Day 232 - Andrew Robert Dery

The Dr Appointment – Tuesday morning we arrived at the doctor hopeful that something had changed – it hadn’t. Leah still was not dialated and at the end of the appointment, the doctor said we were going to stick to the schedule of checking in this Sunday for inducement on Monday. Just as we were set to leave, he said he wanted to check her blood pressure one more time because it looked a little high. He instructed us to go talk to his nurse Nancy and he would be right in. Nancy then told us to get ready because we are going to the hospital. It was odd because 30 seconds earlier, the doctor told us Sunday. We were beside ourselves – the doctor came in and said “you received your wish; this is your lucky day.” So we went home, showered quickly, got our bag and other things together and headed to the hospital.

The Hospital – Day One - We arrived around 12:30 and check into our room. At this point, Leah was still not dialated. The nurses told us the plan – at 1:00 PM (this is Tuesday) Leah would be given a dose of Cervadil to soften her cervix. This is a 12 hour deal. At 1:30 am they would check her for progress and at 2:30 they would give her the Putocin to induce labor. Leah was suffering from what we thought were strong contractions throughout the early evening. At 9:30 we walked around the delivery area and stopped to look at the newborns. At 10, Leah was given an Ambian to help her sleep and she passed out. I was watching some Florida/Tennessee action on ESPN. I turned the TV off around 11:30 and tried to sleep. I was awakened at midnight to one of the nurses coming in to check on Leah. About 15 minutes later, her contractions got progressively worse. The nurse was telling us that this was a good thing, but if you could have seen Leah, you’d disagree. At 1:30 am they checked her out and she was dialated 2 centimeters, but the pain was becoming unbearable. For the next two hours, I sat here and watched Leah go through the worst pain that I could ever imagine – every minute the contractions were hitting. She was breathing so hard and writhing in pain, to the point where she couldn’t take it anymore. She was SO TOUGH. I looked at her and thought to myself, “If this were me, I’d have tapped out by now.” At 3:10 – I wrote this email to my mother and mother in law:
“It’s 3:10 am, Leah had awful contractions every minute since 12:30. I’m talking screaming in pain. At 3, her water broke and she is 2 cm dialated. They are now putting in the epidural…FINALLY! She slept from 10:10 to 12. I’ve gotten 30 minutes. My respect for women has jumped 100%. Her pain threshold is unreal. I’ll call you when we get up, if we ever get to sleep that is! Leah is so tough.

After the epidural was put it, she was a new woman and out like a light. That stuff is magical. Anyone who doesn’t take it is CRAZY. We both slept on and off from 4-6. Leah woke me up once to get the nurse and then she threw up on the floor. I allegedly got up to help, though details are foggy to me. I was awakened to find out that Leah is now 8 cm dialated and we are looking good for a late morning birth.

The Day – So we waited, and waited, and waited, for Leah to be ready. Most of the morning, her cervix still wasn’t ready. I called my mom and mother in law all morning to tell them I’d call when she was ready. Well they couldn’t wait and they arrived at 9:30. Finally at noon, Leah was ready. So at 12:30, she started the pushing. The first hour was tough and Leah ran out of gas. So she took a 45 minute break to relax and get some sleep. Keep in mind, she was fighting horrible contractions all night and was on about 2 hours sleep. So we started again; the nurse holding one leg, me holding the other. I’m telling you this – I have a new found respect for the female gender and their toughness. I could never do what Leah did the last 24 hours. But back to the birth. So around 3, the doctor came in and said the baby was stuck at the bottom and he was going to use a vacuum to help get him out. That didn’t work, so without Leah knowing, he went to the forceps. At 3:33, Andrew Robert Dery emerged from his mother’s womb.

I have to tell you, everyone and their mother who has a kid told me that the birth of your child is the most amazing experience of your life. I have to concur. Watching my son come out – words cannot express how unbelievable it was. The emotions just rushed over me and I began to weep. There he was, my son. He came out with a full head of Black hair, just like his father. He is a healthy 7 pounds, 7 ounces, 20.5 inches long. He has been a good boy so far in the six hours I have known him. To see the excitement on my in laws and my mother’s face was amazing. When I came down to get Stacey and my mom; my mom and I shared an embraced that I will never forget - So much emotion in missing dad so much. It just hit us both.

Leah wasn’t doing too hot though. The delivery was pretty rough on her and caused a lot of extra bleeding. Her blood pressure was extremely high, so instead of moving us into the post-partum section, Leah was put in triage and monitored closely. The doctor told us she was at risk of having a seizure. This freaked me out. I obviously have major issues with hospitals after what we went through with my father and the Cleveland Clinic. Hearing that she was at risk of a seizure that could cause major damage was stunning. So for a couple of hours I was freaking out. Leah was pretty out of it on pain medication. Stacey and Leah told me to go home and get some sleep and shower, since I was running on fumes. I didn’t want to leave Leah, but she convinced me she needed me strong for tomorrow, so now I’m home. I’ll be back at 6 am tomorrow. I’m happy to report that I spoke with Leah and Stacey and Leah is much improved. He BP is down to 150/87 which is a drastic improvement and she says she is feeling much better. We are still hopeful that we can come home Friday and begin our lives as a family – Leah, Todd, Andrew, and Casey the dog!

To all of you who called and sent emails, I appreciate the sentiments. I am so proud to be a father and to go through the gambit of emotions the way I did today. This is a day I will never forget and cherish the rest of my life. My son, Andrew Robert Dery was brought into this world. He is named after the two most influential men of my life – My grandfather Arthur and my father, the great Robert “Bobby D” himself. I know somewhere, they are smiling tonight.

Day 232

Well we have arrived at "D-Day." Today, February 26th, is the day that Leah is due. Have we had any signs that it is going down today? Nope. Do I have a feeling that she is going to go today? Nope. Do I think that we are going to have to wait until the doctor's March 4th check in, March 5th inducement date? Unfortunately, yes. This longest month ever is going to take a little bit longer. So here we are, staring at each other, my mother and father in law included. He left today to go to Charlotte and Birmingham until Thursday. Tomorrow morning we have our last doctor's appointment. I'm hoping that we will find out that Leah is somewhat dialated and maybe he can get things moving for us so we can go. How many more times can I tell you that the waiting is killing me? I feel so bad for Leah - as annoyed as I am, she is just as annoyed AND has to walk around with a kid inside of her, then give birth. Sounds like fun huh? So many women have told us how much they loved being pregnant. Not my wife. Lets just get this over with already. I am more than ready to meet my son. I can only hope that my next post is an alert that its all going down. So for another entry, you will be forced to read about my views on the world and popular culture.

