dilemma that a friend of mine must face. I know what I would do. Going to see your team in the Super Bowl is a once in a lifetime experience. This is a no brainer. The shower is for the girl, not for you. So you don't show up at the end of the shower to bring flowers and help open presents. No big deal. Bottom line is bad planning by the people who had this shower on Super Bowl Sunday. No matter what time the shower is.

Song of the Day: "Cleaning out my Closet" by Eminem

Day 93

Time to give props out to someone who deserves special recognition today. Today the great Mark P turns 30. Its a funny story how P and I met. When I was looking to move to Chicago in late 1998, I didn't know for sure what I was going to do with for a living situation. I had heard from someone that a childhood friend Dan Gutmacher, who I hadn't seen much of during our college years, was living in Chicago at a friend's parent house in the suburbs temporarily until he found a place to live in the city. Dan and his college friend were looking for apartments, but also looking for a third roommate. It turned out that Leah and Dan worked at the same company, so I had her email him to see if this was true. Indeed it was a not too much after that, I agreed to move in with the two of them, not even knowing who the other guy was. I moved to Chicago soon there after.

The day we moved into our apartment was the day I met Mark P. I specifically remember having lunch from Southport Sandwich sitting on the floor of our apartment with him that first day. He had a sarcastic way about him that at the time I didn't get. When Leah asked me what I thought of him, I honestly thought we weren't going to get along. I thought he was just being a smart ass. Over the next few months, we hung out a ton and the rest is history. P has been my boy ever since. He seriously is one of the funniest and witty people I know. Nobody can spout out the witty banter on email like P can. He is one of the most unique individuals I know and I respect him immensely for it.

Last night was his 30th birthday party at this bar called The Kerryman. The night lived up to all of the hype. A big crew was in effect, 30 plus, a solid turnout to celebrate in honor of the man. Myself, Leah, Sheri, Sean, Danimal, Buatch and a ton of others threw down some serious cocktails last night. It was old school. I haven't seen Leah like that in a long time. I told her she gets an A-Plus performance grade from me. We took a ton of great photos and the vodka's were going to almost too smoothly. Jaeger bomb shots were in full effect. It was an epic night and I have the photos to prove it! Anyways, Happy 30th to one of my best friends, the one and only Mark P!

Song of the Day: In honor of P's b-day, "Ya Mama" by the Pharcyde.

Day 92

Today I feel like telling one of the all time classic stories about my father. There are so many to choose from, but one sticks out in particular to me today. I was thinking about it this morning. The guy was just so amazing. Dad was a big hockey fan. Every year as kids, the Wednesday night before thanksgiving, The Pittsburgh Penguins would have a home game and Dad would get tickets. So Wednesday late afternoon the three of us would head in the car and make the two hour trek to the 'burgh. On the way, dad always kept us occupied by giving us a gift out of what he referred to as "The Goodie Bag." The Goodie Bag always contained something that would be fun, like a sticker book with matching sports stickers, or a sports trivia book, or a something like Mad libs. Also there would e a candy bar to go along with it. It was usually one gift per hour. This always made what at the time seemed to be a long car ride go by a lot quicker.

We would arrive in Pittsburgh and check into our hotel rooms, head somewhere downtown for a quick dinner before walking over to "The Igloo" for a hockey game. Dad was always the kind of guy who wanted to capitalize on these times with his kids. We may leave Pittsburgh with a new Penguins hockey jersey (I once got an authentic Paul Coffey jersey, MD had the unforgettable Penguins great Zarley Zalapski), or a sweatshirt or a "puckhead" hat. Since we had no NHL team in Cleveland, this was our only opportunity for us to see a game live and we always had a blast. The next morning was thanksgiving day. We would order up room service for breakfast and head back to ctown for Football, family, and turkey. I used to LOVE that short trip and look forward to it every year. It was just dad and his boys. I knew then how lucky I was to have a dad who truly enjoyed spending this kind of quality time with his sons, but I don't know if I ever fully appreciated it as much as I do now. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his family and friends. I cannot imagine a better father out there to his kids. I know there are people who may think that about their dad, but I truly believe in what I just wrote. I miss him everyday.
Just another stroll down memory lane......

Song of the Day: "Code of the Streets" by Gangstarr

Day 91

Why is it that I enjoy watching American Idol so much? These audition episodes are straight train wreck television. Thanks to Tivo, I could condense the three hours of auditions into two over the last two nights and I have come to a conclusion - there are way more freaks and strange people in this country than there are normal people. I saw some serious misfits on this show. First off, when you know you cannot sing, why would you spend 8 hours outside in the freezing cold waiting in line to audition when you know you have no shot? How diluted must your thought process be? Last night, two people absolutely took the cake. The first guy came in calling himself "Flawless." He was wearing a yellow and black squared short sleeve button down, with matching long shorts and baseball hat tilted to the side. He also was missing a tooth. The saddest part of it all is that this guy actually thought he had a chance to go on to Hollywood. The second "person" walked in and you literally had no idea if this was a boy or a girl. I couldn't even watch this was suck a nightmare. Randy Jackson actually asked this person if it was a girl or a boy. The singing was terrible, but the freakish looks were even more disturbing. Hey, i'm all for this person wanting to let their freak flag fly, but after they told him no, he came out yelling at the cameras that this show is a microcosm for this country as being racist and sexist. It was truly disturbing.

I am not a big reader of books. When I do read books, usually when I travel, it usually (surprise surprise) is a sports book. If you get the chance and you saw the movie Munich, make sure you read the book "One Day in September" by Simon Reeve. This is an amazingly in depth look at the tragic events at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the stories behind the Black September terrorist group. It was an amazing read that I could not put down and gives you a much better perspective on what happened that day and a true account of the Israeli response, not the distorted version in Spielberg's movie.

Anyone catch Drew Barrymore at the Golden Globes the other night? To quote the great Thornton Melon: "If that dress had pockets, she'd look like a pool table."

Big weekend on tap here in Chicago. This is a run of solid weekends we have in a row. Leah and I are going to Joe's Stone Crab tomorrow night for dinner. Saturday night is the big 30th birthday party for the great Mark P at the Kerryman. I expect to do some heavy drinking that night, should be a great time. Next weekend is the big trip to San Francisco and the following weekend is The Dude and Julie's triumphant return to the Chicago. Finally the weekend of the 10th is Sean's bachelor party in Lawrence, which I am also very much looking forward to. The only good news about Kansas's 10-6 record this year is that with every loss, the price of our game tickets for that weekend drops.

