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