I wasted three hours of my life watching the Academy Awards last night. Talk about boring. Ellen Degeneris as host? Not funny. Bring back Chris Rock or Billy Crystal for the 85th time. At least those two make me laugh. Ellen, not so much. And what's with her always in the bright white tennis shoes? I though they always start with one or two big awards to suck you in. Not this year. So we sat there and watched in boredom for hours. My takes: Is anyone else sick of Jennifer Hudson besides me? First off, she has become way too arrogant. I saw her big time the great Ryan Seacrest on the E pre-show. The thanking God bit? ENOUGH ALREADY! She was in one musical and has peaked. The good news is now that the awards season is over, we don't have to see her anymore. You won't see her in anything anytime soon. Was she really that good in this movie really? I was rooting for her to lose. I didn't see Little Miss Sunshine, but I'd like to. Its on the rental list. Alan Arkin's speech was good...good and terrible. So those are the big awards that I saw, and I stayed up until 11:30. Though the last half hour I was mostly watching a classic Seinfeld episode - "The Muffin Tops." The Peterman Reality Bus Tour was in full effect. Jerry was shaving his chest for his girlfriend (who was Julie Cooper on The O.C), Elaine helping Mr Lipman with his "Top of the Muffin To YOU!" store, and George was faking being an out of towner to date a New York city tour guide. So good. But I digress - Martin Scorsese was long overdue for his win for Best Director for The Departed, which also won Best Picture. This deserved all the praise. What a great flick. Long and the short of it - I'm done with the Oscar's snooze fests. The silver lining in this boredom was that I was able to finish my entire weekly report for work.

Saturday night we had an 8 PM reservation at Mitchell's Fish market, one of our favorite's here. We got there at 5 to 8. They told us our table was full, the people had already paid and wouldn't leave. A half hour goes by and we are still waiting. We asked for a different table, they said fine. They never got us one. Now its 8:45. The people still haven't paid and they still haven't gotten us a new table. Now we are on the manager and the hostess big time. They say they have a table for us. We go over and its two, two top tables pushed together, with a 5th chair put in the aisle where the servers walk through. This wasn't going to work. So we waited again. Finally, at 9:10 we were sat at the table that was supposed to be ours at 8. The throw free teasers at us. Fine. Max orders a glass of wine which they never bring. The food was excellent, the service sub par. We get the bill, full charge for everything except the teasers. Its not like this was Joe's Stone Crab or the restaurant was crazy crowded. They put a comment card in with the bill and I think Max wrote a novel on it ripping everything but the food.

So the wall unit in which I have been waiting almost 6 months for is finally finished. I had a guy out here giving me an estimate for the system being put in on Thursday and this Thursday, assuming we have no baby, my house will finally be completed. The wall unit, or as I like to call it the 2007 "Dominic Bat-Rack" was the last piece. For those who don't know the story, growing up, my father, an avid sports memorabilia collector, had a guy who worked at his company make him a bat rack for all of his game used MLB bats. His name was Dominic. Like the wall unit which should have been finished months ago, the bat rack became a running joke. Dad used to always ask Dominic "so, how's that bat rack coming?" He'd say "almost finished." Yet somehow, we never sa it. The thing was never completed. The company eventually closed and Dominic and the bat rack were never to be heard from again. Anyways, so today, Dave (maker of the unit) came by to take apart the existing wall unit which was being unused. I never realized until it was taken apart how many pieces there were. There were five big heavy pieces total. Dave and I had to move them. We all know how strong I am. Dave is a big guy, but over 60. The guy is an ox. So Strong. I'm struggling and he is all good. We took two of the shelves into the basement and the other three large pieces out to the garage for disposal. I've go to give the guy credit for one thing, he is one strong M'fer. He may have taken 6 months to build the piece, but I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. Meanwhile, I am still weak. The last time I had to carry furniture, I also fell over twice as our baby armour's (no clue if i spelled that right) were unbelievably heavy and I had to carry them up stairs with another man over 60 who was clearly stronger than me.

Lastly, our treadmill arrived Saturday and I am two for two. I'll be on it for a half hour during the first half of the KU game tonight. By the way, in case you hadn't noticed, my Jayhawks are playing some good ball right now and are up to #3 in the polls. I don't put much stock into the polls, but the top teams ahead of us keep losing. Meanwhile, I watched yesterday's "1 vs 1" battle between Ohio State and Wisconsin. I cam away completely un-impressed with both teams.I truly believe we could smoke them both. The tournament is only a few weeks away. i cannot wait. My son and the tournament...yessah.

Song of the Day: "Where I Wanna Be" by Shaide Sheist featuring Nate Dogg

Day 231

I was hoping that this post was going to be talking about either Leah being in labor or the birth of our son, but unfortunately, I've got nothing to report. Yesterday morning we had our weekly doctor's appointment. We were hoping that the doctor would tell us that Leah was at least dialated. Much to our chagrin, she was not. There are ways to start the process, one is what the doctor calls "stripping the membranes." I don't need to get into how that all works, but he was unable to do so. We were obviously very disappointed. Everyone has their own antidotes on what brought on labor in their situation. Eating spicy food, long walks, driving down bumpy roads, sex, etc. Nothing seems to be working for us. The doctor told us that the baby still hasn't dropped yet and we are almost at Leah's due date, February 26th. Our next (and final appointment is February 28th, six days from now. If nothing has happened then, he told us that he wants Leah to check into the hospital on Sunday March 4th and induced March 5th. March 5th seems a long way off. I wrote this before, but now its more true than ever - this last month feels like a year. I cannot take this waiting anymore. Leah's mom arrived from Arizona and my mom came back from Florida yesterday. So anytime our son wants to come out, its all good by me. Leah's dad is coming in Friday for the weekend as well. We all assumed he would be here by now. But you know what they say - you should never assume, it makes an ass out of u and me. Leah's dad is travelling for work next week, but using Cleveland as his home base.