Song of the Day: "Money in My Pocket" by Dennis Brown

Day 90

I love getting up at 5:30am for no reason and not being able to go back to sleep. I've got little material today. Looking at the calendar and i've got less than 2 months left in my 20's. It is funny to think about what I thought I would be like at 30 and this certainly wasn't it. I thought for sure i'd be in a house and have kids by now. But that speaks more to an 18 year olds perception of being 30. I take a step back and I do have it pretty good, but condo and city living is starting to wear on me a little. What really is sad is that I always thought that I would end up moving back to Cleveland and be able to have my kids have a close relationship with my parents. While that still can happen with my mom, its just sucks that my father wont be around to see it. I think about that so often.

It is just like anything else. When we were in LA for our friends Andy and Jules' wedding in September. While the wedding was beautiful, there was an element of sadness behind it and it hit home with me moreso than most people. Jules's father had passed away I believe 8 years ago. Her mother walked down the aisle which was great, but you had to feel for her. Same thing for when Andy danced with her in the traditional father/daughter dance and the toasts at the wedding. My friend Dave, who's father passed away a month before mine did, had to excuse himself during this period because it affected him in that way. He isn't married and it hit him hard at that time that his father would not be there to see him get married. I feel fortunate that Dad was around to see me get married and have a close relationship with Leah, but I will never get over the fact that he wont know my children.

Song of the Day: "Smooth Operator" by Big Daddy Kane

Day 89

I know I have been talking a lot about sports lately, but today and I riled up.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, what did I do to deserve this? Last night, I watched another gut-wrenching choke job by my beloved KU Jayhawks. Up by 9 with 1:53 left at our rival Missouri, we choked it all away with poor coaching and worse free throw shooting. Even still, the score was tied with 5 seconds left when senior walk-on Christian Moody caught an unbelievable dish under the hoop from super frosh Mario Chalmers and got fouled with no time left. One made free throw and we win. Moody is a 50% free throw shooter and naturally he misses both. Of course, we end up losing in OT when our execution again failed us. This is the same Missouri team who lost in the same building to Sam Houston State (who?). The loss, our 5th by 4 points or less, moved us to 10-6 and we are probably going to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1989. I didnt want to say it, but I will, Bill Self cannot coach. There is some real talent on this team and Self has no clue what to do with them. Maybe in two years we go to the Final Four and I eat crow, but on January 17, 2006, this program is in dissarray. Sound familiar?

The Tribe ownership is so cheap that they cant capitalize on the fact that they are on the cusp of a World Series run. The Browns are a leaguewide joke. The Cavaliers, even with the pre-eminant young star in the NBA, Lebron James, have shown their lack of depth since Larry Hughes has gotten hurt and lost 5 in a row. We all know the inevitable, he will be gone in two years and the Cavaliers will go back to be meaningless. All of my teams are moving in the wrong direction. Its time for me to re-evaluate. I spend so much time loving my teams, reading articles, watching games, etc etc. What has it brought me besides anger and heartache? I'm real bitter today in case you hadn't noticed.

As pissed off as I was after that loss last night, I can't even imagine being Christian Moody. Imagine if you will being him for a minute. The poor kid is a walk-on who works harder than anyone on the team. He has been a two year starter and our most consistant big man. He goes to the line in the most raucous arena he will ever be in. He has two chances to be a hero and go down in KU history as the guy who sanke the free throw at the buzzer to beat our hated rival Missouri. Instead, for all of the great things he has doen over the past two years, he will always be remebered as the guy who missed. Not to this magnitude, but he is Earnest Byner - the guy who had the game of his career and fumbled at the goaline with a chance to tie the game in the 1987 AFC title game. Moody is studying to be a doctor, so at least he has that going for him. I'll say this though, he will be going back to his home state to practice medicine after he graduates because this one will stick to him in the state of Kansas for the rest of his life. Again, like Byner, blowing this game was hardly his fault. He didn't choke away a 9 point lead all by himself. In fact, he was a big part of building that 9 point lead. But as Bob Dery once said "it all comes down to free throw shooting and rebounding." KU was 21-35 from the line, Missouri was 19-25.

Song of the Day: "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley - need something positive today.

Day 88

I have two good friends from Pittsburgh, Doug and Brian. Both are huge Steeler fans. I watched every second of the Steelers/Colts game yesterday and was amazed at the complete domination of coaching by Bill Cowher over Tony Dungy. I came to this conclusion yesterday: The Cleveland Browns are an absolute joke of a franchise compared to our arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers. I wouldn't even call it a rivalry anymore, because they own us. But they own us in every aspect. From the owners all the way down to the hot dog vendors. They have been telling me this for years. I knew it, but I didn't want to believe it until now.

Bill Cowher has been the coach their for 13 years, the longest tenured coach in the NFL by far. In 1991, when Art Modell owned the Browns, there was a groundswell for Modell to hire Cowher, then the young defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs and former special teams coach for the Browns three years prior. Instead, the Browns hired Bill Belichick, who we all know at the time was a miserable failure in Cleveland before becoming one of the top coaches of alltime in New England. At the time Modell was quoted as saying that he thought Cowher was "too young and not ready to be an NFL head coach." A year later, the Steelers hired him as their head coach and the rest is history. Since that day, the Browns have left the city, seen 4 head coaches in 11 years, three playoff games, and zero division titles. In that same span, the Steelers have won the division six times, reached the wild card three other times, made it to the Super Bowl in 1996, and had 50 Pro Bowl Players. By contrast, though the Browns were gone from 1996-1999, they had only 8, and none since they came back in 1999.

The Steelers consistently show a better eye for talent than the Browns. Every year, the Browns draft high because of their bad record. What do we have to show for it? While the Steelers drafted their QB of the future in Ben Roethilsberger last season, we trade first and second round picks to move up one spot to draft TE Kellen Winslow, who since has played 2 games because of a broken leg and a motorcycle accident in which he will surely never be the same. Big Ben has done nothing but go 23-4 as the starting QB for the Steelers. OK, that is unfair. But while the Browns draft Chris Crocker at safety, the Steelers draft a game changing safety in Troy Polamalu, the kind of player who is all over the field and seems to make every big play. The Browns never draft offensive lineman, even though every year they are in dyer need. The Steelers snagged Max Starks in the second round who immediately was plugged in as their starting guard as a rookie two years ago. That same year, the Browns drafted LB Chaun Thompson, a guy who started at a Division III school that went 0-11 and a guy who experts said was no higher than a fifth round pick. WR Hines Ward was a 4th round pick. Their starting RB Willie Parker was an undrafted free agent who stepped in a rushed for 1200 yards this year. We wasted a first round pick on a guy with major character issues in William Green who has essentially already washed out in Cleveland without making any sort of impact. I could go on and on citing examples. Remember when the Browns signed Earl Holmes over James Farrior at MLB and Farrior turned into a pro bowler for the Steelers and Holmes was cut after 1 year?

