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Day 10 - Redux

Time for some Beijing takes. First off, let me just say I am not into the Olympics. Watching Michael Phelps was sweet, but those races are at the longes three minutes long in a night-time block of four hour programming. Do I want to watch Usain Bolt shatter the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes? Absolutely. But how long does that take? Ten seconds for one and twenty for the other? I am supposed to watch three and a half hours of boring, dull-ass diving, beach volleyball, women's softball (where nobody ever scored by the way), or men's parallel bars? No thank you.

That said, I am riveted by Team USA basketball. I just love the way Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker play the game...just kidding.... Seriously, one of the joys of working from home is that I have been able to see the last two Men's games live, which start at 8 AM here. This morning was the start of medal play and I had been reading articles and seeing interviews that the Australian team would pose a major threat to our chances at Gold. They feature former #1 overall pick Andrew Bogut at Center, International play veteran Chris Anstey, and future NBA point guard and current St. Mary's star Patrick Mills.

The first quarter was very close, despite Bogut's foul trouble. Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, and company were taking (and missing) way too man three pointers and showed a horrendous touch at the free throw line (10-20 in the first half). It was 25-24 USA at the end of one. The second quarter was close as well, before a late surge capped by a Deron Williams buzzer-beating three gave Team USA a 55-43 lead. The second half started with a 14-0 run by our boys and then it was a runaway from that point on. The final was 116-85. So much for a close game.

What does this all mean to me? I've now watched two and a half games played by "The Redeem Team," and I've come to two major conclusions:

1. Lebron James is the best team basketball player on the planet.

2. Kobe Bryant is not made for International, team play.

I don't care if Kobe scored 25 today. If you saw his first half, you would have been appalled by his wild shot taking and poor decisions offensively. The majority of his 25 were second half garbage buckets, taking guys one on one when the result was long-since decided. These games are all about team play, moving the ball, and swarming American full court defense. Take a look at the line-scores of Lebron in each game. It is usually about 16 points, six rebounds, five assists. Not to mention the fact that he is playing great defense and if you listen to NBC analysts Doug Collins, Lebron is clearly the leader of this team.

Lebron is bigger, stronger, and faster than Kobe. Kobe may be a better shooter, but does he take better shots? Nope. Is he a better teammate? Nope. People speak glowingly of Lebron. Kobe? He is on an island when he plays with the Lakers and is doing a nice job of snowing the press on the Olympic team. They are clearly the best two players in the world, but give me Lebron's all around game all day over Kobe's scoring ability.

Here are a take from the best sports blog in the business The Big Lead:

Lebron > Kobe

Watching the two of them on the same court, on the same team, there’s no question in my mind.

Keep in mind, I don’t want this to sound like Kobe-hate. I like Kobe. I have a #8 Kobe jersey. When he went on that scoring streak 2 seasons ago, I was as excited as Kobe around a female bellhop. I love watching the man play basketball.

But LeBron…

LeBron James is a whole other beast. He’s William Floyd with a basketball. He’s so big and strong and athletic and he makes it look so damn easy. No one his size should be able to move like that. No one that size should be able to do what he does.

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Back to the Olympics as a whole. The Big Lead another another interesting take on why NBC is butchering the coverage:

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. He won the 100m race in record-time last week. This morning, the long-legged cyborg shattered Michael Johnson’s world record and captured the 200m in a blistering 19.30. (Only Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis have pulled off the double.) The race was at 10:20 am, and despite checking USA, MSNBC and NBC, we couldn’t find it anywhere. Why? Because the greedy suits at NBC wanted to ’save’ the race for tonight. What a fucking joke. This is an absolute abomination. (Watch the race here, thanks to a reader.) Ten minutes after the race, ESPN, Fox, SI, CBS Sports and Yahoo all blared the headline. So now everyone in America has to wait 11 hours and 50 minutes to watch it?

OK, most people are at work, but isn't this just a tad ridiculous? The Internet for the most part has ruined the Olympics for the most part unless you are in a 3-5 hour vicinity. If you want to watch Bolt for example and go in fresh, there is no way you won't hear about it all day long. That is society today. That is also why to me, the Olympics for the most part are irrelevant. Worst of all though is the Gold medal Basketball game is at 2:30 AM here on Sunday morning. Zero chance of me seeing it. I don't know where I'm going with all of this....

Day 9 - Redux

Gotta tell you about a milestone moment I shared with Andrew. This was something he won't remember and I always will. There are important moments in a kids life; crawling, taking their first step, eating with utensils on their own, learning to ride a bike, etc. Andrew crossed off a major one on Saturday - he attended his first Tribe game. We had this date in the works for a while; it was a Saturday afternoon 4 PM start time - perfect post-nap activity. There would be no rush getting down there since he wouldn't be lasting the whole game, and there is always plenty of parking. The weather Gods were smiling on us as well. It was probably 78 and sunny, and where we sit, you are in the shade at that time of day.

Vintage that Andrew decided to take his longest nap in two months Saturday. We left the house at 4, Mom, Leah, and me. No traffic had us off at 9th street at 4:15. Andrew was in his Tribe shirt and was ready to watch some ball. He took turns between my lap and Leah's. Sat and took in the sights of the Jake while stuffing Goldfish into his mouth one at a time. He clapped when everyone else clapped and cheered. Even when Ryan Garko hit a home run and the fireworks went off, he clapped. I was worried the fireworks would freak him out, but it didn't even faze him.

It wasn't all roses though. He kicked the seat in front of him a bunch of times. He wanted to beat the back of the guy in front of us a few times as well. After about three innings, he clearly did not want to sit still any longer. I walked him around the concourse on my shoulders for a little before heading back down to the seats for some photos. We then headed for Kids Land, which I have to say is a solid operation down there. Its way out in the right-field mezzanine section, they have a ton of Step-2 toys for kids between the ages of 16 months-3 years. It was right in Andrew's wheelhouse. It's a small enough area where kids won't get lost and one parent has to be in the area at all times. He loved it. We had to drag him out of there because it was the 8th inning at this point.

We sang "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" to him and he laughed and smiled. He was so happy, that he decided to drop a huge dump. Nothing like having to change a kids diaper in a Stadium bathroom. Regardless, fun was had by all. He ran around the left field plaza for a little and we all walked to the car and headed home.

Again, this is something that he won't remember. But its another one of those moments that I

will never forget. I took photos and a little video. For me, it was special. I grew up going to games with my father and I look back at those moments so fondly. Once Andrew is a little older, I'll do what my father did for me, explain the game, answer questions, and just have fun. I'd say we are still about two years away from that. But his first game was a success. I kept the ticket stub and want to frame it, along with the picture above. The only thing that saddened me was that it was a moment that I always thought I would be able to share with my father. Three generations together at the ballpark. I know he was with us in spirit.

Day 8 - Redux

So I'm on the road in Philly and I left a sick son behind. Andrew had a 101 fever yesterday and was up in the middle of the night twice. Leah ended up sleeping on the floor of his room from about 3-7:30. He's much better today. I had to go to South Jersey to visit my client's NJ operation. The thing of it is, this sales force and these people are known for one thing - bitching about pricing. This has been going on since the day I climbed aboard. They had set up this meeting as a way to "bridge the gap" between what they want in pricing and what we are willing to give. The thing of it is, we aren't willing to budge.

Indulge me if you will.

This may be boring, but follow me. The pricing in the NJ/New York/Philadelphia/DC/Baltimore areas is very cut throat. Our into stock pricing is as good as at can be. Yet, nothing is ever good enough for them. We have offered to do deviated contracts for them to ease this issue. They refuse because they are lazy. This works in the other five distribution centers, but their sales force's opinion is that they need to sell at their everyday into stock pricing to succeed. Fine. But the laziness and anti-my company's sentiment has seeped in so deep that these guys have essentially thrown in the towel. This attitude comes from the top.

Essentially I sat there for two hours while four guys yelled at me, told me our pricing sucks, my answers aren't good enough, and unless they get their way, they will get some other company that will give them what they need. Keep in mind this is something that goes way over their heads and the amount of money we make for them as a whole is staggering. These guys don't get the big picture with rebate programs, pricing, etc and what this does for their organization as a whole. All they care about is getting what they want.

I sat there and took it and didn't yell or scream, and they kept saying to me "i'm sure you are enjoying this." As I told them walking out, I've had a lot worse things happen in my life to let this meeting get to me. Coming out of the hardships and tragedies that have happened to me, I have really learned to put the proper things in perspective. OK - I did get really upset when Joel Skinner held Kenny Lofton at third in Game 7 last year, and I was even more upset when Casey Blake grounded the next pitch into a double play. (SIDE NOTE - That was the ultimate killer. Not only did Fake swing at the first pitch and ground into a DP, but let us not forget that horrible error that started the bottom of the next inning. A season full of solid play was erased in two minutes). But I'm not going to blow my stack over a meeting where a bunch of guys tell me how bad me and my company are screwing them and how bad we suck.

Can we move on to happier notes - like me BURYING both a Pat's and a Gino's cheesesteak tonight? Yes, I took the challenge head on. So far, my stomach feels fine. Anyone who has been to Philly knows you gotta hit Pat's. It's 1000 times better than Gino's, but I felt like I had to make the statement tonight. Pat's was first - steak "wit" wiz. So good. Tender steak, warm, semi-hard bread. Loved every bite of it. As for Gino's. Their bread falls apart too easy. It was a tad on the soggy side, and the steak was tough. Plus, their neon lights are the WB. Pat's > Gino's all day.

Day 7 - Redux

Sorry for the delay. Crazy week and weekend. The family took the good ole' Taurus on a road trip to Chicago on Thursday. We stayed at chez' Graines in Bucktown, which is extremely kid-friendly. The only negative was their house is for sale and keeping everything clean for showings while you have three kids under three running around the house was no easy feat.

Lets back it up to Thursday. Andrew was money in the car. Barely made a peep and we only had to stop once. We made it in five and a half hours, essentially listening to Hi-5 and Music Together CD's for four and a half hours. We met Jaimo, Steve, and Ella at a park, Sara and Dave and Sara's sister Lindsay came as well. AD needed to run off some energy after a full day in the car. (SIDE NOTE - I am starting to reach my breaking point with kids music. I know I'm nowhere near close to getting off it either.) Our goal this weekend was to hit as many favorites food spots and see as many people as we could.

Thursday night we went early to The Athenian Room, the most solid Greek food you will ever eat. Leah and I were both jonesing their Kalamata Chicken. It was a beautiful night outside and we went with Jamie and Mira. Mira, who is 3, was an angel during dinner. Andrew on the other hand, was a terror. Didn't want to eat anything, didn't want to sit in his high chair. Leah and I took turns eating while the other walked AD around the block and watched him point out trees. Leah always says she just wished she could enjoy a meal again. This one, as good as the food was, was tough.

Getting Andrew to sleep this weekend was also a chore. The little man was out of his element, sleeping in a pack and play in the basement bedroom of Gregg's house. We tried him in the hallway outside of our room, but that wasn't going to work. We knew we'd probably be in for little sleep, but we didn't know just how little it would be. All three nights, he was exhausted, yet wouldn't go to sleep unless we held him in bed, and then transferred him to the pack and play. Thursday night - 2 AM, he stood up and cried until we'd pick him up. That turned into three nights of him sleeping in bed with us.

Friday I worked and Leah and AD were hanging with friends all day. He only slept 20 minutes in the car and wouldn't nap. Long day for Leah to say the least. Friday night we had a solid crew in place and went out in Wicker Park to The Boundary. For those of you who know the city, the Division/Damen area has really taken off with bars and restaurants. It was always good, now its even more legit. Anyways, for the first time ever, Dave was actually on time and I was late. Andrew flat out did not want to go to sleep. Clearly, his mother had to take control and got him asleep. Had good food, good food, solid conversation, and even better people watching. I sound like a broken record, but you really realize just how ugly the city of Cleveland is after you spend 10 minutes in the city of Chicago on a warm summer day. It was one hot girl after another in this place.

But I digress.

Teddy came up with the ultimate way to take shots of Jameson Whiskey. Its all about the diet coke chaser. Once it hits your throat after the whiskey, the burn is killed. Dave got me into Jameson a few years back. No clue why I like it so much, but its better than taking Jaegerbombs, the old go-to. Leah and I haven't gone out drinking in ages and it showed. She got pretty lit and went home about midnight. P, Dave, Gregg, Sara, and the great Sandy (the pride of Orangewood) walked up the street to a Inn Joy and Small Bar. P and I immediately loaded up the jukebox with old school hip hop - this was seriously the best jukebox I've been around since the old days of LS.

Gregg and I ended up walking back to his place and passing out about 2. When I got to my bedroom Leah and Andrew were cuddled in bed. The next thing I knew, I was being popped in the head by someone sitting up saying "da-da, da-da." It was 5:50 am. Andrew was ready to go. My head was pounding and my throat was dry. I turned to Leah and said "now I remember why I don't go out anymore." Thus began a long, drawn out, but extremely fun day.

Gregg and Rebecca had two showings on their house in the morning and we were at Starbucks by 8:30 feeding Andrew his breakfast. I could barely put a sentence together at this point. We all met Jaimo, Steve, and Ella at the park by their house and the kids played for a solid hour and a half. Dave and Sara live right there so they came up as well. Leah left for the afternoon and the boys and the kids headed for my graceland - Hot Doug's.

We figured if we go around 11-11:30, the line wouldn't be that bad. Well, it was. It was at least 100 people deep. If you hit the corner alley in line, its 45 minutes from there. We started just past it. Now we are waiting in line Me, Dave, Gregg, and three kids: Samantha (Gregg's 3 year old), Benjamin (his 15 month old bruiser who buried Andrew all weekend), and Andrew. Surprisingly, they kids were very good. Andrew was exhausted as he needed a nap badly, but his father was forcing him to stay up. By the time we got to the front, AD was in full melt-down mode. Then, he actually fell asleep while I was holding up him. When we go the food, he was out cold. I put him in a high chair and he slept, head conked back, for 30 minutes. Look at that photo! The long awaited fry eating contest between Benjamin and Andrew had to be postponed. (ANOTHER SIDE NOTE - Gregg is an amazing dad. No clue how he handles it all. Two kids running around and he was so calm. Plus he's got a third on the way. Unreal).

After the meal, Dave and I put Andrew in the car where he stayed asleep. I didn't want to wake him, so Dave let me take the car and cruise around with Andrew until he woke up. That was a good hour. So I enjoyed the city some more and tried to visit some more people so they could at least see him asleep in the car. We rolled around for a while, picked up Leah and visited Sheri's new pad, the hit the Lyons' place before coming back to feed and bathe Andrew at 6.

Again, it was tough to get him to sleep, but we had a reservation at Joe's at 9, so it gave us plenty of time. Joe's was amazing as always. It was as good as always. King Crab legs, tomato onion and bleu cheese salad, stone crabs, peanut butter pie. So good.

We were stuffed and tired. 3 AM Andrew wanted in. He rolled around and kicked us the rest of

the night until 6:20 when he woke up. We were lucky enough to have a solid brunch waiting for us at Jamie and Darren's. The whole Rosenstein crew are like family to us. It was great to see everyone and watch Andrew and Mira play together. All weekend, we were surrounded by great friends and great kids. As we drove home, we definitely realized we missed the city, but mostly because of our friends. But what a great city. I've said it before - there is no better place to be in the summer than Chicago. The weather was perfect all weekend, there was so much to do and we had such a full schedule, we didn't even get to see everyone we wanted to or make all of the stops we wanted to.

The good news is, we will for sure be back. Lastly, props to the Graines' for putting us up and Dave for letting me have his care Saturday to drive Andrew around during his nap.

One last piece of news to share - my good friend Jen gave birth to a son, Charlie, on Wednesday in San Francisco. He came out with a full head of dark hair and both Charlie and Jen are doing great. We can't wait to meet the little man!

Day 6 - Redux

One of the things I have longed dreamed about was taking my son to the ballpark and teaching him all about baseball. Like my father did for MD and me, I want baseball to be something we can share. Going to games was "our thing." There was nobody I'd rather be at the ballpark with then my dad and brother. I know Andrew is not even two years old yet, but I've been dying to take him to a game down at the Jake. Now I'm not talking nine innings here right off the bat. I'm figuring 3-4 innings at this age and we should be all good. And, as a wise friend once told me about having young kids, "its all about activities."

Leah and I are planning of taking Andrew to his first Indians game in on Saturday August 16th against the Angels. Its a 4 PM start, so perfect for his post-nap activity. I figure we go about 4:30, stay for as long as he lasts and come home. So I decided to give him a trial run.

When the Indians traded CC Sabathia to the Brewers, the key guy they got back was AA stud Matt Laporta. He was going to be playing in Akron for the Tribe's AA affiliate, the Aeros, which is about 40 minutes from here. My friend Jeremy and I decided we had to go see him play. So we settled on a Sunday afternoon game. He'd take his oldest daughter Stella who is 4, and I'd take Andrew. The games start there at 2. We went after Andrew woke up from his nap, around 2:40. We got there in the 4th inning.

Lets just say it was the perfect warm up. Amazingly, when we sat, Andrew sat on my lap quietly for two innings, burying Goldfish one by one. Stella is an amazing little girl. You can tell she is a big sister. She was so good with Andrew. Here is the rundown of how the activity went down:

1. The tickets were $10. Jer had a coupon, buy one, get one free. You can't beat that deal. Love minor league action.

2. Jer and I held Stella's hands while walking into beautiful Canal Park in the heart of downtown Akron.

3. Stella went to the bathroom while Andrew scoped out the stadium from my shoulders.

4. We sat for 2 innings, while Andrew scarfed a bag of goldfish and clapped every time the crowd did.

5. Stella enjoyed the ice cream sandwich race, a takeoff of the Sausage race in Milwaukee.

6. We got up to get Stella some ice cream and roamed out to right field, where nobody was sitting or standing because of the sun.

7. We hit the team shop, where Andrew and Stella tried on purple Aeros wigs. Stella
decided between the white rubber baseball and a stuffed Orbit doll. She got the ball.

8. Stella couldn't decide between Dippin Dots and real Ice Cream. I ended up getting her some rainbow ice cream and we watched Andrew run in the right field concourse. (SIDE NOTE - having they been calling Dippin Dots "Ice Cream of the future" for like 20 years? Still hasn't caught on. I don't get it either.)

9. Stella and Andrew played a pseudo game of tag in the right field concourse.

10. The four of us watched some dudes warm up in the pen from atop the bullpen.

11. We left.

Two things of note. Normally I never forget my camera and would not miss this opportunity, but for some reason, I did. I'm real pissed about it too, especially since Andrew was so good, as was Stella. Also, when we set this up, it was originally to get a glimpse of Laporta. That didn't happen. He left four days earlier to play in the US Olympic Baseball team.

Regardless, we had a great time and now Andrew is ready for some big league baseball. Lord knows his father subjects him to enough on television.

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Of to Chicago this weekend with the fam. I'm sure we will have good stories and photos. I know Saturday afternoon we are hitting Hot Doug's with Gregg and the kids. Andrew and Gregg's son Benjamin are set for the big Duck Fat Fry eating contest! May the best less-than-two year old win!

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Rafael Perez should finish out the year closing for the Tribe. He was lights-out tonight.

The rest of it....

Here is the rest of the show in segments. I fixed the ghetto production...

Day 5 - Redux

So my television hosting debut was a success, or at least that is what I think. Wednesday night, as you know, I guest-hosted More Sports and Les Levine. I had a plan going in with topics to discuss and everything flowed well. My guest, Paul Cousineau of The Diatribe, did a great job and had solid chemistry with me. I was a little nervous when it started, but got into a groove after the first segment.

I'll be honest, there is nothing I would rather do with my career than being on TV or writing about sports. I know, at age 32, it seems like a pipe dream, but my path is going to be to put myself out there as much as I can with my blogs and some potential other things when my website (todddery.com) launches. I will continue writing over at theclevelandfan.com and Dump David Dellucci, and today I got an email from the web editor for Cleveland Scene Magazine asking if I would like to do a weekly column for their re-launching website in the fall. He evidently liked my work on the blogs.

So back to the TV show. I want to put this up so everyone outside of C-town can see it. In the past, the production company put the show right up on youtube in segments. They wouldn't for me for some reason, so I had to take matters into my own hands. They gave me a DVD copy to work with, but it was all in one giant file that was too big for youtube. I'm somewhat computer savvy, but most of it is me asking my boy Teddy how to do something and he sends me in the right direction.

So I had to "rip" the DVD and save it online, and move it into a Windows Movie Maker file. Then break in into segments. Those segments have to be uploaded to youtube. Somewhere along the line, the video and audio didn't mix perfectly. It's a little off, but definitely watchable.

So for your viewing pleasure, here are the first three segments:

Segment 1 - fast forward about 45 seconds.