Day 194

Its nice to have a full week where I am in town. This weather has been crazy. Monday was 70, sunny, and beautiful. Last night it poured like crazy and now its 35 degrees. EDIT: Its now snowing at 3:10 pm est. In the meantime, I am going all over the board today:

-By now, I'm sure you have all heard about the small plane that crashed into a Manhattan high rise, killing New York Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor. This is yet another terrible tragedy in a country that seems to have them everyday. A few things jump out a me with this story. Obviously when hearing a plane crashes into a building in New York, you immediately think of 9/11. I want to know how any sort of plane can still be able to fly that low over Manhattan. Isn't there a no-fly zone in effect there? Then there is the actual flying of a private plane. So many people, many of which are celebrities, are attempting to become pilots and love the thrill of flying. To me, this is just asking for something bad to happen. JFK Jr was beyond loaded, had a great life, and pretty much had the world as his oyster. Yet he had to become a pilot, was allegedly very inexperienced, and crashed his plane and died. Former Yankee great Thurman Munson was the same way. He was captain of the Yankees in the late 70's and was a icon in New York baseball. In the middle of the 1978 season, when practicing flying, he too died in a plane crash. Lidle loved to fly and had only 88 hours of experience under his belt. I read online today that when asked about his flying, he was quoted as saying "I won't die like Thurman Munson did." Then there is the media coverage - granted, I was watching mostly ESPN, but I was surprised at the amount of coverage this was getting. Mostly though, I was disturbed at one particular thing. Somehow, ESPN got an in-flight video of Lidle during one of his flights, discussing how much he loves flying, what he is looking down on, etc. To me, that was just so wrong. The media today has no feeling when it comes to the family and loved ones of tragedy victims. Have you noticed on the local news how they will be at the door of the family of someone who was just killed and asking them on camera how they feel? Can't they just leave them alone? I know when my dad died, if someone would have immediatley been in my face with a camera, I would flip. Meanwhile, I see Lidle's twin brother Kevin being interview. Leave the poor guy alone. Lastly, I have to credit Ags on this - someone else died in the crash, yet nobody seems to care about or talk about him. Its like his life didn't mean as much as Lidle's just because he wasn't a professional baseball player. For a good take on Lidle and the tragedy, read Jayson Stark's column from espn.com.

-Tomorrow night is one of the most underrated nights of the year - Midnight Madness in college hoops. At midnight tomorrow, the first day of organized practices for schools all over the country begins. This signifies the start of the season. At schools like Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, and Duke, the arenas are packed with fans just to see a dunk contest and scrimmage of their beloved team. This is a big season for my Jayhawks, as we return everyone from last year's surprising 25-8, and add one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Bill Self will be on the hot seat as he will never have more talent than he does on this team. To me, anything less than a Final Four is unacceptable and a National Championship is well within our reach if everyone stays healthy.

-Leah and I have only really picked up two new shows, Studio 60 and The Nine. Both are very good and worth watching. I was not a West Wing follower, but after seeing the first few episodes of Studio 60, I can see why creator Aaron Sorkin is so well respected in the writing community. You have to be attentive because the dialog is very witty and quick. Sometimes I feel like I have to re-watch a scene. The Nine is very well done. You have only missed two episodes and can watch them both online now. Its a good ensemble cast, a thriller type show, which follows the lives of the nine people who were involved in a 52 hour bank robbery siege. Hey, give me some credit, at least its not another bad reality show. We are done with Survivor. Leah also deserves props, as she finally is not longer watching The Bachelor. Talk about garbage TV.

-I've watched the least amount of playoff baseball probably in the last 10 years. In seeing the A's play the Tigers for the AL championship, it makes me see that the Tribe isn't really that far off. When just need some fine tuning in the bullpen and one more big bat. How the A's won 90 plus games and swept the Twins, I will never know. Much to the chagrin of MD, the Tigers look World Series bound after taking a 2-0 lead home with them.

-Lastly, tomorrow is Friday the 13th. October 13th to be exact. It is my cousin Beth's birthday, so birthday love goes out to Beth. Anyone who has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel like we do, is all good in my book. October 13th, 2006 - The Dude himself, coo-zon Steve, turns the big 4-0. I have written about Steve at length many times in this blog. You know how much I love the guy. I'm sure 40 is freaking him out a little and he has been through some tough times as of late, but he can always look east to his little cousin for love and support. Thanks for all of the laughs and love over the years Steve. The beauty of the photo above is that it shows the two people who hate wearing suits the most, wearing suits.

Song of the Day: In honor of the Dude's 40th - "Unbroken Chain" by the Grateful Dead