There is a reason that the Steelers have had a 13 year run like this, its called stability. Cowher is a guy who his players would run through a wall for. Ownership has been smart enough to stick with him and realize what a good thing they have in him. In 13 years, talent and players change, but the attitude of the organization stays the same. Cowher is a great coach and solid talent evaluator. He is at his best when the chips are stacked against him. Cowher absolutely schooled Colts coach Tony Dungy yesterday. When the Steelers needed big stops, they blitzed like crazy and Dungy couldn't solve the problem. They blitzed all day long. Dungy is a classic Schottenheimer type coach. Good enough aint good enough to win the big ones. Tampa Bay fired him after a solid run of playoff years because ownership was convinced he took them as far as he could. They brought in the guy who could get them over that hump - Jon Gruden. Not coincidentally, the won the Super Bowl in Gruden's first season. There is a reason why Denver is always competitive, Dallas has been good since since Bill Parcells was hired, Washington is back in the playoffs, and the Patriots are a dynasty. Its the same with Pittsburgh. Its the head coaches. Mike Shanahan, Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Bill Belichick, and Cowher are the top 5 coaches in pro football. If you get one of the top guys, you hold them and don't let go.

The Browns organization is in disarray. They have no stability. The fans are lemmings who continue to read the articles, buy the paraphanalia, buy the tickets and flock to the lakefront every Sunday and continue to get disappointed year in and year out. How much more of this are Browns fans supposed to take? Give me Tribe baseball and KU basketball all day long before this joke of an organization. The Tribe ownership is a joke as well, but the people running the baseball operations have us competing for division titles in spite of the cheapness of the powers that be. Memo to the Browns, take a note!

Song of the Day: "Relax" by Deetah.

Day 87

Yesterday was the kind of Saturday that I love. I slept in (or as much as I can sleep in these days - 8:45), read my everyday websites - Cleveland Plain Dealer Sports Page, kusports.com, Kansas City Star sports page, espn.com - and threw in some laundry. By 11 am, there was already 4 college basketball games for me to watch. I flipped between UNC/Miami, Georgetown/Connecticut, and Iowa State/Texas Tech. Just before noon, I took Casey for a quick walk and picked up my lunch from across the street at Four Moon Tavern (Chicken Gyro Pita, with a side of Hummus - my go to meal there) before going split screen on the UNC/Miami game and Villanova/Texas. All of this was my appetizer for the Kansas/Kansas State game at 12:45. Leah had a hair appointment at 1, so it was just me, Casey, and the 55 inch big screen. That is right up my alley. Top that all off with another round of college hoops games starting at 3 and an NFL playoff doubleheader. Days like this were made for guys like me and my father. I know dad would have been doing the same thing as me if he were still alive.

Days like yesterday are when I miss him the most. Sean was at his fiancee's shower so he had to miss the KU game, MD was calling the Butler/Detroit game at the same time, and I know he would have been watching on his dish. I would have called him two to three times during the game, talking about the development of Mario Chalmers, or how Bill Self was being outcoached in the second half because he had no answer for the K-State zone. Or maybe he would have been at Champps watching the game with his Saturday lunch group. Not a day goes by where I don't lament the fact that he is gone. It is such a joke. Notice I didn't mention how Kansas's streak of 31 straight wins over K-State ended yesterday?

I am happy to report that the solid Super Bowl weekend just got another addition, cousin Julie will also be making the trek in from San Francisco. We will have a full house that weekend and I am very much looking forward to it. We will see who can hang and who cant (MD, this means you!).

So I was 3-2 with my picks yesterday. Got a call from "cousin B," lambasting me for going against his beloved Redskins. Winner Winner, chicken dinner! Seattle -9 wins by 10 with an assists to Redskins kicker John Hall's wide left. Today's picks:
Football - Indianapolis -9.5
College Hoops - Louisville -3

What do these two games have in common? Both are going against Pittsburgh!

Song of the Day: "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" by A Tribe Called Quest

Day 86

Here is a strange topic and I have no idea why I am even thinking about this, but what is the point of having a bris? Those who know me know I am not a religious guy. You know I don't believe in god. (What was god's point in taking BJ Garson's life at age 29 not long after his father died of cancer? I digress). I Googled "Bris" to see how it is described. The definition is "the Ritual circumcision is the covenant god has established with the Jewish people through the commandment of circumcision." Again, I am not big on religious ceremonies, especially ones where you have you closest friends and family all gather, eat bagels and deli meat, and watch an 8 day old boy get his piece snipped. Not my idea of fun. Do it at the hospital and call it a day. I don't get the point of the baby naming either. At least the bris takes place 8 days after the birth. Baby namings happen like 3 months after the birth, so clearly the baby has long since been named. Its another pointless reason to have everyone get together for bagels and tuna.

Last night MD was in Cleveland calling the Detroit/Cleveland State game. Dad was a season ticket holder at CSU for years. I used to go to games with him in late high school and all through college during breaks. He loved mid-major college hoops. After he passed away last year, the first game after he died, they had a moment of silence for him, a gesture by the CSU athletic department that I will never forget. What a class move. He was just a season ticket holder, but a loyal supporter of CSU basketball. MD told me this morning that it was so weird looking up in the stands and not seeing my dad there. He also brought back a classic reset - he looked during the game and my mom was there reading the paper. That was one of her go to moves when we used to go to Cavs games and we always gave her shit for it. Cleveland State won 57-52 in OT. Mom said it looked like two high school teams playing.

I watched my first ever episode of "Dancing With the Stars" last night. There was clearly nothing else on. Anyways, it was kind of funny. Most of the so called "stars" on the show are washed up like Tatum O'Neill (who is a total wack job by the way), Drew Lachey (claim to fame is being Nick's brother), and Tia Carrera (hasn't done anything since Wayne's World). The most disappointing is to me is that Jerry Rice is on the show. Jerry is better than this show. He is the greatest WR of all time and one of the greatest football players period. Lisa Rinna, formerly of Days of Our Lives and Melrose Place is also on the show. While she has a killer body and looks great, her lips are disturbing. Its like she had collagen shot into her lips and then got stuck by a bee. Scary. I may give it another watch, as long as I don't have to witness Master P try to dance again.