I never thought I'd say that I enjoy travelling for business, but since I haven't in a month, I now realize that its healthy for me. Its good to get away from time to time. I was not built to sit at a desk all day in front of a computer. I just cant do it, I get too antsy. That is what I have been doing now for a month. Living here without the majority of my friends or even things to do for that matter, doesn't help. I know, I should be enjoying my last few days like this because everything is about to change, but as a wise skinny man with glasses once told me, "it is what it is." I am bouncing off the walls here. The good news is that I'm going to the Cavs/Bulls game tonight with floor seats. I'm very much looking forward to that.

I don't know if you have done any reading about NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. Details are starting to leak out about what was thought to be a relatively quiet weekend. Now you hear of mass violence, shootings, beatings, and robbery all throughout the city. AOL and Kansas City Star Columnist Jason Whitlock was there and in his article today, describes the chaos that ensued. Other columnists such as ESPN Page 2's Bill Simmons agreed with Whitlock's assessment. Whitlock's most chilling description: There were so many fights and so many gangbangers and one parking-lot shootout at the MGM Grand that people literally fled the hotel in fear for their safety. I talked with a woman who moved from the MGM to the Luxor because "I couldn't take it. I'll never come back to another All-Star Game." The cab lines at all of the major hotels were an hour and 45 minutes long all weekend, so many patrons chose to walk down the strip to their destinations instead. Bad idea. The Strip was described as a free for all where police did little and hundreds of visitors were beaten and robbed. As Simmons wrote in his piece: Here's the lingering question: Since Vegas' ultimate goal was to win everyone over and prove its worth as an NBA city, and since All-Star Weekend has previously proven itself as a destination spot for every gangbanger and troublemaker within a 750-mile radius, why not import extra policemen and National Guardsmen like New Orleans did before Super Bowl XXXVI, just to make sure everyone felt totally safe? Why would they want visitors saying stuff like "I don't care how long this cab line is, there's no way I'm walking the Strip" and "I wonder if we'll have the biggest riot in the history of sports this weekend?" Simmons also said that on his 25 minute walk down the Strip Saturday night, he was only "scared about 375 times."

Then comes the worst. Tennessee Cornerback and resident bum Adam "Pac Man" Jones set off a riot in a Vegas Strip Club that was so bad, it led to two men being shot, including a bouncer at the club who is now paralyzed for the rest of his life. Read this crazy story here. Pac Man brought a garbage bag full of cash to the tune of $81,000 with him to the club and began to drop it like rain all over the girls. One of the ladies started to pick up the money. According to the owner of the club, Rob Susnar, Pac Man grabbed the girl by the hair and slammed her head into the ground, then punched her in the face. A bouncer grabbed him to restrain him, but let go after Pac man's girlfriend hit the bouncer over the head with a Champagne bottle. A full sclae melee broke up and the club was cleared. As it was cleared, with five witnesses there, Pac Man told the bouncer "I'm going to kill you." An hour later, the club was re-opened and everyone had to go through a metal detector. A man in Pac Man's entourage fired a gun at the bouncer at the door of the club, hitting him in the chest and shattering his spine. I have several questions. 1. Who brings $81,000 in cash to a strip club in a garbage bag. 2. Who punches women in the face, let alone in public with hundreds of witnesses around? 3. After being arrested and linked to not one, not two, but EIGHT different crimes in the last two years, when does Adam "Pac Man" Jones finally have to do jail time? Bottom line - this guy is a piece of shit and should be locked up. As for All Star weekend, next year it is in New Orleans. Can you imagine the crime that is going to take place down there next year? You couldn't pay me enough to go there. Above is one of his several mug shots.

Speaking of Vegas, for the last two years, I have been down in Vegas the week before the NCAA Tournament. Most likely, that same weekend this year, I will be witnessing the birth of my child. Now that is a scary thought.

RIP out to one of my all time favorite NBA players, Dennis Johnson, who died at age 52 today. I love DJ. He was so smooth on the floor. A sad, sad story.

I've got nothin left today folks...

Song of the Day: "Perfect Gentleman" by Wyclef Jean

Day 230

I've got to start with the crazy world of Britney Spears. What has happened to her? Not that long ago she had the world by the balls and was as big of a celebrity as their was. Then she marries the leech of all leeches, K-Fed, gets knocked up by this loser twice, and predictably files for divorce after 18 months. Post-split she has been out clubbing with the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and is photographed coming out of a car with no underwear on which by now everyone has seen on the internet. Next she is stripping down to her bra and panties while dancing with strippers at a New York club last week. Now we hit the weekend and the all time low point. Britney checks into rehab. The next day Britney checks out of rehab. A few hours later Britney walks into a salon asking for a new tattoo and for someone to shave her head. Reportedly nobody at the salon would do it and begged her not to. So what does Britney do? Does she walk out? Nah. She grabs the nearest set of clippers and does it herself! So here she is above, the bald Britney Spears. What happened to her? Talk about someone who caved under the media spotlight. She is now the poster child for the E True Hollywood Story. Remember back when it was Britney vs. Christina Aguilera as the top female music sensation? There careers couldn't have gone in more different directions. Both were smokin hot in their own way; Britney was all style and attitude with no substance. Christina had the pipes to go along with her pretty face, but people used to think she was the trashy one. Times sure have changed. While Christina was performing at halftime of the NBA All Star game and bringing down the house, Britney was shaving her head completely bald. Christina is the one with staying power in the music industry. Britney's staying power is all tabloid related. Here's hoping she grows her hair back. gets into shape, and does Playboy, because at this point, that's all there is left for her to do. As Dan Patrick said on the radio today "who would have though K-Fed would be the sane one in that relationship."

On Friday, Leah had her last day of work. When she arrived, she was shocked to see that the people at her office threw her a baby shower. They got her a ton of gifts, took her to lunch later in the day, and showered her with compliments. It was so nice of them considering she only worked there for 4 months. For those who didn't know, Leah had been working for my cousin's husband Steve at his scrap metal business. She really enjoyed working there and it turned out to be the perfect job for her. We haven't decided if she is going to go back after the baby is born. I think from a mental heath standpoint. she will want to go back part time, but we shall see. In the meantime I have to thank Steve again for bringing Leah on. We owe him big time.

Speaking of the baby, another weekend went by without even one contraction. Leah is still very uncomfortable and we are on pins and needles here. I feel like this last month has taken a year. The anticipation is killing me. My prediction of Tuesday or Wednesday is not looking too good. Hopefully I am wrong and Leah will go into labor tonight, but I'm not optimistic. We have another doctor's appointment on Wednesday and we are going to talk about scheduling Leah to be induced, whether he likes it or not!