Just wanted to send some love out to St. George, Utah and my good friend Ryan Sturch. I was lucky enough to speak to him on one of his days out of the field at his Redcliff Ascent. You can hear it in his voice, he just seems to be loving what he is doing so much, helping these kids who seem to be on their last chance to turn their lives around. He is in the best shape he has been in in years and as happy as I can ever remember him. Much love Roots!

College Hoops picks for Saturday: BC -8, Miami +10, UW-Milwaukee -9, Mississippi -3
Pro Football Pick: Seattle -9

Song of the Day: "Cant Take Inna Jail" by Tony Rebel

Day 85

Good to see the sun out today in Chicago. I love the unseasonably warm weather. I got an interesting call from my cousin Steve last night. He let me know he was going to be bringing his woman in to Chicago with him Super Bowl weekend. Then he put her on the phone. She told me that she was on her way to introduce Steve to her Mother. I said "are you sure that is such a good idea? I wouldn't introduce him to my Mother, and that is his aunt." anyways she sounded very sweet and I am very much looking forwarded to hanging with her. That will be a great weekend with MD coming to town too.

Here is a question for you. How many people are watching the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings? I haven't been following it very closely, but I did read that at one point, the badgering got so bad that his wife started crying. I don't know anyone who is watching this, but from what I read he is coming off as very intelligent and sure of himself. We shall see if he gets confirmed or not. How many more years until the Bush administration is over?

As much as I dislike Oprah Winfrey, Star Jones has to be the single worst person on TV. How did she become famous in the first place? The View is completely unwatchable because she is an insufferable human being. She acts like she is god's gift to the world. When she got married a few years ago, the press she got was sickening. I did love how it was reported by everyone that she was the alltime bridezilla. Her wedding was the biggest over the top joke. The best part about it is that everyone thinks her husband Al Reynolds is gay. There was an article about her and all of the weight she lost in People Magazine that I read over my vacation. After I was done, I said to myself "I wish I had the last 4 minutes of my life back." I give her credit for losing all of that weight, but she is more disturbing looking than she ever was before. She looks like an alien and according to her husband "she is going to break out the two piece this summer." I may kill myself if that actually occurs.

Big Win by my Jayhawks last night on the road at Colorado. That makes 7 straight wins and Kansas State comes calling Saturday. They haven't beaten us since 1994.

Leah and I leave for San Francisco two weeks from today. I cannot wait for the trip.

I did get a piece of good news yesterday. I got another minor promotion at work and more importantly a raise. Its another great opportunity for me. Now the comes the time when sooner or later I have to talk about moving to my bosses. I have planted seeds in the past and it is looking like it is do-able, since my business is pretty much all in the midwest. I am just waiting for the right time to broach the subject. Don't know when that is going to be though.

Song of the Day: "Fixing A Hole" by The Beatles

Day 84

There is only one #84 in my life - the great former Browns WR Webster Slaughter. Growing up during the Browns heyday, Webster was one of the main cogs in the Browns wheel. He was by far MD's favorite player. He had a big "Web-Star 84" poster on his bedroom wall. The guy was so cool back then - always wearing the Jordan flight suits in public. The guy made so many big plays that I vividly remember. His game winning TD in overtime to beat the Steelers at home in '86 on Bernie's 21st b-day. His TD in the snow from Don Strock to clinch a playoff berth in '89. His cabbage patch touchdown dance after he would point to the crowd and then spike the ball between his legs. This was back in the days when the Browns REALLY mattered, and mattered to me for that matter.

I saw Browns GM Phil Savage's press conference the other night. It was the first time he has spoken to the press since the whole John Collins vs. Savage debacle. His confidence is clearly shaken, and my confidence in him for that matter is also shaken. He read a prepared statement about as well as an eighth grader would. He looks like Ron Howard and talks with a southern twang. The thing that really was strange was that in all of the B role tape, he was wearing a baseball cap. He's be in the owner's box in a suit and a hat. He was out scouting and wearing a hat. He was on the sidelines before the game in a hat. He is a guy who is balding a wears a hat all the time because he is clearly very self-conscious about going bald (know anyone like that, P?). Anyways, he doesn't seem sure of himself anymore and now I understand why there was trepidation about him in these contract negotiations. This organization is in disarray.

Then we move on to the Tribe. Two days ago, they made a big free agent signing of OF Todd Hollandsworth. Todd Hollandsworth? Is this a joke. We went into this offseason in dire need of a new RF and a new 1B. We have come out of this with Eduardo Perez and Todd Hollandsworth? Please. Perez is an upgrade on the platoon with Ben Broussard at first, but that is still very subpar. Hollandsworth is a 4th outfielder/pinch hitter at his best. He had his chance to play everyday last year and failed miserably in Chicago. GM Mark Shapiro has been quoted as saying that he has tried to make moves and that we have outbid teams on certain players and still lost out. We tried to get Brian Giles, Nomar Garciaparra, Trevor Hoffman, Reggie Sanders, and Rondell White and went 0-5. Shapiro says we didn't pursue OF Preston Wilson, who signed with Houston for 1 year at $4 Million, because he is injury prone, strikes out too much, and is a below average outfielder. Other than being injury prone, it sounds like Casey Blake to me. I despise our ownership. They have created a culture of being notoriously cheap and it seems to be scaring off free agents. What I don't get is a guy like Reggie Sanders who took a little more money with Kansas City rather than play in Cleveland and contend. To me, anyone who chooses KC over the Tribe is a loser and I don't want on my team anyways. Bottom line here is that I am very concerned about this season. There is no way we can ever repeat the pitching performances by our bullpen and our rotation from last year. The White Sox look better on paper and are primed for a repeat. They added Jim Thome and Javier Vazquez. We added Paul Byrd and Eduardo Perez. You do the math.

Then there are the Cavaliers. Larry Hughes just broke a finger and needed surgery meaning he is out 8 weeks. They depth at guard was suspect to begin with, and now we are stuck with a starting backcourt of Damon "all is do is shoot threes and I couldn't guard a chair" Jones and Eric "I am clearly a backup and only should play 18-20 minutes a night" Snow. Damon Jones is good for one thing, hitting three's and he is in a major slump. All the Cavs do is gun threes and play zero halfcourt offense. They stand around and wait for Lebron to do something. They just lost at home to the pathetic 11-21 Knicks, and now head out west for a 6 game road trip. I think this is danger time for them.

The only one of my teams that seems to be moving in the right direction are my Jayhawks. As I said earlier, we are improving game by game, winning 6 straight. We have a huge game tonight at 10-2 Colorado. The Big 12 is wide open as only Texas looks like a great team. Oklahoma, a preseason top 10 team, has lost two straight to open conference play to two average teams in Nebraska and Missouri (in Norman). Missouri picked to finish 11th out of 12 in the conference , beat Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in the past 5 days. The door is wide open for KU to make a big run if we can continue with this momentum. I think we lose tonight in a tough game. It is really our first real road game, although whenever we play in Boulder, around 6,000 KU fans drive in from Western Kansas and it is almost like a home game for us. Colorado has everyone back from last year's team and our top 7 scorers are freshman or sophomores. Should be interesting.

Song of the Day: "When I Get Free by 2Pac"

Day 83

Today is the day I have been waiting for for a year. The first day of the Howard Stern show on Sirius satellite radio. Even though he is doing a west coast feed on his second channel that started at 8 am cst, I had to wake up to listen to the live feed at 5 am. It was good to have him back after three weeks. The constraints of the FCC were gone, but the foul language you would expect never occurred. The main thing I wanted to hear was if the rumors were true about Howard getting married in Mexico on his vacation. He started off by saying that he did indeed get married, and everyone in his crew jumped all over him for being a hypocrite. He then came clean and said he was kidding and he never got married. He said he wanted to see everyone's reaction to the news. Someone saw him and his girlfriend walking off of the beach where a wedding took place and called the tabloids with the scoop. Overall the show was great and I can't wait to listen every day uncensored. He is not for everyone, but as Uncle Kenny once said "different strokes....."

Yesterday was the last day of eating whatever I want. Leah and I are going hardcore on the diets starting today. We have not one, not two, not three, but ELEVEN weddings. I need to get back to a normal weight before late April and Sean's wedding. The target weight is 158. I won't even bother to mention what I am at now. When I got married, I was 153. I know I will never reach that weight again unless I go on Survivor.

If you saw the Bengals/Steelers game yesterday, you saw the horrible knee injury to Bengals QB Carson Palmer. Nothing worse than having your breakout season, both for the team and for Palmer, and having your entire year destroyed by one play, three plays into the game. Carson Palmer tore both his ACL and MCL on his first pass of the game, which coincidentally was a 66 yard bomb to WR Chris Henry. I feel real bad for Palmer. He probably won't be back until the middle of next season. Yikes.

The beard is looking real tough right now. My mom, as is customary for mothers, hates it. Leah isn't a big fan either. But for now, it stays. I'm going to shave it off before we go to Florida in late February so I can tan without it. I trimmed it down last Sunday because it was getting out of hand. It was a good length again by mid-week. When I was at my clients last week, one of the sales reps came up to me and said "so how do you do it?" I said "do what?" He said "get on an airplane with that beard? I know you are getting additional screening. You look like a terrorist.

Just got a message from The Dude himself, cousin Steve. He will be making his triumphant return to Chicago for Super Bowl weekend. MD will be here as well. Should be a great time, assuming we all don't kill each other. Over/Under on how many times we quote Back to School is 100.

Song of the Day: "Party Time" by Damien Marley

Day 82

What an amazing 24 hours I just had. After a rough week, I'd say I deserved it. Last night after work, Leah and I headed to Kansas City on a 5:45 Southwest flight. We arrived and headed straight to Plaza III, one of our favorite Steak restaurants. The meal lived up to all of the hype. Nothing like a Kansas City strip in Kansas City. After the long meal, we headed for Lawrence, just a 45 minute drive from KC. Before we checked into out hotel, we did a quick drive through our old college town. Through campus, and down the main drag - Massachusetts St. We woke up early this morning to bright sunny skies. Like I said to Leah, "the sun always shines on Lawrence." We drove down to Mass to hit Jock's Nitch apparel store and bought some KU gear. We went for a bagel and then drove by our old apartments and took some photos. It was then, we headed to on of my mecca's, Allen Fieldhouse for the big game against Kentucky.

The Kansas/Kentucky tip time was at 11 am cst, so I told Leah we had to be there in our seats by 10:20ish. Anyone who has been to a KU game knows that you have to be there around a half hour early to make sure you don't miss any of the pageantry. There is something so great about being in a college town on the day of a big game. Whether it be football or basketball. Everyone was in their KU gear, us included. There is a buzz in the town, especially walking into the Fieldhouse. My friend Ags is a hug Ohio State fan. He said to me the other day that "there is just something about seeing those gray helmets running out of the tunnel." I feel the same way about the Jayhawks. There seriously is nothing better than seeing the team run out onto the court in the home whites, 16,300 fans screaming for more in the old barn called Allen Fieldhouse. The traditions after the national anthem is sung and the teams run back into the locker room are spine chilling. The school alma mater is sung in chorus by the whole crowd, who sway from side to side arm and arm. The alma mater ends with "Hail to thee, our alma mater. Hail to old KU" and everyone holds up their arms in a "U." Next comes the most chilling of them all, the Rock Chalk Chant. It is one of the great traditions in all of sports and to hear it live is an amazing experience. Its hard to describe in words, you just have to hear a crowd of 16,300 do it in unison. When game times hits, the Fieldhouse is at a fever pitch. Today was different than most games. You had to of the teams on the Mount Rushmore of college basketball meeting in one of the mecca's of college basketball for the first time since 1989.

The game for us was great. KU fed off the crowd early and dominated the game. This was the Brandon Rush coming out party. The Freshman small forward from Kansas City showed why NBA scouts love him. For the first time all year, he decided to be dominant and he busted out for 24 points and 12 rebounds. At one point late in the first half, Rush was actually tied with Kentucky 16-16. It was by far our most complete game. We did it on both ends of the floor and didn't turn the ball over. I saw today that we are the #1 ranked team in the country out of 300 plus D-1 teams in team defense. What I like about this team is that we seem to be improving game by game. This was a game we had to have for a bevy of reasons, and we came out and blew Kentucky away 73-46.