In other news, after almost a year without doing so, Dave and Sara have finally picked a place and set a date for their wedding. Saturday April 5th at the Gasparilla Resort in Boca Grande, Florida. They were engaged last April. I told them that it wouldn't have been good if Leah got pregnant, had a full term pregnancy and gave birth before they set a date. That would be classic Dave though. That wedding will for sure be a blast. There is only one down side - the wedding is the night of the Final Four next year. I don't want to be the one that breaks it to him. He won't care though.

I just received a phone call from my friend Teddy who said that Satellite radio providers XM and Sirius are set to announce that they have merged. I Googled it and found this to be true. Click here to read the details. I don't know how that affects the programming but I for one am excited. Leah's car has XM in it and I am of course a Sirius guy because of Howard Stern. Satellite radio is the best. I don't know how anyone listens to regular "terrestrial" radio anymore. If you haven't come aboard, you have to. Its well worth the money and post-merger will be the time to make the switch. Anyone who has satellite radio would agree - once you get it, you never can listen to terrestrial radio again.

The treadmill has officially been purchased and is being delivered on Saturday. Leah got us one for my birthday (coming soon) and we went to pick it out on Sunday. It will be in our basement in front of a big screen TV. Now I definitely have no reason not to work out. I'm excited about it. I ran quite a bit outside this summer and on my mom's treadmill during the fall. I'm gonna need to get some of that energy out with my lack of sleep soon to come.

Lastly, there is nobody on TV I hate despise more than ESPN's Stuart Scott. He is a first class clown who tries way too hard and has become a cartoon character. Watching him over the weekend doing NBA All Star weekend coverage was nauseating. When he interviews a young black athlete, he goes into "Stu-ya" mode, trying to be hip and talk in his lingo. Give him an interview with say NBA legend Jerry West and you see a different guy. Don't miss the photo of this idiot above. What a p-rod.

Song of the Day: "The Waiting" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Day 229

Since I last left you it has snowed. And snowed. And snowed some more. We got at least 16 inches of snow on the ground here. I’ve been out shoveling the walk each day, mostly so Casey has a place to go to the bathroom. It was all good yesterday and I woke up yesterday morning and all of my hard work was for naught. The snow was waste high in the drifts. I went back out when the blizzard slowed down. The above photo is what I looked like out there. The good news in all of this is that Leah did not go into labor because it would have taken us an hour to get to the hospital. Tuesday morning we had our weekly appointment with the doctor. Unfortunately, Leah is not dialated at all. The doctor said it doesn’t mean anything – she could still go into labor at anytime, but its looking like we are still some days away. Leah was disappointed, as was I, but I know it will all be worth the wait. Our next appointment is Wednesday so we will see if there us any progress. The receptionist at my office is pregnant and due the same day as Leah. I was told today that over the weekend she had bad contractions and went to the hospital. After being there for 24 hours, they sent her home and said she could be another week or so.

I know I talked at length about this Monday, but this Howard K. Stern guy is unbelievable. I have watched three straight nights on Entertainment Tonight of behind the scenes with Stern as he flies back to the Bahamas. Mark Steines from ET was with him for everything, talking to him during the flight as he fought back (phony) tears. The cameras followed him in the car ride to his house. In his house as he finds his house ransacked. More phony tears. The cameras were with him at the “top-secret safe house” where he was reunited with baby Dannilynn. That was a classic TV moment – nobody is a worse actor than Howard K. Stern. This story just never seems to go away and has a new twist every day. Yesterday it was Howard K. Stern’s sister Bonnie vouching for her brother and how much he loved Anna Nicole and how “everything he does is for Dannilynn.” Today its Anna Nicole’s mother, whom she hated and claims beat her, is trying to get custody of Dannilynn and have Anna Nicole’s body buried in Texas where she wants it, while Howard K. Stern wants Anna buried next two her son Daniel in the Bahamas. The whole thing is sickening. This scumbag claims to be so broken up that at one point he was “catatonic,” yet he has cameras following him at all times and was reportedly paid $1 million to do so? He wasn’t too broken up to broker that deal. I despise him.

Then we move onto one of my favorite people, the real Howard Stern. Anyone that knows me knows that there are few bigger fans of Howard than me. I’ve been listening to him since my Junior Year in high school when he first came to Cleveland. My dad stumbled on to him during business trips to Baltimore and just loved him. His divorce to first wife Alison was well documented and for the last eight years, I’ve been listening to Howard talk about how he would “never, ever get married again.” He would say “marriage is the biggest mistake any guy could make” and his long-term relationship with girlfriend Beth Ostrosky was “perfect just the way it is.” He even went so far as to betting his sidekick Robin Quivers $1 million that he would never get married again. They brought that clip out of the woodwork a few months ago. Over the last year though, we could tell he was softening. Then yesterday morning, he announced the big news - Howard asked Beth to marry him and she of course said yes. I have to say that I'm very disappointed. This is the all time hypocrite move by him. His crew and the callers killed him all show yesterday and rightfully so. To me, Beth is nothing more than Heather Mills McCartney. I think she is a total user. Like Mills with her "No More Landmines" campaign that she forced on Paul, all we hear about is "the North Shore Animal League" and her TV show "Casino Cinema." My favorite is how Howard was talking a few weeks back about how Beth and Billy Joel's young wife have been hired as correspondents for Extra. She was a model before meeting Howard (name me something you've seen her in other than FHM Magazine which she only got because she is with Howard). I don't even think she is that hot. She's got horse face. Anyways, I'm very disappointed in my boy for not taking his own advice. He still claims he will never had kids again, but I'll believe that when I see it.

Over the past week, former NBA player John Amaechi, who once played here in Cleveland, announced in a book that he is gay. Amaechi is the first NBA player, current or former, to ever come out. There have been various reactions throughout the league from players. Some of which were appalling and beyond idiotic. Scrub NBA center who doesn't deserve to be in the league Shavlik Randolph of the Philadelphia 76ers got off this blast: "As long as you don't bring your gayness on me I'm fine." "Gayness?" This is a guy who went to Duke. Cavaliers star Lebron James had a strange take as well: "With team-mates you have to be trustworthy, and if you're gay and you're not admitting that you are, then you are not trustworthy," James said. "So that's like the number one thing as team-mates, we all trust each other. You've heard of the in-room, locker room code. What happens in the locker room stays in there. It's a trust factor, honestly. A big trust factor." Hey Lebron, what's the difference in Amaechi keeping to himself or having a teammate like Shawn Kemp who has fathered 10 or 12 kids out of wedlock or a teammate who was seen out getting loaded all the time and took games off because of it? Do you trust those guys? Then you have the all time worst. Former NBA Point Guard Tim Hardaway spewed this hate on a Miami radio show yesterday: "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States." When host Dan Lebatard aksed him about having a gay teammate, Hardaway said "First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that's right. And you know I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that. Are we really still that closed minded? Its amazing to me that guys like Hardaway, who have been in the media spoltight for years would be this moronic. He obviously doesn't care who he offends, but its just crazy to me how people are so anti-gay. Who cares how someone lives their lifestyle? Its not like Amaechi was going up to the rest of the guys in the showers and reaching for their packages. Tim Hardaway - nice job buddy! This is why Charles Barkley said that athletes should not be kids role models. Click here to listen to the comments.

We also had another classic meltdown that is too funny not to post. Colorado Football coach Dan Hawkins is coming off a tough year. In his first season, his Buffs went 2-10. Hawkins is a different cat no doubt, and his players have always loved him. He was talking to the press about how he wants his kids to be tougher and used an example. Hawkins received an anonymous letter for a parent of one of his players claiming they didn't get enough time off this offseason (one less week). Out of nowhere, he started yelling "THIS IS DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL!! THIS IS THE BIG!!!! THIS ISN'T INTERMURALS!!! You have to click here to listen. Its one of my new favorites.

Lastly, I know yesterday was Valentine's day, but we didn't really do much celebrating. We are waiting for the baby so we decided to just exchange cards and have a home cooked meal. But I have to give a shout out to my beautiful about to burst wife. She is such a good sport and while I know she is miserable, she does her best to keep it in house, even though I can see it in her face. Its almost over my dear! Then the real fun begins....

Song of the Day: "Family Business" by Kanye West

Day 228

Another weekend has passed and no baby. I am waiting not so patiently for my son to arrive and trying to keep myself busy. I am consumed with wanting to meet him and beginning this journey called fatherhood. But in the meantime, I am cramming in all of the sporting events, TV shows, etc that I can manage. Here is a rundown of comments and weekend thoughts since I last broke it down:

-We have gotta to talk about the death of Anna Nicole Smith. As I'm sure you all know. Anna Nicole was found dead in her hotel room on Thursday afternoon in Hollywood, Florida. There have been so many rumors and so much speculation about her death, her estate, and the father of her child Dannielynn. Anna Nicole is such a tragic figure. Take a look at her rise and fall. Between the marriage to the 89 year old guy and being called out by everyone as a gold digger, the subsequent long trial over his estate, being playmate of the year, the guess jeans ads, the bad movies, getting up to almost 300 pounds, her reality show, losing all the weight on trim spa, the birth of Dannielynn,, the death of her son Daniel, avoiding a paternity test, marrying that loser Howard K. Stern, and now her in a hotel room where prescription pills we found all over the room, her life has all the making of a big time Hollywood movie. I give it 2 years before we see that movie on the big screen or 6 months before it becomes a TV movie. Then we get to the rumors. Is there anything better than this one that I found on Bricks and Stones: Our Hollywood, Florida source visited the Hard Rock Hotel today and picked up a little information about Anna Nicole's time there. Hotel sources say that when Anna arrived a few days ago she was "out of it" and slurring her words and she stayed that way during her visit. Also it seemed that Anna was REALLY dreading the court ordered blood test for her baby - and her reasons might be far more complicated that we assumed. Someone actually speculated that the baby might not have been fathered by either Larry Birkhead OR Howard Stern. Keep in mind this is pure speculation, but this person implied that the baby could have been fathered by someone very close to Anna - someone like her own son Daniel. It's a horrible thought, but remember, Anna lived in a different world than most of us. Hopefully, the eventual blood test will prove this rumor wrong. All I can say to that one is yikes.

Then we get to the question of who is the father of this child. Two weeks ago, it was two men, Howard K. Stern and photographer Larry Birkhead. Now Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Prince Frederick von Anhalt claims he had a year long affair with Anna Nicole and he is the father. The 4th candidate is actually dead - rumor has it that its the frozen sperm of the 89 year old man she was once married to, J. Howard Marshall. I know I am not the only one who is rivted by this story. Finally, we come to Howard K. Stern. First off, there is no bigger loser on the planet currently. I am convinced he is involved in all of this. I think he had a hand in the death of Anna's son Daniel, who died a few hours after the birth of Dannielynn of an apparent drug overdose. He gets his name put on the birth certificate of the child and we all know its not his. Now Anna Nicole is found dead allegedly with pills in her system and found in her hotel room. Where was Howard K. Stern during this? Supposedly he was out buying a $250,000 boat for them. Who has the most to gain from Anna Nicole's death? Howard K. Stern. He is a lawyer with one client, Anna Nicole. He must know everything about her finances and her estate. Who else had the power to go in and change any terms? Howard K. Stern. This guy is bad news and definitely involved somehow. He is the new OJ. Meanwhile, the real Howard Stern for months has been freaking out about how the media continues to get his name confused in the stories with Anna Nicole and it drives him crazy. He played several sound clips of national and international media screwing it up and saying that the father of the child is either Larry Birkhead or shock jock Howard Stern. Classic. I still cannot believe how much publicity this story gets. Really, who is Anna Nicole Smith anyways?

-I was thrilled to hear from my friend Lindsey that her sister in law Kim has given birth to a baby girl, Jordan Kenzie Schaefer on Friday. She came out with a full head of dark hair, just like her father had. The Schaefer family has had to deal with a horrible tragedy with Kevin's death a few months ago, and the birth of Jordan is a much welcomed bundle of joy for all of them. As Lindsey told me, it was emotional at times but definitely more happy than sad. Kim was a total rock. I've never actually met Kim, but I could not have more respect for her going through all of this alone. Congratulations to her and the Schaefer family.

-Last Tuesday, I went to my first Brazilian Steakhouse, Brassa, with the writers of The Cleveland Fan website that I write for. It was a very nice gesture of the creator of the site to take all of the writers out. The guys were pretty much a good group of big Cleveland sports fans. Anyways, if you haven't been to a Brazilian Steakhouse before, essentially there is no menu, they have a teaser bar that you load up on beforehand. Then they bring out these giant spiggots of meat, one after another. Pork, Sausage, Filet, Sirloin, etc. Every kind of meat you can imagine. But literally, everytime you look over your shoulder, another guy is there. It was just too much. I felt disgusting about halfway through the meal. I don't think i'd ever go back. That and the fact that I had to make the executive decision to bomb out before I went home and then killed it again when i got home. Not eating for 6 weeks + large quantities of various meats is the recipe for a stomach ache. The next day, all the guys were emailing and everyone else got sick as well.

-Anyone catch Mary J. Blige's act on the Grammy's last night? Not only did she do my favorite move of thanking her lord and savior about 50 times, but she was up on stage several times talking about herself and the changes in her life. Memo to Mary J, nobody cares! Take your awards and get off the stage. I actually dig her old stuff. Meanwhile, the Police reunion was very lame. Sting has been singing Police tunes for years on stage. The other two members of the band, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are great musicians, but the band to people like me is Sting. Plus, they did the all time overrated tune, "Roxanne." Give me some "Spirits in the Material World, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," or "King of Pain."

-We went in a box yesterday to the Cavs/Lakers game with Jeremy and Amy. The Cavs did win, but I took a couple of things away from it. The NBA experience is so odd. Its not about the product on the floor, its all about the givewaways and games at each timeout, the Cavalier girls dance routines, the mascot Moondog, and making the crowd get louder, even when the don't want to. Do I need this jackass Ahmad Crump yelling "Give me a C! give me an A!" Its so lame. Why the indoor fireworks before the game? Nobody likes them. How do you bring a young kid to these games? My friend Matt has a 4 year old and he said in no way would he take his son to the game - it would scare him way too much. Its so loud in there with the bad music and the jackass guy on the microphone. Instead, he takes him to Cleveland State games where there is nobody there, he can relax, spread out, and teach his son about the game of basketball.

Back to the Cavs, they just finished a 4-1 homestand and seemed to have found a key bench scorer in Sasha Pavlovic. The problem is that Lebron James, as I have said before, has regressed. He is not making his free throws and he is pounding the ball on the floor way too often and settling for bad jump shots. I don't watch too much NBA other than Cavs games, but yesterday Kobe Bryant was amazing. He is truly the real deal. He showed Lebron who is the real superstar. Kobe gets to the hole and finishes as well as anyone I've seen since MJ and is pretty much automatic on jump shots. He has less talent around him than Lebron, plays in the far superior conference, and has the same record as the Cavs.

-Finally, we live in a strange world. Don't miss this story. A Providence, RI couple was arrested and are heading to trial on charges that they had sex in front of the woman's 9 year old daughter. They claimed they were trying to give her their own sexual education. My favorite is that the guy said that they have sex in front of the child "all the time." Classic.

Song of the Day: "No More Questions" by Eazy-E

Day 227

The deep freeze continues here in the Midwest. Seems like its never going to end. You can completely understand why people live out West and hate the cold. There is literally nothing fun about 8 degrees and clouds. I've got a few briefs comments on various subjects today.

1. By now, I'm sure you have heard the comments by Senator Joe Biden regarding Barack Obama. Earlier this week, Biden announced he was going to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, something he had been denying for months. I actually like Biden and his views. But he might as well drop out now. He made a classic mistake and put his foot in his mouth with this comment about Obama running for President: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Now I think I understand what he was saying, but out of context, it looks so bad. In speaking about this with a well respected NBA GM over email, he said there is nothing worse than going to the "articulate card" to describe a Black man. Ever heard a white guy described as "well-spoken?" In the meantime, Biden has tried to cover himself, but its to no avail. All you have to do is do a little digging and you can find another classic Biden quote from last summer when he told an Indian-American man "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." Yikes. Not only has he shot himself in the foot, he essentially killed his own nomination chances in his first day.

2. From the "athletes who don't know ho good they have it" file: Chicago Bulls Rookie Forward Tyrus Thomas was asked to participate in next weekend Slam Dunk contest at NBA All star weekend in Las Vegas. So to start off, he gets a free trip to Vegas. He was the #2 pick in the draft so he has a guaranteed $12-$15 million coming to him no matter what comes of his NBA career. He gets a minimum of $16,500 just for participating in the Dunk Contest. Thomas was quoted in Tuesday's editions of the Chicago Tribune as saying: "I'm just going to go out there, get my check and call it a day." When asked if being around some of the game's greats could be beneficial for a rookie, he responded, "I'm just into the free money. That's it. I'll just do whatever when I get out there." Talk about another case of a selfish, spoiled brat NBA player who doesn't know how good he has it. Since Thomas' comments hit the papers, the media both national and local has jumped all over him. The local Bulls beat reporters have all come out of the woodwork talking about how aloof he is towards the press and how immature he is. Check out this doozy from the Daily Southtown: On several occasions in the locker room this season, I have seen or heard Thomas mimic the media while embarrassed teammates roll their eyes. Along those lines, ex-Bulls star Scottie Pippen recently told me that the kid had a long, long way to go to become a mature professional.
Several times Bulls head coach Scott Skiles has mentioned that Thomas leaves something to be desired in the way of stamina and practice habits. Don't be surprised. This is the same guy who begged out of a pre-draft workout at the Berto Center because of a tummy ache.
Then there was this doozy while Thomas was in New York to attend a pre-draft function last spring.
It seems that Thomas and a few league executives cabbed it to a hotel. Upon their arrival, Thomas actually expected them to take care of his luggage.
"The league execs couldn't believe it," the source said. "They were like, 'You expect us to do what? Take your own (darn) bags.' The guy turned off a lot of people even before he played a game."
This gives even more credence to Charles Barkley's famous "I am not a role model" statement from years back. Sir Charles is right. Athletes, especially brats like Thomas, should not be looked upon as role models to America's youth. I used to not care one bit about this kind of stuff, but now that I am about to be a dad, I look at guys like Terrell Owens, Thomas, etc as nothing more than clowns.

3. When I grew up, I was a pretty good athlete. Then college hit and I traded in jump shots for bong hits. All of a sudden I became lazy. I still played occasional pickup hoops games and post college I played softball. I cannot believe I let myself get so lazy and out of shape. So in the meantime, I have picked back up playing tennis. While I really enjoying playing now, I find myself right back being as competitive as I always was. Sure, this is ok. But last night I played tennis with my mom and found myself a little too excited about beating a 60 year old woman in tennis 6-3, 6-1. My mom is pretty good and we have solid rally's. I'm starting to round back into my old form. Never thought I would love playing tennis this much again. I quit as a Junior in high school and didn't pick up a racket again until two summers ago when we were back up at Robin Hood, my overnight camp.

4. Man, has life changed. I just finished on the phone with my life insurance agent, the great Ryan Novak himself, and finalized my plan. I met with a financial planner to invest my rollover 401K money from my old job which had been sitting doing nothing for a few years and discussed opening up a 529 plan for our child's college money. Its becoming clearer and clearer that life is no longer about just me, its about my child first. I totally get it and its important to have everything in order, especially before the big day comes. But its just amazing to think about where I was in life 10 years ago. A couple of weeks ago when my friends went back to Lawrence for the weekend, Sean, Nancy, Buatch, and Sara went into our old Freshman year dorm, Naismith Hall. Sean ended up going into his old room and he couldn't believe how small it was. When the girls who lived there asked him when he lived there, he said "1994." That was 13 years ago! Talk about depressing.

5. I got my new license plates in the mail the other day...no, they didn't say "ASSMAN" like Kramer's did, but they are pretty legit. Check out the photo.

6. What's with these new wave of celebs who are famous just for beig famous. Paris Hilton is the originator of this, but who are these other people and when can they just leave us alone. Who is Kim Kardashian? Ok she's hot, her dad was one of OJ's lawyers, and she has a sex tape coming out, but why do I know all of this stuff about her? Cisco Adler? I'll give you a million dollars if you can tell me why this guy is famous? Other than being in some lame band his claim to fame is being Mr. Mischa Barton, late of The O.C. and doesn't seem to be doing anything other than shopping on Robertson. Nicole Richie? I've had enough of her and her eating disorders. What about Brandon Davis? Who is low class loser? He literally is a nobody, yet is always around the tabloid news. For more on these losers, I've got to prop up one of my favorite celeb sites Bricks and Stones. Its a great site.

Song of the Day: "Keep it Moving by A Tribe Called Quest

Day 226

My condolences go out to all of you Bear fans out there. I was close in my prediction - The Bears did score 17 points. I just expected the Colts to score more than 29. Was that the most anti-climactic game though? Right after Devin Hester took back the opening kickoff 92 yards to give the Bears a quick 7-0 lead, I said to Leah and my mom "this is going to be like Ted Ginn and Ohio State all over again. Its all down hill from here for the Bears." Sure enough, that is what happened. I don't care that the Bears were close in score for the first three quarters or so, you knew the Colts were going to win the game. The Bears offense, especially that bad QB of their Rex Grossman, was bad all day. Two of his interceptions were reminiscent of a Charlie Frye "up for grabs" dying quail. Peyton Manning was masterful and the Colts running game dominated the Bears overrated defense. Bottom line is that Peyton Manning and Coach Tony Dungy deserved this championship. Two well respected, classy men received their due last night. But again, it all went awry in my eyes when Tony Dungy went to the "We did it the Lord's way" routine when he received the Lombardi trophy. He said that both he and Lovie Smith can be proud of their teams because not only were they the first two Black head coaches in the Super Bowl, but they are both "good Christians" who do things "The Lord's way." Enough with that bit. Meanwhile, what did he say was the Lord's reasoning for having his 18 year old son commit suicide 16 months ago as his team was preparing for a playoff run?

But I digress. I took a half day break from the diet. Mom, Leah and I buried the famous Patti D cheese dip and I also hammered some brownies. Who else besides me enjoyed Price at halftime? No doubt about it, Prince is one weird cat. But he is so smooth and can do it all. His music is timeless and he is quite the performer. I have never seen him live, but from what I hear, his stage show is amazing. How about that outfit and schma-ta he had on his head? Only Prince could pull that off; that and the symbol guitar he was using. He is a pimp. Meanwhile, you know you though one his dancers was going to bite it and fall in those heels in the pouring rain. Here is another question for you, how does he not get electrocuted using his guitar in the rain? Oh well, the season is over. Today is one of Leah's favorite days of the year - no more football until the fall.

Leah's friends were in town this weekend and couldn't have picked a colder time to be here. As it is all over the Midwest, we are in the midst of a deep freeze. It is bitter, bitter cold here. 6 degrees for a high here. Chicago is worse. The high today is 1. Yikes. So while Leah and the girls went to the movies, the mall, etc, I had one of the more productive days I've had maybe ever. With all of these baby gifts arriving, this also is the arrival of things that I have to put together. Now you all know that I am not exactly "Mr. Fix it" by any means, but the new and improved TD is out to dispel the myth that little Jewish boys like me cannot do anything. So in the morning my first move was to attack the infamous Bugaboo stroller. For those who are not familiar, the Bugaboo is like the Rolls Royce of strollers. This thing is a tank. The directions provided could not have been more confusing and the picture diagrams made zero sense. So I'm down in the basement trying to figure this thing out and to quote Kramer, "I am letting the expletives fly." After a good hour or so, it just all came together and worked. My next project was the bassonet. The directions for this were much easier to follow, but trying to put together a bassonet while watching college hoops and having the dog trying to get at all of the pieces is not an easy task. This took me a good 90 minutes to finish. I must say I was pretty proud of myself. Of course, the bassonet isn't working as it should and needs a few tweaks, but it is essentially ready for junior. Still left to do are getting the car seat bases installed (which I am getting done at the fire department) and a few other minor details. Our house is almost complete now too. Since we spoke of Price earlier, our "Purple Rain" dining room is no longer. The painting and carpet are down and the table and chairs will be here by Wednesday. The only thing left is the Wall-unit in our family room that I am still waiting on. That should be done by the end of next week. I just want to get it in here before the baby comes. Its all happening.

Speaking of Kramer, my mom, my aunt and uncle and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld do standup Friday night. While I am not a big standup comedy guy, it was very cool to be in the same roon seeing an alltime great work his craft. He was pretty funny, although I had some of his material before. The best part was at the end he did a question and answer deal with the crowd. He is so quick witted. I still can't believe nobody asked him about Michael Richards.

Saturday night, the Girls and I went to Pizzaz for salads and pizza. I have never had their pizza before, nor have I had the famous "Pizzaz salad" that Jaimo raves about. I tried one slice of the pizza and it was pretty decent, the salad was delicious as well. I wasn't planning on going to dinner because of the big Kansas/Texas A&M game, but I ended up going and tivoing the beginning of the game. I was caught up by halftime. In the meantime, in the biggest game of our season, KU Coach Bill Self, who has been questioned about his game coaching abilities, single handedly cost us the game with his late game decisions. KU was up 11 with just over 6 minutes left and inexplicably choked the game away in a 69-66 loss. Our best offensive player all night, Sherron Collins, was on the bench the final 4 minutes of the game until the last play when we needed a three to tie the game. Nobody could understand why. Our worst free throw shooter, Sasha Kaun, was on the floor the last 8 minutes of the game. I don't want you to think Kaun is an indispensable player on our team - the guy scored a total of two points in the last two games. Texas A&M purposely fouled the 53% free throw shooter off the ball to get him to the line. I've got some questions for our coach: Kaun missed the front end of 1-and-1 free-throw situations at 3:52 (with KU up, 62-56) and 1:28 (with KU up 64-61). WHY IS HE ON THE FLOOR THEN BILL?"The whole thing is, they were big misses," Self said, "but also he'll be in that situation again. He has to have the confidence to go up and make them. We believe he will. WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO BUILD HIS CONFIDENCE IN THAT SITUATION BILL? ITS THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR! "He probably has not been in that position many times in his career. It's different shooting them in games than practice. It's unfortunate for us it happened, but you probably need your best players or who you feel are our most experienced players on the court late." SINCE WHEN IS SASHA ONE OF OUR BEST PLAYERS BILL? Self completely blew it. I haven't been that aggravated after a regular season loss maybe ever. We are totally regressing right before our eyes and I just can't see us being a major factor come tournament time.

Song of the Day: "Sign O' The Times" by Prince

Day 225

Today is February 1st which means that we have arrived at the month that my son is going to be born. Two days ago, Leah and I met with our new pediatricians, Dr. Wexberg, Dr. Foley, and Dr. Locke. Leah had a bunch of questions for them, I of course sat there quietly. Then this morning we had the night nurse over and talked to her for a while. The baby's room is all finished, gifts are arriving everyday. This is happening and soon. The other day our friend Jen told Leah that one of her friends, who is due a week before Leah, gave birth to her baby. That really got my head spinning. Next week at this time, Leah could go into labor. I don't know if I'll ever be ready, but I guess we are as ready as we can be.

In entertainment news, over the last couple of weeks, the judges on American Idol, the country's most popular show by a landslide, have been getting extra flack. First there was the classic "Is Paula Abdul on something" interview on you tube. Then when the show premired, there were articles all over the internet and in newspapers that this year Paula, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell were being "too cruel" this season to the contestants who audition. Rosie O'Donnell on The View was all over them, and the latest today is Jennifer Hudson from Dreamgirls, who got her start because of being found on Idol. In an interview with People Magazine, Hudson said Idol is abusive. Give me an F'ing break! First off, if not for Idol, Jennifer Hudson would be a nobody still unfound by Hollywood. Going deeper, the best part of the show is the judges being mean to the contestants. To me, after six seasons of the show, anyone who would actually take the time to sit for hours on end or drive hundreds of miles to audition better be decent. But 99 out of 100 are so bad and have no shot. Of course they aren't going to make it. But who are these people who spend all of that time and must know they are laughingstocks? Everyone is trying to get their 15 minutes, but to me, this is such odd way to do so. I guess William Hung became a star because he was so delusional and laughably bad. We live in a strange country.

This weekend, Leah's friends Sheri, Stacie, and Jenny are coming in to visit. They wanted to spend some time with Leah before the baby comes. Its supposed to be freezing cold all weekend. None of them have been to Cleveland other than for our wedding, so Leah will be showing them around a bit. I've got plans of my own - Tomorrow night my mom, Aunt Nancy, Uncle Keith, and I are going to see Jerry Seinfeld do standup downtown. I'm really looking forward to that. I have heard mixed reviews of his standup material, but nevertheless, I am such a huge fan of the Seinfeld TV show that this is something I had to go see. Saturday night is the Big 12 game of the year, Texas A&M vs Kansas from Lawrence. ESPN's Saturday night primetime game and their whole Gameday crew will be there. Games like this are when I miss my boys the most. Once again, my boys from school are all getting together for the game and going out, while I'll be at home watching it by myself (again). Nobody here is a KU fan, so I go solo for these games. For all of the great things I have here - and I do love living here - I definitely miss my friends. One of these days I can watch these games with my son and teach him to love the Jayhawks like I do. Just like my father did with me - he'll be plopped in front of the TV set watching the games with me and learn through osmosis. I can't wait for that. Just like my Dad and I did 4 years ago, I would love to travel to the NCAA Tournament with my son and cheer on our squad. Its a long ways away I know, but a man can dream.

So its Super Bowl weekend and to be honest, I couldn't be less excited. Of course I am planning on watching the game (Mom has accepted my request to make her famous Tex-Mex dip), my first Super Bowl in HD (by the way, if you don't have HD and you are a sports fan, what are you waiting for?). I am not one for big Super Bowl parties - like my father, I am not a big fan of doing things on Sunday nights. But I like watching the game and at these Super Bowl parties, the game is secondary. The game has become secondary to the parties, advertising, and pre-game hype, which I refuse to watch or listen to. How many more times can I hear about Rex Grossman maybe being the worst QB in Super Bowl history or that Peyton Manning can finally change his legacy forever with a win. ESPN over-saturates us with breaking down every aspect of the game for two weeks straight. Its unbearable to watch that clown Stu Scott yuck it up every night on Sports Center. I won't bore you with my breakdown, but I will give you my prediction. I believe the Bears secondary has been living on borrowed time for weeks after two starters to injury. This sets up perfectly for Peyton Manning and the Colts pass happy offense. It will be close for a half, then the Colts will dominate. Colts 45 Bears 17

Song of the Day: "Yell Fire" by Michael Franti & Spearhead