That being said, this is one bad Kentucky team. Other than their all American guard Rajon Rondo, who didn't do anything today, they have nothing. Their low post players wouldn't dominate the Patriot League. They chuck up more three's than any team this side of Indiana, but the difference is that Indiana makes their shots. Kentucky was 3-25 on threes today and has struggled all year. The lack of talent is disturbing. Tubby Smith should be ashamed of his recruiting efforts of late. Other than Rondo and Joe Crawford, there isn't one guy on this team worth a lick. Kentucky is like Kansas in that they should never be bad and always be challenging for a national title. With KU this year it is different because of our coaching change three years ago. Tubby has been there 10 years now. There is no excuse for Kentucky to be this bad. It is the same way I feel about Michigan Football. They lost 5 games this year and severely underachieved. That should never happen at Michigan.

Back to the day, Leah and I had an absolute blast. She had said to me how much she missed the town and how amazing it was that we lived in this small town USA city for 4 plus years. Everyone there is so nice, they drive slow, the stop for pedestrians walking across the street, and everyone waves when you let them into a lane. We left the game and walked to our car (free parking by the way - gotta love Lawrence) in 60 degree and sunny weather. During the game we discussed where we should pick up food from on the way out of town. We called old reliable on the way out of the game, Rudy's for a "pocket za" pizza pocket. This was a Lawrence delicacy that we had to have. Not only do they have the best ranch and the diet cokes with crushed ice, but the magic bar deserts are the whup. It was on the way out of town, so we picked it up, Leah cut the pieces up for me and dipped them in the ranch for me while I drove to the airport. The magic bar was a soft warm brownie with a full Reese's Peanut Butter cup baked in the middle of it. Nice.

We flew home and had a nice dinner at Rosebud with Jessica and Justin and now Leah is sleeping quietly with Casey the dog in the bedroom where I will be heading after finishing this blog entry. Its been a long but incredible day. Not many things make me happier than seeing a KU blowout win live and great food. More than anything, I am so glad I got to share it with Leah.

Song of the Day: "School Spirit" by Kanye West

Day 81

So I am officially married to a women in her 30's. We had a really nice day together yesterday. Leah was off of work, so I did my best to pamper her while I worked. She slept as late as she could, and I couldn't hold in my gifts anymore, so I had her open all of them. I had a strategic method to my madness. She had to open the gifts in a certain order. The first batch f gifts all came from Casey the dog. First she opened up a book of San Francisco architecture. Next was a bottle of Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir. Next was a Zagat Restaurant survey of San Francisco Restaurants. Then she opened the Fodor's guide to San Francisco and the Napa Valley. Finally we reached the big gift from me. For the last 6 months, with the help of a lot of friends, family, and internet research, I have been planning a surprise trip to San Francisco and the Napa Valley. Leah has never been to San Francisco and always has wanted to go. So I made a full scale 4 day itinerary and took it to Kinkos where they blow it on on a foam-core board poster size. She opened it up and loved it. The classic Leah line is "you never take me anywhere other than Cleveland and Scottsdale." She can't say that anymore! We are going to have such an amazing time. Highlights of the trip include Alcatraz, three wine tours including the Niebaum Coppola Winery, and a dinner at Gary Danko - one of the great dining experiences in the country.

The rest of the day was nice. We went to Lunch at the Southport Grocer with our friend Jaime who also had the day off of work. Leah ran a few errands while I came home and worked the rest of the day before falling asleep on the couch for my usual 20 minute power nap. Leah's sister Jessica came over for a quality Sushi dinner and to give her a new watch for her birthday from her whole family. We watched Howard Stern on Larry King, another great interview by Howard. By the way, for all of those who care, Larry asked Howard right off the bat if the rumors are true about him getting married in Mexico last week and he said he would reveal it on the first show on Sirius, Monday morning at 7 am est. Anyways, I think Leah had a really great 30th b-day. It seemed like the phone was ringing off the hook all day long. I want to thank everyone who called her, especially many of my cousins. To me, the highlight call of the day came from my cousin Susie, who's daughter 2 year old Shayna sang Happy Birthday to Leah. It seriously was one of the cutest things I've ever heard. It is a real testament to Leah that she received so many calls and cards yesterday. She deserved all of the props she received.

On to the weekend we go. I of course, a am on my way to vendor Friday at my client. But afterwards, I am coming home, picking up Leah, and heading for a 24 hour jaunt to Kansas City and our college town Lawrence. We get in tonight at 7:1 and we are heading straight to our favorite steak restaurant in KC, Plaza III. If you are ever in KC, make sure you hit in. It is amazing. After steaks and wine, we are heading to Lawrence for the night. Then tomorrow morning we will be heading to my graceland, Allen Fieldhouse for Kansas vs. Kentucky. 11 am cst tip time. Two national powerhouses collide in one of the best venues to see a college basketball game. I cannot wait. We are taking clients to the game, but it will be great anyways. We will be back tomorrow right after the game and going to dinner at Rosebud with Jessica and Justin. I'll be off the blog tomorrow, but i'll give you a full Lawrence report on Sunday.

Song of the Day: "Sparks" by Coldplay

Day 80

January 5th, 1976. That was the day that my life would change forever, and I wasn't even born yet. That day, Leah Stephanie Robuck was brought into this world. Fast forward 18 years to Lawrence, Kansas. It was October 1994. The details are a little hazy, but my brother was in town and we went out drinking at the 18th Amendment. A friend from Cleveland introduced me to a girl she was sitting with. A cute little blonde who my friend said had a lot of relatives from Cleveland. We got to talking and hit it off right there. She played a little hard to get, not falling for my usual rap I used to spit at girls, but there was something there. I was totally intrigued by her, probably in a typical guy way, because she did leave me wanting to know more about her without offering up too much. Over the next few months, she played it cool, while I played it weak. She essentially would hang out with me when she wanted to and I always wanted to hang with her. I would go to the bars when I knew she was there and she would purposely be talking to other guys and ignoring me when I was there. I would leave, not give her the attention she wanted, and she would come to my room to see my later or the next day to see me. So finally in November 1994, we decided to give it a try. Over winter break, we talked quite a bit on the phone and planned on continuing our relationship when we came back.

When we came back from break, I called her when I got back to the dorm and she said to come down and see her, well I said she should come up and see me. I guess that turned her off. I'd say roughly 3 days later, we were pretty much done, on her doing. I don't remember this part that well, but we took a break. For about a month or so, we played stupid games. Finally, I had enough, I wanted her to be with me and I knew I had to go to a different plan because being a nice guy wasn't working. So I started dating another girl who was a very good friend of mine at the time, essentially to see what Leah's reaction to it would be. Typically, she didn't like it one bit and started calling me and coming around a lot more to see me. Everything I wanted was finally happening. After a few weeks of this crap, right around my birthday, we decided that we both wanted to be with each other and we would cease the games. So we stayed a secret for a few weeks while I figured out how I was going to drop the other girl. Once that was done, we began to embark on a journey that has lasted now 11 plus years.

To say I am unbelievable lucky to have Leah as my wife is the understatement of the year. We just fit so well together. I'll be the first one to admit it - I am totally lost without her. I was smitten with her from the first time we spoke. When I was struggling with life the second semester of my freshmen year, she helped me through it. I was dropping out of school if not for her. After it was too late for me to come back for the first semester of my sophomore year, I knew I had to get back there. Did I love KU? At the time, I liked it, but all of my friends were dropping out. Sean used to say that all he remembers about me from freshman year was that I was that weird guy who drove a station wagon. All I had there was Leah. But I knew what I had to do. I had to get back there, and she was the carrot that dangled in front of me at home. I spend the summer and fall of 95 taking classes at Ursuline College (an all women's catholic nursing school) and waited tables. I worked my ass off to get good enough grades so my parents and the school would let me go back. I got all B's and A's and headed back to Lawrence in January. The rest as they say is history.

Leah is beautiful inside and out. She is smart. She is sensitive. But most of all, she is so cool. She is my ideal soulmate. I will be the first to admit that I take a lot more than I give. Whenever we have to do something that may not be something she wants to do, she does it with a smile and never complains. Me? When the situations are reversed, I always ended up complaining about something. Do you think she wants to watch Tribe games every night during the summer or never see me on Sunday's during the fall because I go watch NFL games with my friends? If I want to go out with my friends one night, she doesn't even bat an eye. She is always there with a smile saying "have fun."

The thing I love most about her though is her companionship. I love being with her. Whether it is taking Casey for a walk, going to the grocery store, going to a movie, or just sitting on the couch together watching TV, I just love having her by my side. Never more so than with the loss of my father. Dad absolutely adored her and the feeling was mutual. I was honored to know that my dad would tell Leah often that he loved her. When dad was sick and then eventually passed away, she was the most amazing support system anyone could ever ask for. We have been through a lot this past year and a half, and I can honestly say that I would have gone crazy and off the deep end if I didn't have her there with me. I could go on forever writing about her, but words on a page cannot even begin to describe how much she means to me. Happy 30th birthday my love. I cannot wait to spend 60 plus more birthdays together.

Song of the Day: "If Not For You" by George Harrison - read the lyrics. Talk about an amazing love song:
If not for you, babe I couldn't even find the door; I couldn't even see the floor. I'd be sad and blue; If not for you
If not for you; babe the night would see me wide awake;The day would surely have to breakIt would not be new; If not for you
If not for you my sky would fall Rain would gather too.Without your love I'd be nowhere at all I'd be lost if not for you.
If not for you; the winter would hold no spring - couldn't hear a robin sing - I just wouldn't have a clue; If not for you.

Day 79

I know yesterday that many of the readers of the blog thought I was losing my mind. Not the case. We all have bad days and bad weeks. You don't have to agree with what I said. In fact, other than my mother and brother, I'm sure most of you don't agree with me. That is cool. Its the beauty of this country. We are all free to share our own beliefs and opinions. I once read a quote from Seth Greenberg, the head basketball coach of Virginia Tech that really resonates with me today. He said after a blowout loss, "sometimes you are the tree, and sometimes you are the dog. Tonight, we were the tree." Lately, I have been feeling like the tree. The weather here definitely plays right into the mood I have been in of late. Dark, cold, and Gray. I feel like I left the sun in Arizona.

Tonight is the big game for all of the marbles. The Rose Bowl, the Granddaddy of them all. USC vs. Texas. #1 vs. #2. The game we have been hearing about and waiting for since September. Can Reggie Bush and Matt Leinhart continue to dominate against the tough Texas defense? Can Vince Young shred the Trojans the way he shredded through Michigan in his coming out performance in last year's Rose Bowl? Will the score stay anywhere below 69 total points? This matchup is very intriguing. USC hasn't faced a defense nearly as good as this Texas D. Texas' relatively weak schedule after their impressive road win at Ohio State back in early September is cause for concern. Other than Oklahoma, which was way down this year, the Big 12's lack of decent teams may not have tested the Longhorns. On the other side of the field is the media darlings, The USC Trojans. The Trojans have all the offensive stars any team could ever ask for, They have Top 3 picks at QB and RB, plus another first round pick at RB in Lendale White, who being Bush scored 21 TD's. Their offensive line is littered with first round picks. TE Dominique Byrd is an NFL prospect. Young WR's Dwyane Jarrett and Steve Smith will play on Sunday's. We may never see an offense like this again. Their low point total of the year was 34. They averaged 50 points per game. 50. But again, most of this was against the worst defensive conference in football, the Pac 10. Their defense can be a concern. Fresno State had their way with this defense, scoring 42. Notre Dame put up 31. But when need be, their D always seems to step up with the key turnover or game changing play. I cannot wait for this game. My prediction (and I am always wrong): Give Pete Carroll a month to prepare and he won't lose. USC 34 Texas 24.

A special mention today goes to my Grandmother, Elsie Dery. Tomorrow is he 92nd Birthday. I mention it today because tomorrow is also Leah's 30th, so the blog will be all about her. Grandmon turning 92 is a feat that should not fly under the radar. She may be 92, but she is the sharpest 92 year old woman on the planet. How many Grandmother's do you know who has a lease on their car expire, and the get it renewed for another 3 years? That is my grandmom. Sharp as a tack. I have to give her credit, she is pretty strong. The last two years have been amazingly hard on her. But she maintains. She is the matriarch of the Dery family and I couldn't be prouder to have her as my grandmother.

Song of the Day: "Notorious Thugs" by Notorious B.I.G. - in honor of Ags.

Day 78

Again, today is going to be brief. All of you God-Squadder out there, take a listen. He doesn't exist. Its just something that makes you feel better about yourself and safer in this crazy world. God is a convenient excuse. People lean on their god when times get tough. When Colts coach Tony Dungy lost his son a few weeks ago, he said "We know James is in a better place, and god had his plan for him. He has given his life for the Lord." Whatever gets you to bed at night Tony. What was god's planning in letting B.J. Garson die on new years eve falling off his balcony. They said he would have been fine, but he hit his head on the way down on another balcony. People say all of the time that people who have died "watch over us and guide us." Do you think if this were true, BJ's father, who just died of cancer a little over a year ago, would have just let him drop? There is nothing that my father wouldn't do for me, my brother, or my mother. But I've got news - he is dead and he can't do anything to help us from the grave. If he could, he would. But he can't because there is no afterlife. Sorry to be so bitter today, but I am sick over a lot of things in this world. This is why I write this blog, to vent. Nobody said life was fair or easy, and I should probably just shut my mouth. But not today. The only thing we are guaranteed in this life is that we are all going to one day die. Think about that.

Song of the Day: "Death Around the Corner" by 2Pac

Day 77

I'm back in Chicago. What a surprise, its raining and gray. At least its in the 40's. I've got a big week this week getting back to the grind. Lots of planning and wrapping of gifts for Leah's 30th birthday on Thursday, and then we are leaving for Kansas City Friday night for a quick 24 hour jaunt which includes dinner at Plaza III, my favorite steak restaurant, and the Kansas/Kentucky game. Saturday night we are back here and doing dinner at Rosebud on Taylor with Jessica and Justin. Let the 30th b-day dinner tour begin. I am still planning on the hardcore diet - we are now postponing it for a week.

On the flight home last night, we went through some of the worst turbulence I have ever been a part of. It was brutal. At one point I felt like the plane had been struck by lightning. People who were standing fell over, drinks flew off of tray tables. It was crazy. We watched the movie Hotel Rwanda on our DVD player. 4 stars. This is a movie that is a must see for everyone. The story is truly incredible and sad. Don Cheadle deserved best actor for his role as Paul, the luxury hotel manager who turns his hotel into a refugee camp when the warring factions of his country explode. It was such a powerful movie watching experience. The only other movies I can say that about are Schindler's List and House of Sand and Fog. All three are depressing in their own right (Fog more than the other two) and are movies I think everyone should see.

In other movie reviews on DVD - the 40 Year Old Virgin. I give it a C+. I just didn't think it was all that great. Were there some funny parts? Yes. Did I laugh out loud at times? Of course. But it just tried too hard to be funny. Some of these new comedies go way over the top with the curse words and sophomoric humor that it comes off as forced. Movies like Stripes, Fletch, Trading Places, etc - Their humor may have been sophomoric, but came off as smart. I can't say the same about the 40 Year Old Virgin. This may be a movie I need to see again to fully appreciate. That is what happened with Anchorman. The more I see it, the more I like it.

I love Bowl Day. Back when I was growing up, January 1st was one of my favorite days of the year. Dad always two TV's going and plenty of channel changing. We were always involved in some bowl pool. Mom always made this incredible vat of cheese dip that Dad used to inhale. We sat on the couch all day from 11am till the last game was over, usually the Sugar Bowl, around midnight. It was so solid. That day was so right up my dad's alley. The other thing we did on Bowl dad, probably around 3 or 4 years when I was 8 or 9, was go over to the "Perlmuter Bowl." It was a big bowl party thrown by the Perlmuter's. They all wore referee jerseys, had a ton of food, and multiple TV's. It was a great concept back on the day. I am counting down the minutes until the Ohio State/Notre Dame game. I've been looking forward to it for a month.

I received some sad news yesterday. Todd Friedman called me to tell me that a kid we both went to pre-school and high school with, Brandon "BJ" Garson, died new years eve. Not all of the facts are in, but he may have died falling off his balcony. It is so strange to know someone I grew up with, died before he reached 30. The worst part of all of it is that his mother and sister just a year ago had to bury their husband/father after he lost his battle with cancer. My heart goes out to them.

Song of the Day: "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel

Day 76

Happy New Year 2006. I have several thoughts this morning as I rise for the new year. First off, we had a great time last night with the Rafal's. We went to this Seafood and Steak restaurant in Cave Creek called Cartwright's. It had a very cool southwestern feel to it. They had a fire pit in the center of the restaurant - solid ambiance. We had an teaser that qualifies as technical. It was ahi tuna nachos with crab meat. nice. Had a solid piece of Sea Bass for dinner. Great food, great drinks, and great company. Overall the kind of new years that suits us perfectly. We were the last four people at the restaurant and left around 11:30. Got home, watched about 15 minutes of TV in bed, saw the ball drop (taped for Arizona time) and went to bed. I know, we are such wild and crazy people. I'll say this - we watched ABC's coverage with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. It was so sad. Dick Clark looked and sounded terrible after his stroke. I'm sure he wanted to do this one last time, but it was sad to see him this way. You almost couldn't understand what he was saying and they barely let him talk when he was talking. He was seated in the studio, not outside like he used to be.

Today is the birthday of one of the great men and role models in my life. Uncle Kenny Dery. KD has been an amazing supporter of Matt and me over the past year and a half. It was so tough to lose my dad, but Uncle Kenny has done an incredible job filling that father figure role to us when we needed him. Through all of the ordeal, everyone always looks to myself, my mother, and my brother to see how we are doing, but for some reason, people always forget that he lost his younger brother. That was never lost on me. He has been through a lot in his life, and losing his brother was another struggle he had to face. But as always, he has come through with the class and dignity he has always shown. The man deserves credit and recognition that my blog words cannot do justice. I will forever be grateful for all he has done for me. Stay tight in 06 KD!

We saw Munich yesterday afternoon with my in laws. I liked it, didn't necessarily love it. I can't deal with almost 3 hour movies anymore unless its The Godfather. That being said, it was a good history lesson (even though the events were "based on real life events."). I had read the book "One Day in September" about 5 years ago about the actual Munich kidnappings and killing of the Israeli athletes at the 72 Olympics. That was a great read and very interesting. This movie centered around the Israeli response to the massacre. The questioned was posed to me by Mark P that if this movie didn't have such a large Israel tie-in, did I think that it would be getting so much hype in our little Jewish bubble? I'm guessing no. I would definitely advise seeing it, but it is long.

We are going back home this afternoon. Back to reality (boo!). This was a great and relaxing vacation. My in laws as always were the perfect hosts, we were well fed, well relaxed, and they take great care of Casey the dog. Everyone should be lucky enough to have their in laws living in Scottsdale, its such a great place to visit and so relaxing.

Song of the Day: "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder