John's Blog : Living in Lalaland

Winning the "Tebow Way"...

2011-12-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

If you're a Christian like me, seeing Tim Tebow win seven out of eight starts in the face of adversity and criticism from the media probably makes you smile. The critics like to say he has a "bad throwing motion," and a low pass completion percentage among other things. What the critics fail to realize is that this stuff is all but meaningless. What is actually meaningful is that the teams who win games are also the ones who typically don't turn the ball over. The quarterback is usually the one who is going to be the "difference maker" in this category. Before Tebow took over the reins in Denver, the Broncos were an abysmal 1-4. In the five games he started, Kyle Orton threw eight touchdown passes. However, Orton also threw seven interceptions, and lost two fumbles. Orton's TD-to-turnover ratio of 0.89 would rank as the 11th worst in the league if he had enough pass attempts to qualify.

In the eight weeks since Tebow became the starter in Denver, he has thrown 10 touchdown passes while being intercepted only twice. Additionally, he's rushed twice for scores, while losing three fumbles. That adds up to 12 touchdowns against only five turnovers for a tidy 2.40 TD-to-turnover ratio. Here's a look at the teams who have QBs that have won at least 70% of their starts in 2011 and their TD-to-turnover ratios (note: QB TD and TO numbers are season numbers):

Rodgers (GB): 13-0 W-L, 41 TD, 6 TO, ratio: 6.83
Tebow (Den): 7-1 W-L, 14 TD, 5 TO, ratio: 2.80
Brees (NO): 10-3 W-L, 33 TD, 11 TO, ratio: 3.00
Brady (NE): 10-3 W-L, 33 TD, 13 TO, ratio: 2.54
Smith (SF): 10-3 W-L, 16 TD, 7 TO, ratio: 2.29
Roeth.(Pit): 10-3 W-L, 21 TD, 15 TO, ratio: 1.40
Flacco (Bal): 10-3 W-L, 16 TD, 15 TO, ratio: 1.07
Schaub (Hou): 7-3 W-L, 17 TD, 7 TO, ratio: 2.43

A look at these numbers tells you two things. One, Aaron Rodgers is having an absolutely amazing season! His touchdown-to-turnover ratio is more than twice as good as his nearest pursuer, Drew Brees. Second, with the exception of the Steelers and Ravens, each of these teams has a QB that is producing TDs more than twice as often as he is turning the ball over. So how are the Steelers and Ravens winning if their QBs are not doing the best job of producing and protecting the ball? If you look at the defenses of these two teams, you see that they're ranked second and third respectively in the NFL in both points allowed and yards allowed per game. Incidentally, the 49ers give up the fewest points in the league at 14.0 per game (4th in yards per game allowed), while the Texans give up the fewest yards per game at 274.9 per game (4th in points per game allowed). The top four teams in this list (the Packers, Broncos, Saints, and Patriots) all have defenses ranked well below the league average. In terms of yards allowed per game, the Packers and Patriots are in fact the two bottom ranked teams in the league. In summary, if your QB is making mistakes, you need help from your defense to make up for their deficiencies, while an efficient offense that doesn't turn the ball over can make up for a bad defense.

Just how important is the TD-to-turnover ratio in terms of winning games? Take a look at the Top 10 QBs in the category this year to date (team W-L in QBs starts in parenthesis):

1. Rodgers (GB), 6.83 (13-0)
2. Brees (NO), 3.00 (10-3)
3. Tebow (Den), 2.80 (7-1)
4. Romo (Dal), 2.60 (7-6)*
5. Brady (NE), 2.54 (10-3)
6. Schaub (Hou), 2.43 (7-3)
7. Smith (SF), 2.29 (10-3)
8. Stafford (Det), 2.07 (8-5)
9. Ryan (Atl), 1.87 (9-5)
10. Manning (NYG), 1.63 (7-6)
* Romo's stats do not include Saturday night (12/17/11) game

Notice anything about these players and their teams? If the season were to end today, all but one of these teams would be in the playoffs. Seven of the eight division leaders are represented here. There's no doubt that Tony Romo has had a great season for the 7-6 Cowboys. As witnessed the past two weeks with their kicking game issues, sometimes one man's heroics though aren't always enough. You can say the same thing to a lesser extent about Eli Manning and the 7-6 Giants. The Texans will certainly miss Matt Schaub, but their highly ranked defense may just help carry them.

Conversely, let's look at the Bottom 10 QBs in TD-to-turnover ratio (team W-L in QBs starts in parenthesis):

1. Bradford (STL), 0.46 (1-9)
2. Painter (Ind), 0.50 (0-9)
3. Grossman (Was), 0.65 (4-6)
4. Palmer (Oak), 0.71 (3-4)
5. Freeman (TB), 0.75 (4-8)*
6. Gabbert (Jac), 0.79 (3-10)
T7. Vick (Phi), 0.80 (4-6)
T7. Jackson (Sea), 0.80 (6-6)
9. Kolb (Ari), 0.82 (3-6)
10. Ponder (Min), 0.85 (1-7)
* Freeman's stats do not include Saturday night (12/17/11) game

Do the 0-13 Colts miss Peyton Manning? You bet they do! None of these teams has a winning record under the direction of their current quarterback. What happened to that "superteam" in Philadelphia? Michael Vick certainly has not had the season most were expecting in 2011. Did any of us expect him to not have a single rushing TD this late into the season? Of these teams, only the 7-6 Raiders are a legitimate playoff contender.

Effectively, winning the "Tebow Way" has more to do with not making mistakes than anything else. If you don't turn the ball over, you put less pressure on your defense to perform and make stops. Those teams that protect the ball are the ones who year in and year out make the playoffs, while those who turn the ball over a lot rarely make a title run.

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates...

2011-12-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

If I were to describe the past three years of my life, I could probably very easily use a quote from the movie Forrest Gump for each and every moment of it. My life has truly been "like a box of chocolates," as I've never really been sure what's going to happen next. So many times I've been flabbergasted by things and people, muttering "stupid is as stupid does" to myself. At other times, I've spoken to I'm practically blue in the face about something bothersome, finally ending with "that's all I have to say about that."

Still other times, I got to the point I felt life had dealt me more than I could handle on my own. Going to school and working up to 60 hours in a week put stresses on me in a lot of areas. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and often tried to deal with the consequences on my own, rather than going where I really should have. Forrest's Mama always said "you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on." Easier said than done in my case. Many times, I felt like Jenny with escape being the only way out. "Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far far away from here." Yes, I was lost. Very lost!

One day early this past summer, I stopped and suddenly realized that I was not in control of much of anything. Actually, my life had gotten completely out of control. And though I was getting a lot out of my church services at Reality L.A. in Hollywood on Sundays, living out the messages on a day-to-day basis was a huge struggle. A quote from the Bible (Psalm 46:10) began to resonate in my head: "Be still, and know that I'm God." Of course, I'm not in control. Rather, God is in control! It was truly a revelation. Yes, circumstances may change, but He is the rock, and should be at the center of our universe as Christians at all times! This was my wake-up call. Over the past several months, I've developed a lot of very strong relationships with people from my church and a strong sense of community. I truly understand now that is meant in Romans 8:28, and that I shouldn't get down or burdened by things or circumstances of this world. The verse states: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Now that my focus is more squarely on Him, I've come to depend on Him more and more, and not be controlled by my circumstances. And rather than just sit on things and let them discourage me, I've decided to start making positive changes, and taking "leaps of faith" more often. The results have been very positive so far. I have a new job that I'm starting very soon, and also am so very blessed to be part of an amazing church and Community Group. I'm so very excited about 2012 and how God is going to work through me.

I'm back!

2011-08-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's been forever and a day since I last posted here, but now that I am finally done with school I am going to get back to blogging. A lot has happened in the past year, and I'll be posting a lot about what has been going on with me. The one thing I will say is that as always, it's been quite a rollercoaster ride...

NASCAR's Flawed Point System

2010-07-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

As I perused the NASCAR.com website and looked at the latest standings after Jamie McMurray's victory in the Brickyard 400 earlier today, I noticed some things that seemed a little off... "Jamie Mac" also won the Daytona 500 earlier this year, and is amongst only six drivers with two or more wins on the circuit in 2010. Similarly, McMurray is amongst the six drivers with six or more top five finishes this year. You would think that with all of this success, he would be a cinch to make the top 12 and be in the NASCAR chase this year. Sadly, that would be a bad assumption. As I write this, Jamie McMurray sits in 16th place, 151 points behind Clint Bowyer for the 12th and final spot in the season ending NASCAR chase, where the top 12 drivers during the first 26 races vie for the season championship.

The three drivers in the 10th, 11th and 12th positions in the NASCAR standings are currently Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer. Not only do none of these three drivers have a win this year, but they have a COMBINED eight top 5 finishes amongst them, none having more than three...

Who leads NASCAR in winnings with $4,687,502 this year? Well, it's that guy who is 16th in the Chase... yes, Jamie McMurray AGAIN!

Does anyone other than me see something VERY WRONG with this picture? NASCAR's scoring system is VERY antiquated and outdated... it's time for an overhaul... wins and top five finishes need to be rewarded more, and mediocrity needs to be rewarded A LOT less! A top 10 or top 20 finish is often much more the product of luck and attrition than anything else. It's high time that NASCAR started adding an extra premium to top five finishes and an even bigger premium to wins... after all, winning is what it is ALL about in this sport! Given all of the success Jamie McMurray has had this year, it would be a crime for him NOT to be in the chase!

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My New Sunday Reality

2010-06-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm two weeks removed from one of the most emotional Sundays of my life, I finally feel ready to write about it. For those of you that don't know, Sunday, May 30th, 2010 was my the last message by my pastor of nearly 12 years, Francis Chan, at Cornerstone Community Church. Instead of the usual 9 and 11 a.m., and 6 p.m. services, this final Sunday of Francis' was going have the three services at 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m. with a barbecue in the parking lot following the final service. My plan was to get there around 9:30 and have plenty of time to get a good seat for the 10 a.m. service. I was then going to help out a little with the setup for the barbecue. Given all that Francis, Lisa and Cornerstone had given me over the course of the last 12 years, I felt it was the least I could do.

As fate had it, I got off to a late start and didn't arrive until 9:45 a.m. This was probably a good thing actually, as there were many baptisms in that first service - an estimated 40! So it ran over to the point when I walked in at 9:50 a.m, Francis was STILL doing baptisms from the first service. I managed to get a seat in the left center of the 3rd row (about where I usually sit) on a straight line to my friend Jay who is in the band. Of course, Francis' wife Lisa was also there singing during worship. With those two there, I felt in my usual "comfort zone" during worship, yet at the same time, I also knew that would be the last time I was ever going to be in that "comfort zone."

The service itself went by very fast. Francis spoke out of Revelation 21:1-8 and talked of a time when there would be "no more sadness or goodbyes." And that "there will be (an infinite amount of) time to 'hang out'" with each other. A very appropriate verse, since Francis, Lisa and their family were leaving... once we all reach our final destination in heaven, indeed there will be no more "goodbyes" and we will have an infinite amount of time to just "hang out" with each other.

As fate would have it, there were more than enough people to help with setup for the barbecue. The 11:30 service predictably was PACKED. So, I quickly switched hats and helped set up chairs in the overflow area (the lobby). Never before had I seen so many people there at a service. I would estimate we had nearly 2,000 people for that final service and 5,000 total for the three. I ran into a good friend of mine (Christina) from way back in grade school. I spent a lot of time with her and her family during the service. Francis was just fine at the 10 a.m. service, but he got much more emotional that last service as he nearly lost it twice. He did manage to regain his composure though and was strong as ever at the end. By the end of that service, a total of 80 or so people had committed to giving their lives to the Lord that day. What a PRAISE!

Other than the emotions and the crazy number of baptisms, what I will remember the most about Francis' final day was the amazing time I had with friends afterward. I hung out with Jay and then had a great conversation about family with his wife Kara immediately following the service. I had an even longer conversation about work and life in general with my friend Reggie after that. I met and socialized with several of Jay and Kara's friends after that while devouring a burger, fritos and an ice cream sandwich. I then spent some more time with Christina and her family and later spent some time with the Rich and Marlene Bebo - two of the first friends I made at Cornerstone. I spent a little time with my longtime friends Hal and Wendy after that. The three of us converged on Lisa and I got a really nice picture with her courtesy of Hal. I thanked Lisa for her gift of music and song and just being such a great example to me these past 18 or so years - she often led worship at my old church, Calvary back in the early-mid 90's. After the photo op, Hal, Wendy and I walked inside to give Francis one final goodbye. The only two words I could tell him were "thank you" just as my friend and former Cornerstone college group ("Axis") pastor Chuck Bomar did during his video message saying goodbye to Francis. I told him I was very excited to see where the Lord was going to take him and his family. The journey ended that day with me running into Francis and Lisa's beautiful daughter Rachel on the way out. I talked to her briefly, walked away and then walked back and took a nice picture of her and her good friend Sam.

At 3:45 pm, six hours after I had arrived, I started on that 24 mile, 30 minute journey back home to Thousand Oaks from that place in Simi Valley on Winifred that I've called home on most Sundays the past 12 years. Appropriately, the name of the first street that we pass on Winifred on the way to Cornerstone is called "Angela St."... As most of you know, "Angela" is a derivative form of "angel." I truly believe God has sent many of his angels and worked through them at the church to affect my life and countless others in a positive way for His kingdom. Cornerstone's been the place where God has worked through Francis, Lisa, the staff and the church body to reach me. I think that's what has kept me going all of these years. There are many other churches a lot closer to me, but none of them have moved me or motivated me to change myself and my focus like this church has. And for that, I'm eternally grateful! As long as that still is happening at Cornerstone, it won't matter who is giving the message. In other words, I won't be leaving anytime soon as long as God continues to work through Cornerstone to positively impact my life and keep me focused on Him.

As for the Chans, I know that we will still be in touch, especially since I'm good friends with Lisa's parents. Still though, I know things will never be the same. As I drove home that day, and have to admit I broke down and cried a little. I knew that starting the following Sunday, things would never be the same there. Indeed, it was going to be a "new reality" for all of us as our leader was no longer going to be there. Then again, I know our true leader has always been Jesus Christ and Francis always said he was just the vessel to deliver the message. It comforted me as he said that one more time on his final Sunday at Cornerstone.

A week ago, Todd Nighswonger preached for the first time as the Teaching Pastor and did a GREAT job! He shared a lot about himself which I think really made him seem more real to all of us. Francis was never afraid to share about himself, and I think that was a lot of his appeal. He also always spoke from the heart and was genuine and authentic. I even briefly talked to Todd in the lobby afterwards and told him how great a job I thought he did. I told him just to "keep it real" and make the message "about Him," and that the rest would take care of itself if he did that. As long as he preaches and gives "meaty" and convicting messages, I think Todd is going to do just fine at Cornerstone. Francis' best messages to me were ALWAYS the ones which were most convicting and which made me think about my own life and what I could do better to serve Him. I just hope and pray the messages continue to be "meaty" and convicting there as the we all adjust to our new reality at Cornerstone.

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Thank You, Coach Wooden

2010-06-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

As a very young kid, I was fond of most of the sports teams in the City of Angels. My parents were both into sports, following the Dodgers even before they moved to L.A. from Brooklyn. In football, we all followed the perennial "win the division, lose to the Cowboys or Vikings in the playoffs" Los Angeles Rams. While I loved watching the Dodgers and Rams growing up, the end result - not winning the whole thing - was very frustrating!

My solace as a youngster was that the basketball teams which ruled our city (the Lakers and UCLA Bruins) were winners. My first sports memory as a kid was watching the Lakers team led by the late Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West win the NBA title in 1972. A couple of months earlier (but beyond my recollection), the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won it's 6th consecutive championship. The next year, the great Bill Walton behind a ridiculous 21-for-22 shooting performance led UCLA to it's 7th straight title as they mauled Memphis State by an 87-66 score. To this day, I still remember being awed by Walton's performance and coach John Wooden's amazing achievement. I also remember what happened the next year, as the Bruins played Notre Dame, seemingly on their way to their 89th consecutive regular season win. Up 70-59 with 3 1/2 minutes to play, the Bruins would not score again, as the Fighting Irish ran off a 12-0 run to stun them, 71-70. It was the first time as a child I actually cried over something other than physical pain. Yes, at the ripe old age of 6 1/2, I was a Bruin fan... UCLA's streak of seven consecutive titles would also be snapped that year. The next year, 1975, the Bruins came back though to win their 10th title in 12 years, defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 92-85. It would be the last of coach Wooden's 620 wins as a coach.

What a way to go out, I thought. As I grew up, I read about and studied coach Wooden. Each year that went by, I grew to admire the person he was more and more. He was a man of discipline, principle and faith. He also had a love for his late wife Nell which was truly an AMAZING love! When I graduated from high school, I applied to exactly ONE college: UCLA. Yes, this was the only place I wanted to go school as I'd been a Bruin at heart thanks to coach Wooden since I could remember. When I got accepted, I was ecstatic!

When I graduated from UCLA in 1990, I was very proud because I had graduated from the same school that coach Wooden had truly put on the sports map. Who was my favorite basketball player growing up? It was Walton's teammate, Jamaal "Keith" Wilkes. "Silk," as Wilkes would later be nicknamed as a pro, along with his UCLA teammate, the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor), would team up ( with Earvin "Magic" Johnson) to lead the Lakers to three titles. Kareem won a total of five titles with the Lakers and also one as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The great thing about coach Wooden was that he was more than just a coach. He was simply an AMAZING human being! His two heroes growing up were Abe Lincoln and his father Joshua. Upon graduation from grammar school, his father gave him a seven point creed. This creed helped him model his life:

* Be true to yourself
* Make each day your masterpiece
* Help others
* Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
* Make friendship a fine art
* Build a shelter against a rainy day
* Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day

Although I always believed in God growing up, I didn't attend church for the first time until two years after I graduated from UCLA. Coach Wooden's words of inspiration and his lifestyle were things I tried to emulate growing up. I'm thinking that maybe that's why I felt so "at home" the first time I actually attended church and accepted Christ into my heart in 1992. He was the one who planted the seed in my youth - it just took some time to harvest! Kind of like how it took him a while to actually become a GREAT coach! The morals, the integrity, the convictions and the positive outlook on life he preached remain ingrained in me to this day! Indeed, they've seen me through most of my life.

No, I never personally met the man, but the impact he had on me is unmatched by anyone other than my own family. What did I do last night and today? I talked to friends about how coach Wooden impacted me and served as a source of inspiration growing up. He was THE REASON I ended up at UCLA! Thanks coach Wooden for mentoring me, and teaching me how to live life the right way. In a world so devoid of role models, you TRULY were one! We should all thank the Lord that He allowed coach Wooden to spend over 99 years here on the earth. When he left our world about 6:45 pm last night, I do know two words he certainly heard from our maker before being reunited with his beloved Nell: "WELL DONE!"

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What, Me Worry? NEVER!

2010-06-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

I recently interviewed for a job at a financial services company in Calabasas. They preached that they were a "forward thinking" thinking company and while it seemed that most what they said supported this idea, the salary they were offering most definitely did not! $8.65 per hour plus commission - yes, that's a paltry $18,000 a year! When they made mention of this two hours into the three hour interview process, I knew this wasn't the right job for me. As I told a good friend and sister in Christ a few days later, "I'm not worried, I won't be out of work for long. I know in HIS timing, HE WILL provide me with the job HE wants me to be in." A wide and affirmative smile from her followed because she knew I was speaking from my heart and that I TRULY believed in what I was saying. God ALWAYS takes care of His children!

What I didn't know at that time was that God was going to answer this prayer so quickly. Those of you who are close to me already know what happened, but still it's a good story, so I will tell it here - I mean I haven't blogged in over two weeks, so this also will help fill the gap. Around 9:30 am the morning of May 20th, I got a phone call from a temp agency asking if I was interested in a job at Bank of America. Of all mornings to sleep in until 9 am, I picked this one! The night before, I have to admit I was a little on the down side. I had applied for approximately 20 jobs since my last day at the previous one on March 1st and after lots of early success in getting calls and feedback, I suddenly wasn't hearing from anyone. Getting back to things though, the recruiter needed an answer for me within an hour. I quickly got some caffeine in me and called him back 30 minutes later. And within three hours of his first call, I had a job! The pay was good, the hours (7:30-4:15 Monday through Friday) fit my school, gym and pilates schedule well, and the location was perfect - barely a mile from my home! As I've told several friends the past two weeks, it all just happened SO FAST! After spending almost three months detoxing from that last job, God knew that I was now ready to re-enter the workforce. His timing, as ALWAYS was perfect!

The next Sunday I went to my church, Cornerstone in Simi for the 9am service, then made my usual Trader Joe's run after that. And then at the urging of another friend, I went to Calvary Community for the 11:00 am service. Although the message given by the Pastor at Calvary about "Giving Up Control" out of James 4:11-17 was good (and a great improvement over what I'd previously heard there), the whole experience overall just didn't connect with me. When the Pastor used Erma Bombeck and Ray Charles to illustrate a point late in the service, my thought was "ok, these people were famous, but anyone under the age of 35-40 is probably going to have a very hard time relating to them or remembering who they were." Given that the membership of the church overall still seemed pretty young, using more contemporary and LIVING celebrities probably would have made for a better connection. Also, the worship honestly didn't click with me either.

What saved the day at Calvary though was what happened AFTER the service. I ran into a friend there from the Hub group who I gleefully informed of my newfound employment... and when she asked me where I worked and I told her "Bank of America right up the street," she said "you're going to love it there, my sister is a supervisor in that office. I'll put in a good word for you!" Needless to say, it was comforting to know I had a connection awaiting me at my new job.

So the next day, Monday, May 24, 2010, I officially returned to the workforce. As me and the 75 or so other new hires entered, the managers were all there to greet us, clapping, giving us high fives and cheering us on. It was an AMAZING welcome, not like anything I've seen before! Not soon thereafter, I noticed my friend's sister - the facial resemblance was a dead giveaway. On our morning break, I introduced myself to her. Little did I know that three days later, she'd become my supervisor! Over the course of that first week, God just kept on comforting me. The first day, one of my ex-coworkers from my previous job was there in the lobby along with me and the other new hires. The next day, I discovered my neighbor three doors down from me was also in the class. The day after that, on my afternoon break, I ran into a friend of mine who used to work for Countrywide insurance - she had recently been relocated to that building. This week, they relocated some of the Simi Valley employees into our office, including another ex-coworker friend of mine. What a blessing to have so many people who I know surrounding me!

So, I'm now two weeks into my new employment and LOVING it. The 1.1 mile commute through three signals typically takes me about 3 1/2 minutes. If all of the signals happen to be green, I can actually get to work in UNDER 2 minutes! In the worst-case scenario (beginning of the red cycle at all 3 signals), it's taken as long as 6 1/2 minutes to get there. My old 22 mile commute was usually 25-30 minutes going and 35-40 minutes coming back home, sometimes MUCH longer if there was an accident. Effectively, I'm spending 5 hours LESS a week on the road! Can you say free time???!!! The novelty of having a job so close to home has not worn off yet, and frankly, I don't EVER expect it to! I come home for lunch every day (I've even snuck home a couple of times on breaks), I check my email, I make phone calls to family and friends, and yes, I even sometimes make my famous Italian style Boboli pizzas!!!

The only downside to this whole thing is that I haven't been able to take any more private sessions at the pilates studio with Romina. I learned soooo much from her in the first eight sessions. After practically "living at the studio" the final weeks of my unemployment, she's probably wondering where I disappeared off to. Thankfully, my 8-5 training schedule is ending next Thursday, which means that I'll be working my "normal" 7:30-4:15 schedule and also be free to trade shifts if need be and hopefully get some privates in!

So yes, life is still very good. School is going well two weeks into the the new term at Cal Lutheran. My Lakers are in the finals again, and are three games away from making me happily eat some crow! Last Sunday was a very emotional day as we said farewell to our pastor, Francis Chan, at Cornerstone. I'll write a full blog about this over the weekend. The only word I can use to describe that last Sunday is EPIC! Because that's what it was... I love that man, his wife and their family. They're truly GREAT people, and more importantly, friends! I'm very excited to see where God leads this GREAT man and brother in Christ.

In closing, I also want to give thanks to the late, great coach John Wooden. He passed away at 99 tonight. He was even better human being in coach, and a fellow brother in Christ. His wish when he passed on to meet his maker was the same one most of us believers aspire to hear from our maker "Well Done!" Around 6:45 Pacific time tonight, I know he heard those words. He was the single biggest reason why I chose to get my undergraduate degree at UCLA as from the time I was a young kid, I was a fan of UCLA basketball. Rest in Peace, Coach Wooden, and thanks for EVERYTHING you gave down here!

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2 For Tuesday...

2010-05-18T23:37:00.001-07:00

Yes, it was another "2 For Tuesday" for me today... as in two pilates classes at Teague - a morning intro reformer class and then a private session in the afternoon, both with Romina, just like last Tuesday! After a month at the studio, I'm really noticing A LOT of positive effects! My balance is a lot better and I'm feeling more flexible than ever. I really noticed both of these things last night in my mat pilates class at 24 Hour Fitness. Our instructor, Linda, had us doing a lot of stuff requiring good balance. A month ago, I REALLY would have struggled with the moves we did, but last night they were almost effortless! I also noticed I can now stretch quite a ways beyond my toes with my hands - about two inches more than before. My abdominals are also feeling stronger than ever! Consequently, my weight workouts at the gym are also becoming increasingly effortless - I'm letting my breathing factor more and more into the exercises. Speaking of my breathing, it's also improved dramatically. My once overly dominant shoulders are no longer as controlling as they were before.

I guess my only regret now is that I didn't join a pilates studio sooner. The day I joined, my friend said I would "like it a lot." I think she was understating it! I'm absolutely loving it there!

Oh, and yes, I got that Accounting final all done and turned it tonight! Then went to the Olive Garden in Camarillo and had dinner with a good friend. Quite a fun day, I must say!

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A Manic Monday...

2010-05-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

So today turned out to be a little busier than planned, but it's all good! A pilates reformer class at the studio in the morning and a mat class at the gym 10 1/2 hours later. Sandwiched in between was a heck of a lot of working on my Advanced Accounting final. Thankfully, I got it just about all done! I also made time to watch the first half of the Lakers 128-107 romp over the Phoenix Suns in game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at Staples Center. I didn't see the second half because I was in said pilates class, but given how they played in the first half I was pretty confident they would prevail... and then after I got home, a couple of my friends needed some help with some stuff, so I took care of them too. I'm always glad to give my time to good friends when they're in need. I never expect anything in return, but it seems like whenever I do something nice for someone, it gets paid back twice over!

So tomorrow, things return a little more to "normal" - yes, I said that yesterday, but that didn't happen... I think it will tomorrow though! Hope you all had a GREAT Manic Monday! :)

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Busy, busy, busy...

2010-05-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

I've had a VERY busy past few days in case you didn't know. It was a VERY fun three days though, I must admit. I'm not quite sure what the biggest highlight was yet, though I will say that I saw the movie "Letters To Juliet" today with a good friend and we absolutely LOVED it! This same friend and I also saw the extremely disappointing "Date Night" together a few weeks ago.

A new week starts tomorrow and things should be a little slower... which will make for longer blog entries! I hope you had a weekend as fun and fulfilling as mine was!

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A Happy Friday!!!

2010-05-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't get a new job today... rather, I just did a lot of things which I truly enjoy. I went to an intro reformer pilates class this morning at Teague, did an hour on the elliptical at 24 Hour Fitness in the early afternoon with a good friend, and then another great private at Teague this afternoon with Romina. The best thing though was that I got to talk to one of the owners (Cathie) of the studio after my private today - it turns out she and her husband are Christians! I had a great time talking to her for about 20 minutes mostly about God and the church! It just seems like lately God just keeps putting more and more fellow believers in my path - and that's a great thing!

Tonight I hung out with some fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from the Hub. A few of us hung out at Baja Fresh in Agoura Hills in the early evening, and then we had an Angel Thread Sorting night at Calvary Community in Westlake from 7-8pm. We played a little frisbee in the parking lot after that before heading to BJ's. Unfortunately, they had a long 40 minute wait for a table there, so a nice guy named Ken Hansen (and his wife) opened up their home to us. We had pizza, ice cream and cookies! It was a great time of fellowship with friends, both old and new!

Today was truly a blessing. When your focus is on Him, the days always seem special. Have a great weekend all!

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My Temporary Home...

2010-05-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

... It's not where I belong.
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through.
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.
I'm not afraid because I know
This is my Temporary Home."

Yes, I'm quoting a Carrie Underwood lyric, but not just any lyric. It's one with VERY deep meaning... it tells a story, or rather three little ones. Carrie first encounters a 6-year-old boy who's "a little too used to being alone." Later, she enounters a young mom with a young daughter who has "got nowhere to go." Both are going through some struggles, yet they see the bigger picture, sharing the notion that this indeed is just their "temporary home."

At the end of the song, Carrie encounters an:

Old man, hospital bed,
The room is filled with people he loves.
And he whispers don't cry for me,
I'll see you all someday.
He looks up and says, "I can see God's face."

When I hear this song, it really helps me to put this world and my life in perspective. When I leave this temporary home I'm currently residing in, I want to leave it without any regrets. I try to always do the right thing and treat people the way HE would want me to. I very much want to live life the way God wants me to. The promise held by this song and its lyrics really drives the point home. That last lyric in particular is VERY moving. When I see God's face I want to then hear the words "well done, good and faithful servant." That's ALL I want to hear! I hope and pray that I can live a life here on this earth which will ready me for my someday journey into the next world so that I can hear those words. I hope and pray you feel the same way.

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My Name is "Anonymous"

2010-05-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I love it when people read my blog and leave me comments. Many of you agree with my posts, while others disagree with them. And that's all good. If we all agreed with each other about everything, this world would be a pretty boring place - though much more peaceful! Being a fairly social person though, I like to know who it is that is posting comments. Many of you post from your own blog or profiles, and often times I actually end up reading your blogs or posts and start following!

From time to time though, I receive "anonymous" comments from people. While I welcome these comments, one thing I don't like about them is that they don't give me any opportunity to interact with that person. Also, I honestly think people who provide comments in this way are doing everyone a disservice. I mean if you have something to say, at least have the backbone to back it up! God wants us to be honest, truthful and as pure as we can be as people. By posting anonymously, the poster is giving everyone the impression that they are hiding something or they don't totally believe in what they are saying. This goes against everything that we are taught in the Bible.

So, going forward, I will be moderating all "anonymous" comments here. If you include a way for me to get in touch with you (i.e: e-mail address, a link to your own blog, etc.) I will publish your comments posted in this way. If not though, I will simply have to delete these posts.

Thank you for your understanding!

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Lakers Feeding Me Crow?

2010-05-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I wrote this little thing called a blog about Why my Lakers won't repeat as NBA Champions. The team looked in complete disarray as they lost Game 4 of their Western Conference first round series to the #8 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder by 21 points. The fire and hunger that were there last season seemed to be missing, and the "new ingredient," one Mr. Ron Artest, seemed to be doing more harm than good.

In the two and a half weeks since that blowout loss though, something has changed. The Lakers have played six straight games without a loss, including three on the road. Last night, they jumped out to a 22 point lead in the second quarter over the Utah Jazz in their Game four second round matchup and never looked back, coasting to a 111-96 win. The four game sweep was especially impressive when you consider that Andrew Bynum was all but absent for the second straight game - six points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. But Bynum's poor effort was more than made up for by the Lakers tag team of Kobe and Paul. #24 had his fourth straight 30+ point effort, scoring 32, while #16 tallied 33 points and 14 boards. Lamar Odom only scored 10 points, but he made some other contributions as the Lakers were a +30 points in his 25 1/2 minutes of action.

With their impressive win, and their swagger back, the Lakers now get a week to rest. That should give Bynum some time to heal as they prepare to take on the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference final. Game one of the best of seven series is at 6pm next Monday night at Staples Center. In the meantime, I may spend this week off buying myself some crow. Thankfully, this Lakers team seems to have found the "on" switch. I'd be VERY happy to chew on some of that crow in another month or so!

GO LAKERS!

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A Great Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Since I decided to spend pretty much the entire day yesterday at church and visiting with my family in Mira Loma, I didn't get much work done at all for my Finance class. I must say though that I am SO glad I went down there to celebrate Mother's Day after another outstanding service at Cornerstone. Sadly, Francis is only going be speaking two more Sundays there.

I truly had a GREAT time celebrating Mother's Day with my Mom and Grandma, along with my Aunt Lupe and Uncle Steve. My cousin Steve Jr., his wife Natalie and their beautiful daughter Skyler were there when I arrived a little after noon. I had a lot of fun with Skyler. She is so sweet and cute - truly a blessing! Later on, my other cousins Mandy and Scott arrived. Many made this absolutely AMAZING Italian dinner. I just had go back for seconds. I'm not much of a cook, but I think I just might need some of her recipes... all of it was just so good! Facebook pics to come! :)

Thankfully, I was able to finish up my two assignments for my Finance class this morning after pilates and now am getting ready to study for tonight's final. Hopefully it will go as well as the three take-home exams!

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Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T00:00:00.001-07:00

To each and every Mom I know, I want to wish you a VERY Happy Mother's Day! Personally, I'll be heading out to Mira Loma after the 9am service at Cornerstone to spend the day with my Mom, my now 92 year old Grandma, Aunt and some cousins to celebrate their special day. I hope you and yours are able to spend this Mother's Day with your Moms.

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Jesus IS Reality!

2010-05-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

If you're a Christian and a music fiend like me, then you're probably familiar with the group the Newsboys and their hit song called "Reality" from the mid 90's. The chorus goes:

in reality
that comes from above
God is calling
there's no bigger love
It's his reality that welcomes us back
Trust and obey
there is no other way

Simple, and yet to the point. Effectively, it's saying that Jesus IS Reality! Although "Reality" has always been one of my favorite Christian songs, it very recently took on an even deeper meaning for me personally.

I've always believed everything happens for a reason and there's no such thing as a coincidence. God's weaving his intricate framework more than we will EVER understand! As many of you know, my Pastor, Francis Chan announced on April 18th that he will soon be leaving my church of nearly 12 years, Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley. Three days before that, I heard through a good friend about a church in L.A. called Reality. I checked out the website that same night and listened to their Pastor, Tim Chaddick on some podcasts. And I was simply blown away by the depth of Tim's messages and how well I was able to relate to him. His passion for the Lord actually reminded me a lot of how Francis spoke of him! I was so impressed by Tim's messages that I talked to Francis' wife, Lisa about him and Reality that same night Francis made his announcement. I asked her if she had heard of the church and Tim. She thought she had, but she said I should really ask Francis. Not coincidentally, the day after Francis' announcement, I noticed another good friend of mine was friends with Tim on facebook. My friend remarked "I've been wanting to check out Reality for a long time." Like me, he had heard Tim's podcasts and was blown away by the reality and depth of his messages.

The next Sunday after 9 a.m. service at Cornerstone, I had an opportunity to chat with Francis. Of course, I asked him about Reality and Pastor Tim. It turned out that not only did he know of Tim, but he was meeting with him, Britt Merrick of Reality Carpinteria, and several other pastors in San Francisco two days later! Another two days later, Britt and Francis shared lunch. In the days that followed, it became very clear to me just how much of a mutual admiration the two pastors had for one another. Two great men of God who truly walk by faith! Britt said in his BIG GOD page on facebook:

"Just had a wonderful lunch with Francis Chan who wrote the cover (and first) endorsement for BIG GOD. He is such a wonderful brother and man of God. His cover endorsement for BIG GOD was far too generous... I love this man."

The following Sunday, Francis spoke of Britt's 5-year old daughter Daisy and the story of her grapefruit-sized cancerous tumor. More importantly, he spoke of how genuine and authentic Britt's faith had been in the seven months since the cancerous tumor in his daughter was discovered. Francis quoted some of Britt's words to him about his faith in the Lord during the service, stating "I will love YOU! Regardless of what happens. I'll STILL love YOU!" Talk about an AMAZING faith!

Yesterday, Daisy went in for 3 1/2 hours of tests to see how the treatments had been working. A few hours later, Britt twittered this message:

"Got the news: There are no signs of cancer in Daisy's body!!! Thank you Jesus. Psalm 94:17." Talk about a blessing! PRAISE THE LORD!

JESUS IS REALITY. WE EXIST FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME. This is how the bottom of the Reality church website reads. I've already made mention of Tim's Reality L.A., and Britt's Reality Carpinteria campuses, but there are actually three other Reality churches in California - Ventura, Stockton and San Francisco. There's also one in London. One of the great things about Reality is that you can listen to all of the sermons online. Simply go to iTunes and download them for free! This church has a vision, one which all of Christians can learn from and hopefully model to others. I've been truly been blessed these past few weeks in learning about this amazing church and look forward to learning more about the Reality family of churches in the weeks to come!

JESUS IS REALITY!

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Why I'm a Carrie Underwood Fan

2010-05-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

As I watched CMT this afternoon, I got to see the World Premiere of Carrie Underwood's video for her new single, "Undo It." I then reflected back on this "Carnival Ride" I've been on these past five plus years with her. After a rough 2004, I was looking for someone or something I could believe in as year changed to 2005. Yes, I still had my faith in God, but something in me longed for someone to root for here on Earth.

So during the auditions for season four of American Idol, I see this cute little blonde girl From Checotah, Oklahoma, with faded jeans and a pink top wearing the number "14887." Then I start hearing her rendition of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." Her vocal range simply AMAZED me! That song is one of the hardest ones for anyone to sing and she was FLAWLESS! But that wasn't all. I found out she was a fellow Christian and had very good morals and values. But she also was a little shy. I knew that if she was going to go anywhere, she was going to become more confident and break out of that shell. I hoped and prayed that she would make it past the auditions and that she would gain self-confidence... Thankfully, both of those things happened, and she made it into the top 24!

If you're an Idol fan, you know making the top 24 is a great accomplishment. This season, another cute blonde with a great voice, Janell Wheeler made the top 24. I was so impressed by her version of Estelle's "American Boy" in the auditions, that I felt compelled to do something I hadn't done since season four - vote! I really thought Janell was going to be the next Carrie! Janell sang Heart's "What About Love?" and despite me voting all two hours, she was the first one eliminated this season.

Thankfully, Carrie didn't have the same fate as Janell... her week one song was a cover of Tiffany's "Could've Been." Perhaps not the song one would have picked for her, but she absolutely nailed it... to the point where I actually felt compelled to vote!!! And so after the show I voted five times for her.

Each week, I'd vote five more times than the previous week. So, I voted 15 times for Carrie the week they cut the field down from 16 to the final 12. Two weeks later, on March 22, 2005, Carrie would have her defining moment on Idol. She sang a rendition of Heart's "Alone" which simply blew the judges away. Simon Cowell stated "Not only you will win this show but you will sell more records than any other previous Idol winner." A pretty bold statement, especially considering how well season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" album was doing at the time - that album would spawn five straight top five singles, including three which reached #1 on the U.S. pop chart. "Breakaway" went on to sell over six million copies in the U.S.

Getting back to season four of Idol, Carrie continued to impress and kept breezing through. As the field was pared to five, I was now up to 50 votes for Carrie. Over time it became more and more who was #1 in Carrie's life. Yes, she loved her family and friends very much, but she made it very clear that God was the #1 person in her life. When I voted for Carrie, I felt like I was doing what God wanted me to do. She was not only a great singer, but a sister in Christ.

As the season drew to a close, my mindset became not one of just supporting Carrie, but giving her 100% of my efforts! I was going to do whatever I could to help her win! The next three weeks, I spent all two hours of the time the phones were open voting for Carrie. During those three weeks, I voted a total of over 2,100 times! Yes, that's 700 times a week. Ironically, my second favorite contestant that season was a guy named Bo Bice. And wouldn't you know it, not only would Bo make it to the final show along with Carrie, but he also became very good friends with her.

I still remember that final week as if it were yesterday. The phone lines opened up at 9 pm, and I voted until 1 am the next morning. In four hours, I managed to get through 1,418 times! Yes, I wanted Carrie to win BAD! My fingers were sore for the next two days afterward! On May 25, 2005, Carrie was crowned the American Idol season four champion. I jumped in the air and yelled at the top of my lungs "YES!" and then I cried many tears of joy. I'm a huge sports fan as many of you know, but this was better than any championship by my Lakers, Angels or Dodgers where I just watched passively and cheered. With Carrie, it was different because I had given my time and participated in helping her win. The 10 hours I spent voting those four weeks were not at all wasted, rather they were an investment in a sister in Christ who I knew could make a positive difference in the world.

Like everyone else, I wondered what would happen to Carrie after Idol. Deep inside, I knew she would be successful and I wasn't afraid to tell anyone that. I even got ridiculed on the ESPN fantasy baseball boards about my support for her by one person in particular. Like Rolling Stone magazine and their infamous "0 star" review of the video for Carrie's first single and their complete omission of reviewing her first album, he eventually proved to be an EPIC FAIL about Carrie. I only hoped that she would stay true to herself and keep her focus on God.

The afternoon of October 18, 2005 is one that I'll never forget. I was listening to a Tim McGraw song called "My Old Friend" on the now defunct Country station KZLA 93.9 here in the City of Angels. The next song was going to be the new Carrie Underwood single, and it was entitled "Jesus, Take The Wheel." The title of the song alone made me ecstatic. A genuine woman of faith, willing to put it all on the line for Him. Many thought she was taking a huge risk, others such as myself knew better. Sure enough, this song of hope and faith was a HUGE hit, making an unheard of debut at #39 on the Country chart in its first week of release and climbing to #1 for six weeks. It even rose to the top five of the Christian Pop and AC charts. The song would go on to earn the Gospel Music Association’s award for best country single of the year. Not only did Carrie have a huge hit song, but she had a hit song about Jesus which raised the spiritual awareness of our nation! What a blessing!

In the years following the amazing success of "Jesus, Take The Wheel," Carrie has won tons of other major awards. 66 major ones to be exact including 10 Academy of Country Music awards, five American Music awards, five Country Music Association awards, four CMT awards, and five Grammy awards. With each every one of the awards Carrie's accepted she's always thanked GOD first - before her family, friends, fans and anyone else. This has never changed!

Over these five years, God has continued to bless her musical career. Carrie's first album, "Some Hearts" sold seven million copies here in the U.S., breaking Kelly Clarkson's record for an Idol, and making Mr. Cowell a prophet of sorts. Her follow-up "Carnival Ride" has sold nearly four million copies, and her current "Play On" release is nearing double platinum. Her first 11 singles released to Country radio have hit #1 (Wikipedia is wrong) on one of the major Country airplay charts (Mediabase or Billboard), including her latest, "Temporary Home." Like "Jesus, Take The Wheel," it's another song about faith and how our lives here on earth are just temporary. Our greater life is in the heavens above with our Lord.

As many of you also know, Carrie is engaged to hockey player, Mike Fisher. In a recent article in the Christian Post, Carrie talks about how her fiancé has actually helped improve her walk with God. At her last awards show, the ACM's, Carrie once again proclaimed her faith in Jesus Christ as her savior stating "I thank God for country music. I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for my family." It's so awesome that Carrie can be so bold and up front about her faith in God. All of us Christians can learn from Carrie's example and try to emulate her boldness. In this society of so few role models, it's nice to know that there are few still out there.

Thank you, God for Carrie Underwood!

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Our National Day of Prayer

2010-05-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, today is our National Day of Prayer. Pray for our nation, our leaders, the world, your family, friends, acquaintances and even those you don't know. Be in a mindset of prayer all day long! Praise our Lord that we are able to freely pray in this country. Many places in the world persecute Christians and those who believe in God. NEVER take this precious gift for granted!

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2010-05-05T19:03:00.001-07:00

Although today is supposed to be a celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the day has much more personal meaning. May 5th happens to be my Grandma's 92nd birthday... and also my friends Pam & Rick are celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary!!! So to Grandma, a VERY happy birthday... and to Pam & Rick, I pray that God continues to bless your marriage and family on this special day and ALWAYS!

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Praying for Nashville

2010-05-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Nashville and the surrounding areas in Tennessee have been hit by severe flooding. Nearly 14 inches of rain fell in just two short days! To date, 29 people have lost their lives in Nashville and the surrounding cities due to the flooding.

As someone who has friends in the city and who has been there each of the past three Junes for CMA Fest activities, this tragedy REALLY hits home. Seeing places that I've visited multiple times such as the Grand Ole Opryhouse, the Country Music Hall of Fame and LP Field (where the Tennessee Titans also play football) has made my heart ache!

Needless to say, this tragedy has made me want to step up and help. If you go to this website Twibbon.com you can put a sticker on your facebook profile as I've done and also donate.

Please keep the people in Nashville and the surrounding areas in your thoughts and prayers.

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McIlroy Finally Gets His Phil!

2010-05-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

When you're one stroke off the lead going into the final round of a golf tournament and shoot a 4-under-par 68 in very windy conditions to close things out as the great Phil Mickelson did yesterday at Quail Hollow, you wouldn't expect to end up FOUR strokes behind the winner as he did. "Lefty" sank a 40-footer for a birdie on 13, then birdied 14 to get within a stroke of 20 year-old Rory McIlroy. His hopes quickly sank when he walked down the 15th fairway when the kid eagled the 15th hole to push the margin back to three. McIlroy would go on to birdie 16 and 18 en route to a scorching 30 on the back nine and total of only 62 strokes.

Mickelson's performance was good enough to beat everyone but the youngster. The three-time Masters champion is on such a roll now that he could take over the #1 spot in the world rankings for the first time ever with a strong performance at the Players Championship this week.

The win for McIlroy was a VERY popular and much anticipated one. Indeed, many have proclaimed him the player who is going to be the tour's next big star. McIlroy barely made the 1-over par cut on Friday, and then absolutely torched the course on the weekend as he shot a 6-under par 66 on Saturday to get into contention. Yes, he was 16 UNDER PAR on the weekend! Does that remind you of someone? Look out Tiger and Phil... here comes Rory! And the timing on this win is perfect as Tuesday is the youngster's 21st birthday. Congratulations Rory on the first of what we all expect to be a career full of wins and majors!

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HE's a BIG GOD!

2010-05-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

As the days of Francis Chan pastoring at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi come closer to their end, I find myself cherishing my Sundays more and more each week. I know something truly wonderful is coming to a close. The Lord has worked through Francis and his wife Lisa Chan to minister to me and so many others over the past almost 12 years I've attended. Today was no exception. Actually, it turned out to be one of my most memorable Sunday mornings EVER!

I arrived to church a little early today. I ended up sitting right behind my friend Jerry, his wife and lovely daughter, Faith. As I got into the worship, I raised my hands to exalt the Lord. Faith then started smiling at me. And then she did the AMAZING - she started raising HER HANDS to the Lord! It was truly a special moment! And it happened in ALL of the songs we sung both before and after the message!

Francis spoke from the book of Luke this morning, specifically the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:1-18. The bottom line is that many people know of or hear the word of the Lord, but for one reason or another fall away. In Luke 8:15, it's stated "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain the word, and by persevering produce a crop. Those truly walking with Him don't let anything in the world deter them from their walk."

Francis brilliantly used the example of Reality Carpinteria pastor Britt Merrick to illustrate the above. Britt's five year-old daughter Daisy was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized, cancerous tumor this past September after a fall. As one would expect, this tragedy caused Britt and his wife Kate to do a lot of soul searching. Yet through it all, they have remained steadfast in their faith. Britt stated to Him that "I will love YOU! Regardless of what happens. I'll STILL love YOU!" Britt is truly a man of God. From listening to Francis' words this morning and seeing Britt's Twitters this week, there's definitely a huge mutual appreciation between them. What great men of God they both are! I look forward to purchasing and reading his book, Big God. The foreward is written by none other than my pastor, Francis Chan.

After the message, we saw SEVEN people proclaim their faith for the Lord and get baptized! Awesome stuff! After service, I chatted a little more with Jerry and his wife. I then had some deep conversation with my good friend, Jay Pierson after service. I look at Jay and I see another man of God who is truly walking with Him. No, he's not perfect (none of us are), but I know he truly tries to walk the walk. Friends like Jay definitely help keep me focused on Him. And that's a true blessing! Like Britt, Jay walks with the Lord and doesn't let anything deter him from that walk. I am blessed not only to call Jay a friend, but more importantly, a true brother in Him!

Blessings to you this Sunday and ALWAYS!

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Lakers Play On, Tiger:EPIC Fail

2010-05-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

And yes, that's a Carrie Underwood reference for those of you paying attention to the first part of today's title... If nothing else, the Oklahoma City Thunder got the attention of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did the Thunder split the first four games of the best-of-seven series, but they outscored the Lakers by an average of four points a game in doing so. The embarrassing 21 point Game four loss definitely got the Lakers attention. They came back to post an impressive 24 point win at Staples Center on Wednesday night.

Last night, the Lakers controlled the tempo and the game for all but a few minutes. They took a 53-47 lead into halftime and stretched it to 91-84 with 5:09 to play. The Thunder would not go quietly though. Their raucous, 112 decibel-loud crowd urged them to a 10-0 run over the next 2:39. With Two and a half minutes to play, it looked like the Thunder might very well force a game seven.

But it wasn't meant to be for the Thunder. Kobe hit a tough 20 foot jumper from the left side, bringing the Lakers to within a point with 2:11 to play. The teams would alternate several missed shots over the next two minutes. Kobe rebounded a Russell Westbrook miss with 17 seconds to play. You knew who was taking the final shot... or so we thought. Kobe took a tough, fall away 13 footer from the right side of the key with just under two seconds to play. The shot was a touch long. Fortunately for the Lakers, Pau Gasol was there to grab the rebound and lay it in with just 1/2 a second to play to give the Lakers a 95-94 lead! Westbrook's desperation trey from the right baseline as time expired was well short. The Lakers had escaped! Pau only scored 9 points, but he had the two most important ones to go with his 18 boards. Kobe - well all he did was pour in another 32 to go with seven boards. With their 4-2 round one series win, the Lakers now have a date with the Utah Jazz in round two. Game one is at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon at Staples. Go Lakers!

As for the other sports news of the day. Well, in case you didn't hear, Tiger Woods not only missed the cut in the golf tournament at Quail Hollow... he had what could only be termed an EPIC fail of an effort! The world's #1 player shot a 79 in his second tournament back from his self imposed leave from the tour to get his life in order. It was pretty sad to see. Very obviously, his focus is just not there at the moment. Contrast that with the play of 2010 Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who is at six under par after a second round 68 despite battling a nasty infection. Lefty's only two off the lead held by Billy Mayfair at the mid-point of the tourney. For Tiger, it's only his 6th missed cut in 241 career tournaments.

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When God Sends His Angels...

2010-04-30T08:30:00.001-07:00

I'm a firm believer that God is always putting people into our lives to help direct us and get us through. He puts these Angels into our lives to help grow us and make us better people. If we're listening, we also end up growing closer to Him as a result. Sometimes, it seems like these people are sent in bunches, while other times you just keep plodding along with the people He's already put into your life.

When I look back at the past couple of years, I have to admit that, for the most part, my walk was not been the best with Him. I would have times where I felt encouraged, and He did keep putting great new people into my life to help me focus on Him. Four months ago, I could finally feel the Lord working on my heart. He was slowly transforming me, and He was mostly working through the people He had recently put into my life to help do this.

Over the past almost two years, I can think of five people who God has placed into my life who have had a profound impact. The saying "people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime" resonates with me, because it so applies with me. One of those people He put into my life was definitely for a season - a 10 month season. She's no longer part of my life, but I'm thankful for the time He had her in my life as she's the one more than anyone else who knew there was life beyond work for me. Not to mention she also was the one who planted the seed into my head about going back to school. We shared lots of laughs and thoughts many a lunch hour. I think I helped her too though as I was ALWAYS encouraging her... she also admired my passion for working out and pilates.

Another of these friends I haven't seen in over two months now. She's another ex-employee friend of mine. You talk about a great encourager! Although we didn't see each other all that often, the times we did spend together at work were amazing! From fun times and laughter to VERY deep and personal conversations. It was the whole spectrum! We still keep in touch via mutual friends (she's not a computer person at all). Hopefully one of these days soon our paths will cross again.

Those two Angels were put into my path the second half of 2008. In part two, I'll talk about the special people He put into my path last year.

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School, School & Some Pilates

2010-04-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's my Monday-Friday life these days. Well, not really but it just seems that way and it's quite alright with me! I'm very much enjoying my time as a student at Cal Lutheran University. In another three weeks I'll be 3/8 of the way to getting my Accounting degree! This term, my Finance class is going well, despite it being a lot of work. My Advanced Accounting is actually going a little easier than the Intermediate Accounting did. For the summer term, I'll be taking three classes, though one is only two units. My midweek nights will be booked though as the classes are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

One of these days I'll hopefully not have a Thursday night class so I can make it to Trissa's pilates class at 24 Hour Fitness. Before school started this past August, I was one of her most consistent students. Next term will mark the FOURTH straight one I've had a Thursday night class at CLU. Bummer, I know. That said, I'm not being starved at all these days in the pilates department. Tomorrow will mark the fifth straight day I've had either a class at 24 Hour with Linda or a private session with Romina at the GREAT Teague Pilates studio I just joined. If you have any interest in pilates, I strongly recommend you check Teague out! You'll be glad you did!

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The Lake Show RETURNS!

2010-04-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought it was safe to write off my Lakers, out of nowhere came perhaps their best overall game of the season. The "Lake Show" jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back as they took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series last night at Staples Center. They built their lead to 31-16 after the first quarter and 55-34 at halftime. The Lakers needed to make a statement after their embarassing Game 4 loss and they more than certainly did in that first half!

Just how dominant were the Lakers in the first half? They shot a stratospheric 65%, while holding the Thunder to an abysmal 26%! Yes, that's crazy dominance! The Lakers continued to keep the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, pushing the lead to as many as 32 points. The fourth quarter was all "garbage time" as the late, great Chick Hearn would say and they cruised to a 111-87 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

More important than the win, is that it looked like the Lakers may have gotten that swagger of theirs back. The much-maligned Ron Artest looked like he escaped the "Bermuda Triangle" for the first time in quite a while last night. Maybe he's doing some cramming so that he can finally fit into coach Phil Jackson's complicated offensive scheme. Game 6 of the series is in Oklahoma City on Friday night. Go Lakers!

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Why My Lakers Won't Repeat

2010-04-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

Flash back ONE YEAR.... After finishing the 2008-2009 season with a 65-17 record, I was very confident that my Los Angeles Lakers were going to win the NBA title. Kobe Bryant had that look in his eyes - yes that look - the one which he had when he scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors during the 2006 season. Pau Gasol also had that look... Lamar Odom had that look... as did this young guy out of UCLA named Trevor Ariza. The whole team had that look!!! Indeed, these Lakers were playing with a chip on their shoulders after what happened against the Boston Celtics in the 2008 Finals. AND They had the complicated Triangle Offense of the Zenmaster, Phil Jackson, mastered! How confident was I that they were going to win the title? Well, I didn't even watch their clinching Game 5 against the Orlando Magic. Rather, I took in the CMA Fest in Nashville, while following the details of the game on my cellphone. During an intermission in the concert, I happened to catch the post-game celebration. I still remember the jubilation of Kobe hugging Pau... and D-Fish thanking the Lord for another ring... it was epic!

Now flash back to TODAY... During off season, there were rumors that the Lakers were interested in Ron Artest... yes, THAT Ron Artest! The one who infamously went into the stands one time going after a fan and getting suspended an ENTIRE SEASON as a result. My initial thought was this: he's simply not disciplined enough to fit in the Triangle Offense... In fact, he might not pick up on it AT ALL! Sure enough the rumor was a true one as Artest became a Laker and Ariza ended up in Houston. The 2009-2010 season started well enough for the Lakers record-wise, as they won 28 of their first 34 games... though that was a little deceptive as only 11 of those games were on the road. The rest of the way, the "Lake Show" went 29 and 19. Not a horrible record, by any means, but still not what you would expect from them. Although there were moments where the team looked in sync, there were many more where they appeared out of sync.

The above leads me to the main reason the Lakers won't repeat: Ron Artest STILL doesn't understand the Triangle Offense! You watch the Lakers play, and it seems like half the time he has no idea what he's doing out there. When in doubt, he tends to throw up an ill-advised trey with 15 seconds left on the clock. Although his on court behavior has overall been good this year, I can't say his head has been into the games. Indeed, my worst fears about Artest have been realized. Unless coach Jackson switches his role with Odom's, I'm afraid the Lakers simply don't have a chance at repeating. Look at what happened in Game 4 in Oklahoma City this past Saturday. The Lakers not only lost to the #8 seeded Thunder, they were EMBARRASSED by a 110-89 count! Game five of the best of seven series is 7:30 tonight at Staples Center. It's VERY conceivable, the Lakers could lose tonight's game. Even if they happen to get past the Thunder, I don't see the Lakers winning it all. The Nuggets look hungry. The Magic and Cavaliers look REALLY hungry! The Lakers don't look hungry. I really think Artest's apathy has affected the whole team, including Coach Jackson.

I'm now really looking ahead to football season to see if my New Orleans Saints can do what my Lakers aren't going to do: REPEAT!!!

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Gym Etiquette 101

2010-04-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Being someone who has been interested in physical fitness pretty much my entire adult life, I've almost always been a member of a gym or fitness center since I graduated from college at UCLA. People such as myself work out to keep their body in shape and also for how we tend to feel afterward. Working out and sweating helps make the brain release endorphins or "feel good" hormones.

Public fitness centers such as 24 Hour Fitness require their members to adhere to some basic rules of etiquette. Now what caused me to be inspired to discuss this topic? Well, it was the simple breaking of many of the basic rules of gym etiquette which I recently have seen occuring at my gym. Some of these will seem obvious, others you'll probably be surprised I have to even bring up.

1) Bring a Gym Towel
Yes, this is an obvious one, but you would be amazed by how many people actually don't bring a towel into the gym with them. It takes me about seven minutes from the time I start on the elliptical before I'm sweating. And believe me, I sweat A LOT! Be courteous to all of the other members by bringing a towel and wiping off the equipment you've just sweated all over!

2) Adhere to the "5 Minute Rule"
Have you ever been to the gym and you see one person spending 15 minutes or more on a piece of equipment? Yes, it's rude and it's selfish for someone to "machine hog!" In today's busy, fast-paced world, people often only have a short amount of time to get their workout in. Be courteous and limit your time to five minutes on any one piece of equipment, making sure you wipe it clean of your sweat when you're done.

3) Never INSIST on Working In with Someone
Has this ever happened to you? You jump on a piece of equipment and not five seconds later, you get asked by someone if they can work in with you. As someone with a very long, small-waisted, flexible body type, the settings I use are different than about 99% of the members. As a result, I'm typically going to spend 30 seconds or more making sure I've got the equipment set up correctly for me. Consequently, having someone work in can be more than a little of an inconvenience. A minute or two isn't long to wait. Be patient and you will get your turn.

4) Don't Abandon Your Piece of Equipment
You would be amazed at how often I run into this one. You want to work on a piece of equipment and someone's towel is just sitting on it. A minute goes by, two minutes, soon it's FIVE and the towel is STILL there! Or how about this one which I encountered this past week. I was just about to jump on a leg curl machine when out of nowhere this guy zooms in on me and says "I need to do my final set!" I was actually ON THE appartus when he rudely interrupted me. If you're going to step away from a piece of equipment for a minute, at least have the common courtesy to leave a towel or a water bottle on the piece of equipment so that others know it's in use. At the same time, don't leave the towel there for more than a minute unattended as really you're hogging the piece of equipment when you do so!!!

5) Don't Be Mean
A few weeks ago, I inhaled my water wrong while on the elliptical and as a result, I lightly coughed a few times. A woman three machines to the left of me asked me "are you ok?" To which I said, "I'm ok, I just inhaled some water wrong." A week later, the same thing happens to me again and a guy on the machine next to me on the right yells so that EVERYONE in the gym can hear him say "THAT WAS RUDE!" I wasn't sick and I didn't cough in his direction... I simply had some water go down the wrong pipe. Not being a confrontational person, I pretended to ignore him. Two minutes later, when a machine became available in the row in front of me, I bolted for it!

6) Trash Belongs in the TRASH CAN!
I'm not sure what is so difficult about this concept, but for whatever reason, it's a HUGE problem at my gym!!! Whenever I go to use the urinal in the men's restroom, invariably there are several pieces of gum sitting at the bottom of it! Yes, that's EXTREMELY gross! I really don't understand why you spit your gum there. It's just as easy to spit it into the trash can!

7) Wear GYM Appropriate Clothing
I've been going to my local 24 Hour Fitness center for about 2 1/2 years now, and there's this one woman who every day I see her is wearing a striped, blue and white collared shirt! Yes, she wears this SAME collared shirt every time I see her at the gym! I've also seen plenty of people work out in their blue jeans or other non gym appropriate clothing. Get a couple of pairs of sweats and t-shirts at the very least!

8) Watch Your Mouth
Light grunting is perfectly ok, swearing is not. You're in mixed company and have no idea what may offend someone. Using obscenities or God's name in vain in the gym is NEVER ok. Once again, practice common courtesy!

9) Re-rack Your Weights
Have you ever gone to use a piece of equipment only to see 200 pounds of weight left on it from the last person who used it? This very thing just happened to me last week. Nothing like having to spend an extra minute+ removing two 45's and two 10's to get the lateral arm extension down to the 90 pounds that I wanted on it. Once again, it's a courtesy thing.

10) NEVER Use TWO Machines at Once
You would be surprised how often I actually see this one at my gym. Typically, it's the men that do this. They will be on one piece of equipment, jump to another piece of equipment while leaving their towel or water there, and then come back to the original piece of equipment. Yes, they're effectively using two machines at the same time! If you're doing this type of workout, you really don't belong at a public gym.

The gym is meant to be a place where you have a positive experience both mentally and physically. Practicing the above 10 rules will assure that it's like this for you and the other faithful gym patrons!

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It's been ONE WEEK...

2010-04-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

... since you looked at me... No, I'm going to sing the rest of that song by the Canadian band, The Barenaked Ladies... But it's a very appropriate song title for what I have to say. One week ago today, my Pastor of nearly 12 years, Francis Chan, announced he was going to be leaving my church, Cornerstone Community in Simi Valley. Francis planted Cornerstone 16 years ago. About 20 seconds into his message last Sunday, I knew what he was leading to... and sure enough, about three minutes later, he made the announcement. Seeing how Pastor Chan has seemed so distracted most of the past year, the announcement really didn't come as a huge surprise to me. I talked to him, his lovely wife Lisa, and my good friend Jay after the service. The impact they and so many others from Cornerstone have had on my life has been overwhelming.

So what do I do next? Francis said he's feeling led to plant a church in L.A., though he's not 100% sure that's where the Lord is leading him yet. If he goes there, I may very well follow, even if that means doubling my current 30 minute commute to an hour. I may stay at Cornerstone as I have a lot of friends there who I know I can go to anytime when I need to talk about something important or need prayer. Or I may go elsewhere. I really don't know right now, though I am leaning toward following Francis and family to L.A. if that's where they end up. All I know are two things: 1) I will support Francis, Lisa and their family in whatever they do & 2) I will continue to pray about the future and where God wants me to be for church...

God bless you this Sunday and always!

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My Name Is Inigo Montoya...

2010-04-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

... You Killed My Father... Prepare To Die! If you're a movie fan AT ALL, then you know this line is from the 1987 movie "The Princess Bride." It's one of those films that you can watch over and over again. The humor in it is so memorable that many lines and quotes come right off the top of people's heads. "Inconceivable"... "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." I found those two sitting on my facebook page this morning after posting the famous "My Name is Inigo Montoya Prepare to Die" as my status. Yes, I watched it for the umpteenth time with a couple of good friends last night. It's good old fashioned, CLEAN humor. A movie you can watch with anyone - family, friends, children - and know that no one is going to be offended.

Very recently, I saw a movie with a friend called "Date Night" which looked like it was going to be fun and humorous (like "The Princess Bride") from the previews. However, the movie turned out to be a very poorly-written film full of sexual refences, innuendos and lots of vulgar language. While there were a few bright spots, inevitably they were all but ruined within about 30 seconds by the use of said references, innuendos and language. I really wanted my $9 back from Muvico! More than once, I was so offended that I felt like walking out of the theater. Thankfully, the film was only an hour and 28 minutes long. In summary, "Date Night" looked to me like a paper you threw together at the very last minute for a school project while you were drinking with some crude friends.

The moral of the story is when in doubt go with good old fashioned clean humor. It's a lot more fun, creative and memorable than the trite and hackneyed innuendos, language and references. MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA... YOU KILLED MY FATHER... PREPARE TO DIE!!! :)

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Thank GOD it's Friday!

2010-04-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't even had my requisite first cup of coffee yet, but my brain is already going a mile a minute... when we say "Thank God it's Friday" do we really mean what we say? I'd be willing to think that most of us don't. Like so many other common expressions today, it has very much lost its meaning. Do you actually thank God about it being Friday after HE has gotten you through your stressful week? If not, you may want to find another favorite expression or you can do what I like to do - say a short little prayer actually thanking God for the day! Happy Friday, ALL!

You Gotta Have FAITH!

2010-04-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the George Michael song from many many years ago, but rather I'm talking about our personal faith. In this world, most of us are slaves to something. We're slaves to money, possessions, jobs, addictions, and so many other things. This brings me to a question: why do we let things control us? I'm going to hazard a guess and say maybe we're focused on the wrong things. Can money bring you happiness? No. Can things make you happy? I don't think so.

Nearly two months ago, I was released from my employer of over 18 years. I made a very good salary, received good medical benefits and had many good friends there. Heck, they were even paying for my continuing education at Cal Lutheran University. On the surface there was a lot to like. You would think that given all of that, losing my job might have really gotten me down. On the contrary, it's probably been the best thing that EVER happened to me!

Why do I say this? Well, the place I used to work had a very NEGATIVE work environment. Negative reinforcement was preached and practiced and it absolutely killed the morale there. Being a very positive person, this kind of environment and I were just not a good match. By the end of the often nine+ hour workday, I was physically and mentally exhausted. The 25-30 minute drive there and a 30-35 minute drive back home were also draining as we have people in this state who believe the right lane is a passing lane and it's their right to do 80+ MPH in it! And while going to the gym and doing an hour on the elliptical, the weight machines or in a mat pilates class helped me deal with that stress, it didn't resolve the inherent issues. Effectively, I was a SLAVE to my job!!!

As last year progressed, I could see myself falling downward in a spiral. I focused less on God and stressed more and more on things. Then, my self-confidence started to wane. If you know me at all, you do know that I'm usually very confident in my abilities... By September, I was an absolute basket case! I was trying to juggle school, the gym, and a 45 hour a week super stressful job while trying to spend time with family and friends. Can you say EPIC FAIL?? So what happened as a result? Friendships suffered, I missed commitments, I asked for extensions or changes on school projects, and I was feeling less and less like my normal positive-minded self. My sleep pattern had become ridiculous, varying between two and 11 hours of sleep depending on how I was feeling. There were even three "all-nighters" where I got NO SLEEP at all! Yes, the list was VERY long and it was just all bad! Sadly, I also almost stopped going to my church... I was still so drained from my Monday-Friday on Sunday mornings, that I often just wanted to hit the snooze button 20 times!

Toward the end of last year, I started to realize that I needed to do something different. Although I was somehow maintaining a 3.2 GPA and getting to the gym six times a week, there wasn't much else positive to say about how I was living. I was praying a little, but not nearly enough. I feel into some VERY bad habits. To make a long story short, I decided to go to my church the Sunday before Christmas after missing three straight weeks... the normal 11am service. So as I drive past Angela St. on Winifred, I notice there just weren't very many cars on the road... Strange, I thought. As I got closer to the parking lot, I could tell something was up as it was nearly empty! As me and about five other cars drive by the church, we see these little signs saying "ALL CHURCH SERVICE AT ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL at 10am." I was crushed! I REALLY needed to have my pastor speak to me. I REALLY needed to get some wisdom and encouragement from my friends there. Instead, all I got was nearly an hour of a wasted 50 mile roundtrip to the east end of Simi Valley from the west end of Thousand Oaks. Sadly, I was THAT out of the loop with my church and church body! As my cousin Scott would say "NO BUENO!" All I could think to myself was "this can't happen again... I REALLY need to get my focus back on HIM!"

So the next Sunday, the last one of last year, I finally made it back to my church. My pastor was there. A couple of valued friends were there. And I felt a peace. A comfort. A reassurance. A feeling that God was going to answer some things I had been praying about a lot. And HE did... the next night, He restored a valued friendship which had been torn apart mostly thanks to what I was dealing with at work... I started reconnecting with long, lost friends (mostly on facebook). As 2010 arrived, I just felt like there were going to be a lot of good changes happening in my life...

Fast forward to today. Not to boast or anything, but we're near the end of April, and I have managed to make it to my church EVERY Sunday this year! As I get further and further away from the thing that brought me so much stress, I've been getting closer and closer to God and also my friends. I'm also sleeping better than I have in a VERY long time. My family and friends all have remarked about me being so full of joy all of the time these days. And I really can't help it, because I'm truly happy and enjoying life. I see a friend in need posting a message on facebook and I can pray for them almost instantly. I can text or call my friends almost anytime to check on them... Heck, I can even drive over to visit some of them now too! Last week, I shared about the Lord to several different friends. I've even been listening to the sermons of other pastors online... As I told a good friend this weekend, I feel like God is finally working through me again to make a difference in this crazy world we live in... and that's a feeling not money, a job or anything else can buy!!! Thank you, Lord!!!

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The numbers say Phil needs Tiger...

2010-04-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I posted a blog here, so thanks to all of you who have missed my blogging and/or left comments. After watching Phil Mickelson win his third Masters title this past Sunday, (and a BIG congratulations go out to you, Phil!) I felt inspired to blog again.

As those who follow the game closely know, "Lefty's" play had been very lackluster ever since winning the TOUR Championship last September. His finishes over that time: 19,45,8,24,14,30 and 35. Certainly not the type of play you would expect to preceed a major title. All of this got me to thinking about the last time Phil's play was lackluster - the latter part of the 2008 season into early 2009. Not coincidentally (in my opinion), the missing ingredient or common denominator was a certain man named Woods. Check out some numbers I just threw together on Phil on his PGA Tour play since the beginning of the 2008 season. By my count, "Lefty" has played 45 competitive PGA Tour events over that time. In 27 of those tournaments, Tiger was also in the field.

With Tiger in the field (27 tournaments):
Wins: 5 (18.5%)
Top 5's: 10 (37.0%)
Top 10's: 12 (44.4%)
Top 30's: 21 (77.8%)
Median: 14.5

Without Tiger in the field (18 tournaments):
Wins: 1 (5.6%) - note, win was the week prior to Tiger's last return
Top 5's: 3 (16.7%)
Top 10's: 5 (27.8%)
Top 30's: 12 (66.7%)
Median: 19.0

Pretty striking, isn't it? Phil was 3 1/3 times more likely to win with Tiger in the field than not! He was also 2 2/3 times more likely top have a top five finish with Tiger in the field. Given his often "go for broke" style of play, it's not too surprising that when he's out of contention, the "Tiger effect" isn't nearly as pronounced for Phil as shown by the median finishes of 14.5 with Tiger in the field vs. 19.0 without the world's #1 player amongst the competitors.

The bottom line based on the numbers of the past two plus years is that Tiger seems to inspire Phil's play. When Phil is near the top of the leaderboard, he's a MUCH better and more focused player and much more likely to place in the top 5 and/or win!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T00:09:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Easter. Remember what we are celebrating today... it's not about some bunny or coloring eggs.

Blessings to all, John

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Yes, I'm Still Here...

2009-04-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been forever and a day since I posted a blog. Why haven't I posted in two months? Well, there are several reasons... number one though is that life has been quite stressful for me the past few months. The free time I used to have either has been spent doing other things or simply has not been available. To make matters worse, I endured a cyberstalking incident as well which quite frankly really creeped me out.

So what have I been up to? Well, number one has been taking care of me and my physical and emotional health. I've been hitting the gym five times a week now for the past month. I also started taking a pilates (yes, P-I-L-A-T-E-S) class three months ago and have been truly awed by the results. In my weight training I had hit a wall this past December. At the urging of a friend I met there, I decided to take the class. And lo and behold it began to make a world of difference. My breathing during techniques and flexibilty are much improved, and now I'm lifting 50% or more weight on every one of my machines since I started the classes! Needless to say, I'm in better physical condition than I've been in a very long time - try seven years! The past few weeks I've gotten compliments from so many people saying how good I look - everything from my posture being better to me looking broader and more muscular. Yes, the hard work has paid off! I can honestly say this is the best physical shape I've been in since about early 2002.

Emotionally, well it's been a roller coaster of late. Life has had so many ups and downs. My friend's lives have had so many ups and downs as well. Do I know anyone who is NOT stressed out right now? I don't think so! I'm sure most of you by now have heard of the tragic passing of Angels pitching prospect Nick Adenhart on Thursday. He along with two friends were killed by a drunk driver who ran a red light, slamming into the side of his vehicle. Only 23 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him! Just so tragic. May God's speed be with his family and friends.

What else have I been doing? Well, I'm trying to become the next Poker star - I think!!! Over the past couple of months, I've become very involved in the game and have done quite well. I've been entering some free weekly Texas Hold 'Em tournaments just to get my feet wet. As I write this, I'm ranked 730 out of over 750,000 players in the current one (which ends tomorrow night). Given my math aptitude and God-given gifts with numbers, it's something I seriously need to consider given the growth in popularity of Texas Hold 'Em Poker the past several years.

I'm still doing my fantasy baseball leagues, but after my heartbreaking losses last year in all five of my money leagues, I decided it was time to reassess. This past September I was also so stressed out and ultimately disappointed in my results that I also asked myself "is this worth it?" Also, one of my best friends made a very good point to me about after the season was over, asking "isn't that gambling?" At first I said "no" as playing the fantasy games for money is legal in 42 of the 50 states... However, the more I thought about it, dwelled on it and prayed about it, the more and more my conscience got the better of me. It may not be legally considered gambling, but it felt like gambling. You throw the Alex Rodriguez steroid revelations in there and that was the final straw. I'm doing ten leagues this year, which is more than enough to keep me involved in the game. But I'm also NOT doing any of the money leagues through CBSSportsline as the previous two years. Perhaps after the season is over, I'll reassess again and come to a different conclusion for the 2010 season. I don't know yet.

What else is up? Well, another trip to Nashville in June for CMA Fest week for sure... A trip to the Pacific Northwest in July is penciled in. I'm also leaning towards adding on a trip to D.C. before heading to Nashville just like last year. More to come as I figure it out more.

That is all for now. Hopefully, I will have time to start blogging on a more regular basis again soon.

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A-Rod or the Grammys... and the biggest fraud is?

2009-02-09T23:41:00.000-08:00

Which one is the bigger fraud? It's to the point now where I wonder why I even bother to play fantasy baseball or why I bother to pay attention to the Grammy awards show year after year. The one thing that baseball and the Grammy awards apparently have in common is cheating.

Baseball players take steroids. The whole world knows it now... the question now is which ones played fair and didn't? America's most hallowed player of today, Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking them between 2001 and 2003. Has anyone legitimately hit 50 home runs since Cecil Fielder did in 1990? Maybe Ken Griffey Jr. didn't cheat when he hit 56 home runs in 1996 and 1997 for the Mariners. Maybe Ryan Howard didn't cheat when he hit 58 homers two seasons ago for the Phillies.

The Grammy committee makes sure the "artist on their politcal agenda" gets full recognition in a given year, even while they're not worthy. It's been blatently bad the past three years with banner nights for unserving winners while the worthy artists either went home empty handed or were severely shortchanged. Heck, they managed to raise up THREE unworthy artists this year in Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and Adele! Yes, the Grammy awards are rigged. I said it. And sadly, it's the truth!!!

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Kobe Drops Record 61 @ MSG!

2009-02-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

... and yes, the Lakers did win the game against the Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden by a 126-117 score. Kobe hit on 19 of his 31 attempts from the field (including 3-for 6 on threes) and also made all 20 of his free throws. In scoring 61 points, he eclipsed the famous "double nickel" (55 point) performance by Michael Jordan as a Chicago Bull in 1995 and the 60 points Bernard King put up at the Garden on Christmas Day 1984 for the Knicks. Pau Gasol's great 31 point, 14 rebound performance was all but lost amidst #24's magical night. The Lakers are going to need Kobe and Pau to man the ship as yesterday's MRI on Andrew Bynum revealed a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Bynum, who had been playing amazing of late, is expected to miss 2-3 months. Fortunately, surgery will not be required.

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Steelers Win Truly SUPER Game!

2009-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Has there ever been a more exciting Super Bowl game? Well, I've seen a lot of them in my lifetime and I think this definitely was the best one ever, even if the team I was pulling for didn't come out on top.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers were not too surprising a representative for the AFC, most of us were pretty shocked that the Arizona Cardinals made it amongst all of the NFC teams. I for one wasn't all that surprised by the Cards run - they were sleeper team to make the playoffs before the 2007 season started. It only took them an extra year to deliver on my hype.

Super Bowl XLIII had a little bit of everything. Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers to a quick 10-0 lead early, but Kurt Warner quickly pulled the Cardinals back to within 10-7. As the first half ended, the Cardinals were poised to take the lead, but James Harrison intercepted a Warner pass intended for Anquan Boldin and returned it a record-breaking 100 yards to give the Steelers a 17-7 lead going into halftime.

The Steelers momentum carried into the third quarter as they took a 20-7 lead on Jeff Reed's second short field goal of the game.

In the final period, Warner and the Cardinals showed why they were in this thing in the first place. Perseverance - the story of Warner's football career and his team's in 2008. A drive culminated with a Larry Fitzgerald touchdown catch from one yard out drew the Cards to within six points at 20-14. The teams exchanged kicks the next two possessions, but the Cards managed to back the Steelers up against their own goal line. On third down, the Steelers were called for holding in the end zone for a safety. Suddenly, we had a 20-16 game with just under three minutes to play. After the ensuing free kick, Warner struck quickly, finding Fitzgerald down the middle for a 64 yard touchdown. The seven point underdog Cardinals were suddenly up 23-20 with 2:37 to play.

The Steelers would take off seconds on the ensuing kickoff return to leave "Big Ben" and his teammates two minutes and thirty seconds to either tie or win the game. play. For most NFL quarterbacks, 2:30 is not a lot of time. Indeed, when it's pressure time very few are able to rise to the challenge and not crumble. I mentioned recently that the two quarterbacks I most fear in the NFL with two minutes to play and the ball are the Colts' Peyton Manning and "#7" on the Steelers. With Roethlisberger at the helm, I almost knew what was going to happen because I've seen him do so many times in his five years as a pro. There's a reason "Big Ben" won a record 51 regular season games in his first five seasons. The guy has a HUGE heart! Sure enough, he did what we all know him to do. "Big Ben" meticulously drove the Steelers 78 yards in nine plays, culminating with six yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with just 35 seconds to play. Holmes did an absolutely AMAZING job getting his toes down while making the acrobatic catch which would ultimately end the Cardinals Cinderella story and result in he being named the game's MVP.

Warner and his offense had one last gasp, but with five seconds to play he was stripped of the ball as he tried to pull one more miracle play off. It wasn't meant to be. The Steelers got their record sixth Super Bowl ring in an absolutely amazing 27-23 game. The stars truly shined. It's a shame someone had to lose this game as I think it will go down in history as the best game EVER played!

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All-time favorite "IDOL" songs?

2009-01-31T12:11:00.000-08:00

In it's first seven seasons, the show American Idol has discoved A LOT of talent. Kelly Clarkson got the show off and running in the show's first season as the champion and scored a huge #4 pop hit with "A Moment Like This" at the end of 2002. Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry have had some huge success with multi-platinum albums and #1 hit singles at their respective core formats. To date, more than thirty songs from Idol alumni have cracked the top 10 at either Pop, Hot AC, Adult Contemporary or the Country formats. Pretty amazing stuff. As a fan of the show, I do wonder if anyone from season 8 will be able to match the numbers of any of the aforementioned artists.

With the above in mind, I decided to compile a list of my all-time top 25 singles to date from "Idol alumni"... here goes... feel free to post me your list.

1. "Jesus, Take The Wheel" - Carrie Underwood
2. "Home" - Daughtry
3. "Wasted" - Carrie Underwood
4. "Just A Dream" - Carrie Underwood
5. "Breakaway" - Kelly Clarkson
6. "I Wonder" - Kellie Pickler
7. "Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood
8. "Behind These Hazel Eyes" - Kelly Clarkson
9. "Last Name" - Carrie Underwood
10. "All-American Girl" - Carrie Underwood
11. "Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
12. "So Small" - Carrie Underwood
13. "Don't Forget To Remember Me" - Carrie Underwood
14. "No Air" - Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown
15. "It's Not Over" - Daughtry
16. "Because Of You" - Kelly Clarkson
17. "A Different World" - Bucky Covington
18. "Walk Away" - Kelly Clarkson
19. "Some Hearts" - Carrie Underwood
20. "Miss Independent" - Kelly Clarkson
21. "Wait For You" - Elliott Yamin
22. "I Told You So" - Carrie Underwood
23. "Tattoo" - Jordin Sparks
24. "8th World Wonder" - Kimberly Locke
25. "Over You" - Daughtry

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No Access to ALLACCESS...

2009-01-23T21:15:00.000-08:00

If you're a music fiend like me, then you're very well of the radio industry site www.allaccess.com. Since Wednesday morning, the site has NOT been updated! On the site you can view the top 50 songs at any format and get the latest industry news. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with all of the ClearChannel layoffs that were announced earlier in the week, but one thing is for sure: there are a lot of frustrated music fans out there right now... here's hoping the site is up and running and back to normal soon!

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Obama Becomes 44th U.S. President

2009-01-20T19:27:00.000-08:00

Whether you voted for him or not, today was a very special day for our great nation and one Barack Obama. Outgoing President George W. Bush passed the torch to America's now 44th President at noon today. A record crowd of an estimated 1.8 million people crowded Washington D.C. to see the inauguration.

As our Country enters a new era, let us pray for outgoing President Bush, new President Obama, and most importantly, our nation. I do wish the very best for our new President and sincerely hope that our nation propsers these next four years under his leadership.

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Remembering Ricardo Montalban

2009-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

For those of us who happen to be of hispanic descent (I'm half spanish, half german), Ricardo Montalban was a true role model to me growing up. My most vivid memories of him were from his car commercials - I'll never forget the phrase "soft Corinthian leather," his television show Fantasy Island, and his role as Khan on Star Trek.

More than anything though, he was a source of inspiration and hope to anyone of hispanic origin. His movie career spanned an amazing seven decades! A devoted husband, he and his wife Georgiana were married for 63 years until her passing late in 2007. He was also a strong man of faith, often stating that his Catholic religion was the "most important thing" in his life.

We didn't just lose another actor today. We lost a great man, a great human being, and a great role model. A true icon who spanned three generations. Rest in peace, Ricardo, and thanks for everything you did for not just minorities, but for humankind in your time here. I'm sure that as he entered the gates of heaven, the words "well done, good and faithful servant" were spoken.

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Good Luck D-Lowe!

2009-01-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

As a Dodger fan, I knew this day was coming... it wasn't a matter of if, it was when and where. Most of us knew that when he pitched on October 13, 2008 against the eventual World Champion Philadelphia Philles that the guy known as "D-Lowe" had likely made his last pitch as a member of the Blue Crew. As happened so often in his career as a Dodger, Lowe left that game leading only to see the bullpen give it up. In this game (divisional playoff game 4) he left after five innings leading 3-2. The Dodgers would eventually lose that game 7-5.

In four years as a Dodger he was only 54-48 in the won-loss column. To look at his record alone would be very misleading. Twice in those four years, D-Lowe received the worst run support of any NL pitcher. With a better offense behind him, you're talking about a guy who would have won 16-20 games every year rather than only once. Over his four years as a Dodger he posted ERA's of 3.61, 3.63, 3.88 and 3.24. Yes, D-Lowe was a model of consistency - the one steady and reliable force the Dodgers had on their staff. Not as flashy as Chad Billingsley, not as hyped by the media as much as the perhaps more talented Brad Penny, D-Lowe just did his job. He took the mound every fifth day and gave the Dodgers a chance to win just about every time.

After his requisite thrashing at Busch Stadium on August 6th - he just never has pitched well there for some reason (fantasy leaguers take that as a note for the 2009 season), he was almost perfect... In his final 10 regular season starts as a Dodger, Lowe gave up EIGHT runs... yes, EIGHT earned runs allowed ih his final 64 regular season innings - a stellar 1.13 ERA to go with a 6-1 record over that time. The Manny may have gotten all of the credit for the Dodgers championship run last year, but reality is that Derek Lowe played a pretty big role himself.

Today, Derek Lowe signed with the Atlanta Braves - 4 years, $60 million dollars... Yes, that is a whole lot of cash and I must say it's well-deserved. Braves fans, you can rest assured you're getting a good one, ok almost a GREAT one if you want the truth... a money pitcher (he gave up all of two earned runs in each of his three playoff games this year). Our loss is your gain. Good luck, Derek... you'll be missed here, though rest assured, there will ALWAYS be a spot on my fantasy teams for you! Without you, I would have been a pretender and not a contender in a lot of leagues these past few years!

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Jim Rice finally Gets His Due!

2009-01-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

We all pretty much knew that all-time stolen base and runs scored leader Rickey Henderson would be a shoo-in to be amongst those announced to be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame today. Not surprisingly, Henderson garnered nearly 95% of the votes to easily be inducted in his first year of eligibility.

What wasn't so certain was what would happen to former Boston Red Sox superstar slugger Jim Rice. Last year, in his next to last year of eligibility, Rice received just over 72% of the votes - 3% short of the 75% needed for induction. The most feared American League power hitter of the late 1970's and early 1980's, Rice finally got his long overdue nomination today with 76.4% of the votes. Four times in the pre-steroid era, Rice slugged 39 or more homers for the BoSox, including 46 in 1978. Rice also drove in 139 that year, one of four seasons in which he drove in over 120 runs. A career .298 hitter, Rice also tallied 200 hits on four separate occasions, hitting .320 or better three years. Yes, the credentials were always there, it's just nice that he is FINALLY a member of the Hall and will now sit alongside his contemporaries like George Brett and Mike Schmidt. Congratulations, Jim on this long overdue honor!

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Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

I hope each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas!

Personally, I spent Christmas Eve working a half day and then spending the afternoon with my mother, sister & brother-in-law and the family pets... today I spent with mom, sis, brother, sister-in-law and my two nephews - and they had A TON of presents to open! It was also nice to catch the Lakers/Celtics game (well the first half on TV, the 2nd half on the radio) with the Lakers prevaling 92-83! A good day all the way around. God bless you!

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Yes, it's OK to hate the Yankees!

2008-12-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

If you're from Los Angeles or really anywhere nearby (and also of course Boston), you've probably had a stern dislike for the New York Yankees for most of if not your entire life. Well, December 2008 has just made that dislike/hatred/whatever even worse...

Last week, the Yankees signed free agent ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia - the Dodgers were rumored to be the front-runners before they signed him. Today, those Yankees signed hitting star Mark Teixeira. The Angels (whom he played for at the end of last year) and the Red Sox were the front-runners for his services...

So yes, my three favorite baseball teams have all been victimized by the evil empire of the Bronx in the course of a week. I hate the Yankees. Always have, always will!!! Down with the Yankees!

OK, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I do feel a little better!

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The Grammys or the Shammys???

2008-12-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's that time of year again... time to make fun of the Grammy panel and their often complete lack of touch with what really happening in the music industry.

As I peruse the www.grammy.com site for a list of the finalists for the 51st Grammy Awards, I notice the usual curious selections and even more curious omissions. Let's start with Record Of The Year. While I have no problem with three of the nominees - "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay and as much I hate to admit it, "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., two of the nominees leave me scratching my head. Now there's no doubt that newcomer Adele has written a pretty good song in "Chasing Pavements." It's melodic, it's catchy, and I even bought it myself from iTunes about a month ago. However, at last check the song has only had very modest success - top 20 on the Hot AC chart, and barely cracking the top 100 at pop radio. Now that's tame compared to nominating Robert Plant and the extremely overrated Alison Krauss for a song called "Please Read The Letter." Has anyone that actually listens to music heard of this song? I didn't think so. Much better and more musically relevant selections would have been Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" and Estelle's "American Boy." At least those two were nominated for Song of The Year so it wasn't a complete loss for them.

Of course, in the above category, the most GLARING omission is Kid Rock's huge three format top five smash "All Summer Long." The song was the anthem of the summer and maybe the year at BOTH Pop and Country radio, so how in the world could they leave it out???? Thanks to some marketing genius (not releasing the song for individual sale) the song almost single-handedly sold over TWO MILLION copies of Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus album. I'm no fan of Kid Rock, but honestly leaving that song out of the Record of The Year finalists is a COMPLETE travesty! Even more curious is the fact that "All Summer Long" actually did get a nomination for Kid Rock in Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Best pop vocal??? lol. Seriously!!! Now there's another category that is a TRAIN WRECK! Ne-Yo's smooth "Closer" (how again did that song stall at #2???) and Jason Mraz's ginormous multi-format smash "I'm Yours" obviously belong... John Mayer's "Say" is marginal, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. But did any of you know Paul McCartney or James Taylor released new music this year? Yeah, me neither!

As I continue to glance over the list, the Best New Artist nominees and those missing definitely leave me scratching my head. Jazmine Sullivan? Jazmine who? Jazmine? Can any of you name a Jazmine Sullivan song? An album by her? That nomination will live in Grammy infamy for years to come. Yes, Lady Antebellum and the ubiquitous Jonas Brothers obviously belong there, but how do you justify putting Adele and Duffy in there and not Leona Lewis??? Duffy's song "Mercy," despite having lots of international success, was a HUGE flop here in the U.S as was her Rockferry album!!! Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" not only was the most played record here in the U.S. this year, it also sold the most copies of ANY single! It even managed to sneak four weeks in at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart despite their convoluted formula. Leona's Spirit album is one of the top selling albums of the 2008 year, and even boasted a top 3 follow-up hit in "Better In Time." Leave it to Grammy committee to truly screw up one category beyond reapir! Out of the possible nominations I expected Leona to get, this was the one award which I thought was a shoo-in win for her - and they didn't even nominate her! Crazy... Beyond dumb. I'm truly at a loss for words!

Let's see about my other favorite genre, Country... well, I see they MASSIVELY messed up in the Best Country Song category. "I Saw God Today" by George Strait, "Stay" by Sugarland and "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins are without a doubt three of this year's biggest songs and are definitely worthy of their nominations... it's the other two though that have ZERO business being there!!! "In Color" by Jamey Johnson??? Why? I heard other Jamey Johnson songs on the radio this year, but not this song. "Dig Two Graves" by Randy Travis? Once again, why??? Yes, Randy Travis has achieved a lot in Country music, but most of that is in the distant past. Did any of you hear this song on your radio? I didn't think so. Lady Antebellum's "Love Don't Live Here," James Otto's "Just Got Started Loving You," Brooks & Dunn's "God Must Be Busy," Brad Paisley's "Letter To Me," Carrie Underwood's "Last Name" and countless other songs would have been much more worthy of those final two spots. At least those five deserving songs all managed to get nominations in other Country categories. Perhaps the most deserving Country song of all, Darius Rucker's "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" was COMPLETELY SHUT OUT tonight!

Once again, the Grammy committee's lack of respect for the industry and living in the past catches up with them. Is there any hope that someday the award show will actually become relevant? I seriously doubt it. And rest assured, I'll be back in a couple of months to mock all of the wrong selections they made in choosing the actual winners!!!

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2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad...

2008-12-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

... with apologies to Michael Aday (aka: Meat Loaf). I played in nine fantasy football leagues this year, and despite none of my teams having better than an 8-5 record, six of my teams made the playoffs. Three of my playoff teams finished the year at 8-5, three others finished at 7-6 including the "My Name Is Inigo Montoya" team highlighted a couple of weeks ago. In that league I started 3-6! Needless to say, none of my teams is a #1 seed, though I have a couple of #2 seeds including said Montoya team. Ironically, the team of mine which got off to the best start (6-2) managed to miss the playoffs entirely, losing it's final five games to end the season at 6-7. I had one other team finish at 6-7 and one team with some incredibly bad luck managed to end the year at 5-8.

Now if I can just take that Meat Loaf song to heart again during the playoffs, I'd be winning four of my leagues! That's not likely to happen, but then again just two years ago, only four of my teams made the big dance and three of them came out on top when the dust was settled!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I hope each and every one you get to spend some quality with loved ones today.

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Fantasy Football Funnies...

2008-11-20T13:52:00.003-08:00

FYI, it's hard to see without clicking on the image...

Yes, that's EIGHT of the 10 teams (including mine) at 5-6! I would be the #2 seed right now if the season ended, leading the West with my "My Name Is Inigo Montoya" team (bonus points if you can tell me what movie that's from). Hey, I won a league two years ago with a 6-7 record (running the table in the playoffs as a #4 seed), so anything's possible.

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Another Reason Why I LOVE Carrie Underwood!!!

2008-11-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

In this week's TV Guide, Carrie Underwood explains that she refuses to say who she's backing for President going on to state:

"I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate. It’s saying that the American public isn’t smart enough to make their own decisions. I would never want anybody to vote for anything or anybody just because I told them to. Music is where you go to get away .... Whether it’s from politics or just the world around you, music should be an escape.”

AMEN, Carrie!!! Given that I've ALWAYS felt the same way, it's very reassuring to me that my favorite music star shares my views on something so important.

And this is just plain old fashioned common sense, isn't it? I mean why would you want to alienate perhaps half of your fanbase by expounding on your political views and forcing them on your fans? Carrie's not a politician, she's a musician! Look at what happened to Bruce Springsteen's popularity when he got all political. The Dixie Chicks? John Mellencamp??? Same thing... they all lost A TON of fans when they decided to make politics the focus of their music and concerts. And did you hear what Madonna said about Sarah Palin at a recent concert? It doesn't bear repeating here, but let me tell you that it was so gross, vulgar and disgusting that it led me to delete every song of hers I had on my computer and iPod. And rest assured, "Madge" isn't going to listened to me again EVER unless she makes a public apology to the current Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

And by the way, did anyone notice what happened to talk show host Oprah Winfrey's ratings when she decided she was going to make a huge deal out of supporting Barack Obama? Yes folks, her talk show's ratings are DOWN by 20% since she did this!!! Before Oprah made her gaffe, her favorability rating was at 74%. Today, it stands at 55%. That's a drop of OVER 25%!!!

Someone named Forrest once said "stupid is as stupid does." Celebrities making political endorsements fit this to a T!!!

Kudos to Carrie for standing up for what's right... if only the rest of the world thought like her!!!

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Should of gone to VEGA$!

2008-11-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

For many years, I've been doing ESPN's Pigskin Pickem' game just for fun. OK, one year I did so well that I came in 4th out of nearly 200,000 entries. And what did I get for fourth place? The same thing I got for finishing in second place in many of my fantasy baseball leagues this year. ZERO! Every week, I do one "straight up" entry where you just try to pick the winners, and another where you try to pick "against the spread."

For those of you who don't know anything about "the spread" what it basically means is that Las Vegas sets a gambling "line" for football game, making team a "favorite" and the other team the "underdog." What you try to do in ESPN's game is pick the team which is either going to "cover the spread" or the team that will "beat the spread." For example, let's say the Colts are 7 point favorites over the Patriots. The Colts win 16-13, so while they won the game by 3 points, they didn't cover the 7 point spread. To get the game right, you would have had to pick the Colts not to cover.

Now I'm not much of a gambler - OK, I really don't like to gamble at all actually though a friendly small stakes game of "Texas Hold 'Em" amongst friends is always fun. Anyways, this week I correctly picked 12 of the 14 games against the spread in Week 9's NFL games! That's pretty good... ok, that's REALLY good! So which two games did I get wrong? The Jaguars were tied for the third biggest favorite this week as 7 1/2 point favorites against the "Bungles" in Cincinnati. An underrated Jaguar team, a winless Bengals team without their starting QB and #85 playing more like "Ocho Stinko" than Chad Johnson... it seemed like the Jaguars were a good bet to cover. So what happens? "Ocho Cinco" makes a surprise appearance scoring TWICE and the Bengals not only beat the spread, they win the game outright 21-19!!!... My only other misstep this week was taking the Texans to lose by less than 4 1/2 points against the Vikings in Minnesota. The Vikings behind three touchdown passes from QB Gus Frerotte (not to be confused with "Gus Frerotten") won 28-21 to cover the spread by 2 1/2 points.

Yes, I was thisclose to perfection this week.

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Life Can Be So Random...

2008-11-02T21:44:00.001-08:00

... it seems like lately I'm running into people I know in the most unexpected places. I don't know about you, but this kind of thing always puts a big smile on my face, especially when it's someone who has in some way (even if it's a small one) had a positive impact in my life.

A couple of months ago I ran into a friend of mine from my church (Cornerstone Community) in Simi Valley at my gym in Thousand Oaks. Given it takes about 15-20 minutes to get from one place to the other, seeing her pretty smile at the gym was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise as I just assumed she lived in Simi. Apparently, there are many of us who live in Thousand Oaks and happen to make this particular church in Simi our home.

And then there's tonight. I went to church in Simi and after the service I noticed a girl who looked very familiar. The problem was that I was having trouble placing where I knew her from. After a few minutes it finally clicked with me - she worked at my local Best Buy in Thousand Oaks! The main reason I rememered her (asides from her stunning looks) was that she had outstanding customer service skills and always gave me service with a smile. I have to admit I thought so highly of her that I even filled out one of those customer service surveys one time, giving her a glowing review... So, I walked up to her and recounted a fond memory of there for both of us - the in-store Lifehouse concert from June of last year! What's funny is that I haven't been to Best Buy in literally forever. I actually thought about going there yesterday while out shopping to get a new memory card for my camera, wondering if she still worked there. It turns out she's not, but she's simply moved across the street to my favorite local sporting goods store - Big 5.

Speaking of concerts, this week I'm going to THREE Carrie Underwood shows in the course of five days starting Wednesday. It's gonna be fun!!! As per usual, lots of pictures will be coming provided I purchase that new memory card!

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What does Billboard's Hot 100 measure?

2008-11-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

In it's current form, just what does Billboard's Hot 100 truly measure?

While it does sometimes happen to coincide with what song is truly the most popular in the nation at a given time, more often than not, it doesn't. Songs such as Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" were multi-format #1's and sold lots of singles and albums over a long period of time and obviously were worthy of the peak position...

Other songs have only reached the #1 position on that chart thanks to the repression of downloads (i.e: Rihanna, Mariah Carey), while still others have peaked at #1 there thanks to lots of downloads/sales by a fanbase (i.e: multiple American Idol artists).

Other artists, such as Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers have had new songs sell a lot of units the first week and then drop off dramatically in the following weeks, often resulting in a top 10 debut and a drop outside of the top 40 within a week or two. Was it a song's popularity that made these songs sell a lot, or was it fanbases?

Still other artists such as Kid Rock are victims of the chart's methodology thanks to the chart having a bias against songs that aren't available for individual sale. Kid Rock's recent hit "All Summer Long" peaked at #23 on the chart despite being top 5 at three different formats. Since there was no single available for download it received ZERO Hot 100 sales points. The latter despite the fact that people were flocking to stores to buy his Rock N Roll Jesus album to the tune of over 100,000 units a week at the song's peak.

We also have a special case with Estelle's recent hit, "American Boy." This song was at #11 on the Hot 100 when the label decided to pull the single in an effort to move albums. The song dropped to #37 on the Hot 100 the next week. Did the song suddenly lose popularity? I think not. Shortly thereafter, "American Boy" became available again and voila, it ended up "rebounding" into the top 10 of the Hot 100.

The above said, what does the chart actually measure? If you know, please respond with a comment!

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Lakers DISMANTLE Clippers...

2008-10-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

... 115-77. I mean seriouly they really should have a mercy rule in some NBA games. It was more like a pro team playing a high school team. These Lakers truly look to be on a mission this year...

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It's KOBE time!

2008-10-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Nothing like the start of the NBA season to take the sting off a heartbreaking baseball and fantasy baseball season. Yes, the 2008-2009 NBA season started tonight. My Los Angeles Lakers had a very easy time disposing of the Portland Trailblazers 96-76 in front of a sell-out crowd at Staples Center. As usual, Kobe Bryant led the way, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Pau Gasol added 15 points and seven rebounds. It was such an easy win for the Lakers that no one played more than the 33 minutes both Kobe and Pau put in.

And for those interested, the "World Champion" Boston Celtics didn't need the help of their sixth man (i.e.: referees) against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 90-85 win tonight at Boston Garden. The "zebras" actually called a very fair game tonight, but the key to the Celtics winning was actually the Cavs all-everything Lebron James missing four of five free throws at one point in one sequence down the stretch. As I've said before, the main difference between Kobe and "King James" is that one makes their free throws during crunch time, while the other doesn't. Perhaps one day, Mr. James will get that part of his game on a par with the rest of it.

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Rule #1 of Fantasy Football...

2008-10-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

... don't spend any time studying for your draft! Seriously, why bother? With draft cheat sheets and average draft position tables just sitting there at your disposal, what's the point in studying? So, were you fortunate enough to land the #1 pick in any of your leagues and go with the consensus top pick, L.T.??? Or how about other stellar running backs like Joseph Addai or Larry Johnson with your first round pick? Wide receivers? Did you take the always reliable Torry Holt, rising star Marques Colston or the irrepressible Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson with an early round pick? Tom Brady? Fellow Patriot Lawrence Maroney? If you drafted any of the above players early, more than likely you're a little disappointed at this point of the season for one reason or another.

Now raise your hand up high if you had Clinton Portis of the Redskins as the number one point producer amongst all non-QB's as week 8 of the season ended. We always knew he had it in him as long as he could just hold onto the ball! Five straight 120+ yard rushing games. Impressive stuff, Mr. Portis! If a draft were being held today, you would be hard pressed not to take him at #1.

Yes, folks. The bottom line is that players are going to underperform and/or get hurt. It happens! Conversely, for every player who underperforms, there are players that will perform beyond expectations. And yes, there are still guys out there who are doing pretty much exactly what you thought they would be doing when you picked them - the Drew Brees and Philip Rivers types for example. The reality is that the fantasy football draft is just a crapshoot. Yes, this is why I don't study for football drafts.

The above said, you can help your chances out a lot in leagues by thinking ahead and drafting smart. Avoid the guys on the downside of their careers and focus on drafting guys with upside and opportunity. How about Kurt Warner? With All-Pros Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald along with a young up-and-comer named Steve Breaston to throw to and a nearly non-existant running game, what was not to like on draft day other than a lazy ex-USC Trojan quarterback standing in his way? Warner was the 22nd QB taken on average in ESPN drafts. Hardly to my surprise, he's been a consistent top 5 producer all year. Breaston was a great receiver in college and was a natural fit in the Cardinals offense. Yet he went undrafted in pretty much all non-keeper format leagues. Boldin got hurt and look who's stepped up BIG TIME? Or how about the latest rookie causing waves, the Rams' Steve Avery? With the aging Isaac Bruce in San Francisco, someone needed to step up and complement the aforementioned Holt. Why pick a backup running back with little upside with your 15th or 16th round pick when someone with blazing speed, ability and LOTS of upside is out there and available? Avery hardly got a look on draft day, not even in keeper leagues... No, I didn't draft either Breaston or Avery in my non-keeper leagues, but I must confess I did draft them BOTH in a contract keeper league this past summer - and they're locked up for me through 2011! :)

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Why I Want the Phils to Win in 5...

2008-10-26T22:46:00.001-07:00

...sadly, the main reason I want them to win (OK, I admit I still root a little for ex-Dodger Jayson Werth) is because I don't want any game of a World Series delayed because of an inconsiderate politician. Baseball is America's pasttime. Senator Obama should have shown a little more respect for it than he did. For those of you who don't know, if there is a Game 6, it will be delayed until 9 PM ET/6 PM PT thanks to Obama buying network time on the major networks.

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It's Been Awhile...

2008-10-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been forever (well almost 2 1/2 weeks) since I last blogged. I'm not sure if it was just life catching up with me, or a combination of baseball-related disappointments that killed my typing fingers and creative mind... whatever it was, I guess I needed a little break.

So, for those disappointments. Well, first off I lost one of my fantasy baseball leagues this year by a single home run. Yes, ONE, UNO, 1! 278 home runs led this particular 10 team league. Alexei Ramirez' grand slam against the Detroit Tigers on September 29th gave me 277 of them for the season. Three other owners also had 277 home runs, giving me 7 1/2 points in the category. I lost that league by 1 1/2 points - the leader finished with a total of 70 points, I finished with 68 1/2. Another home run would have given me a tie for first (9 1/2 points) in the category. Those two points would have given me a total of 70 1/2, and the title by a mere 1/2 point.

I've been playing this fantasy baseball game for 10 years now, and this was definitely my most heartbreaking loss ever! I mean, I also could have tied for winning that league with just two more wins from my pitching staff. A special assist from the Mets bullpen must be noted for blowing six of my staff ace Johan Santana's games this year!!! I also could have also won that league with just two more stolen bases! The number of different ways I could have won that league is practically countless, and yet I somehow lost! It's now three weeks since the regular season ended and honestly I'm STILL not over it! Perhaps by this time next year, I'll be over it. Yes, it was even worse than losing a league last year thanks to my pitching ace, Jake Peavy being forced to start game 163 for the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rockies. I went from a tie for first in a league at 79 points to 2 1/2 points back after he predictably got torched by the eventual 2007 World Series runner-ups. With what's happened to me the past two years in those two leagues, I'm almost afraid to see how my heart is going to get broken in 2009. At least last year, I had the solace of winning one league going away and knowing nothing was going to take that away from me as September started.

In my other four leagues, I was in it right until the final weekend. I had two teams finish in third, one 2 1/2 points out, the other 4 points out. My other two teams came in fourth, one 3 1/2 points out, the other 8 1/2 points out. Combined, I lost the five leagues by a total of just 20 points! With just a few breaks in any direction, I could have won every single one of those leagues... Needless to say, I will be playing my fantasy baseball leagues with more than just a little chip on my shoulder next year...

As bad as the 2008 fantasy baseball season turned out for me, at least I had the solace that maybe that Freeway World Series I'd been dreaming about since I was little would finally come to fruitition. The Angels had the best record in baseball. The Dodgers, well they were team that NO ONE wanted to face as they were on a complete roll thanks to Manny Ramirez being in a Michael Jordan-like zone in his two months with the Blue Crew.

Well, it's October 20th and as I type this, we have a World Series coming up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The best laid plans... :( The Angels went out meekly (save the heart of the lineup) against the Boston Red Sox for the second year in a row... But hey at least the Dodgers swept the Cubs in their first round series! Unfortunately, the same guy (Rafael Furcal) who planted the pivotable bunt to send Carlos Zambrano and his Cub teammates reeling, also was the man most responsible for the Dodgers exit against the Phillies, committing a key error in game one of that series to get Derek Lowe into trouble, and three more errors in one inning in game five, putting a 3-1 game all but out of reach at 5-1.

And now for the reality of it all. Presumably, K-Rod has saved his final game as an Angel and D-Lowe has started his final game as a Dodger. Those guys basically aren't replaceable, and unless something REALLY crazy happens, they will be playing baseball elsewhere in 2009. Don't be surprised if both don't wind up on the once again heartbroken New York Mets. Sorry, Dave! And what about Manny? It will probably cost an arm and a leg for the Dodgers to re-sign him, but I really think they should. There's no doubt he put people in the seats and energized the Dodger team and fans like no one else since a guy with two bad legs hit a home run off "the Eck" twenty years ago to spur them to their last World Series crown. Has it really been twenty years since Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershisher did all of their magic? Wow, how time flies!

So what else have I been doing? Well, watching lots of football both college and pro. Yes, those were my UCLA Bruins who lost 59-0 to BYU back on September 13th. Conversely, my crosstown rival USC Trojans put a 69-0 lashing on Washington State this past weekend. Ah yes, is it time for basketball yet???

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Dodgers Sweep Cubs!

2008-10-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

In an improbable upset, the Los Angeles Dodgers finished up a 3-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Divisional Series for their first post-season series win in 20 years. James Loney's two run double in the first inning off of Cubs starter Rich Harden was all of the offense the Dodgers would need as starter Hideki Kuroda shut the opponents down in his 6 1/3 innings of work. Cory Wade pitched a strong 1 1/3 innings, giving up a run. Jonathan Broxton came in to get the final four outs of the game, striking out three including Alfonso Soriano to end a 3-1 Dodger victory. The Dodgers now await the winner of the series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers to see who they will be playing for the National League pennant. GO DODGERS!

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Dodgers Clinch NL West!

2008-09-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

For the first time in four years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the National League West. St. Louis Cardinal reliver Chris Perez got Augie Ojeda to fly out to end a just completed 12-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium, mathmatically eliminating the D-Backs from playoff contention. Congratulations to the Dodgers on winning the division and keeping alive that "Freeway World Series" that I've always hoped would happen!

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Dodgers Cut Magic # to 3!

2008-09-24T08:19:00.001-07:00

Chad Billingsley survived a shaky outing and Nomar Garciaparra and Blake DeWitt each hit 3-run homers to give the Dodgers an easy 10-1 win. In combination with the Arizona Diamonbacks losing to the St. Louis Cardinals behind Randy Johnson, the Dodgers cut their magic number from five to three yesterday. Any combination of three Dodgers wins and Diamondbacks losses between now and the end of the regular season on Sunday will clinch the NL West division title for the Blue Crew. GO DODGERS!

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In Search Of...

2008-09-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

... Jermaine Dye's bat. If anyone has seen it, could you please return it to him ASAP. His power outage this month is just killing some of my fantasy teams.

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Fantasy Football: More Luck Than Skill

2008-09-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

We are two weeks into the football season and since I've been sooooooo involved in trying to win my fantasy baseball leagues and making all of the possible moves to give my teams the best chance at winning, I've paid very little attention to my football teams. In fact, up until a few minutes ago, I had not even looked at my football teams since last Sunday. So how did I do last week? Well, every one of my seven ESPN fantasy football teams WON!

And now it's confession time. I will admit now that I did not study AT ALL for my fantasy football drafts. Every one of them I "winged it," picking my players on the fly and looking at average draft lists while the drafts were happening and going with my gut on a few players. I also made my "Favre Pledge" and avoided any and all Packers players at all costs... My main draft day targets this year were an up and comer named Anthony Gonzalez along with his teammate Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts and any receiver wearing an Arizona Cardinals uniform. On these same teams, I avoided stalwards Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.

While the trend has always been to focus on the "next big thing" at running back on draft day, I tend to look the other way and focus on the receivers. Rarely do I target defenses, but I had a gut feeling this year that the Chicago Bears D would rebound in 2008 after being so disappointing last year.

The season has a long ways to go, but it's nice to see that my teams are doing so well so early on with next to no preparation.

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K-Rod Saves Record 58th!

2008-09-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

For the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the hits have kept on coming even after they clinched the American League West crown three days ago. Two nights ago, Francisco Rodriguez tied Bobby Thigpen's 18 year-old record for saves in recording his 57th. Last night catcher Mike Napoli hit a walk-off two run homer to give the Angels an exciting 5-3 win against the Seattle Mariners.

Tonight though, the focus was all on "K-Rod" as Rodriguez has come to be known. A strikeout of the Mariners' Raul Ibanez closed out a 5-2 Angels win and with it K-Rod recorded save #58 to set a new record. With 15 games to go, there figure to be many more opportunies for K-Rod to extend his mark and make more history. Congratulations to K-Rod on setting this new mark!

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Hacking The Hackers...

2008-09-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

One of my spare time (and that's a very rare commodity for me these days) hobbies is working on and maintaining a few Wikipedia pages. My personal favorite is my first page, the one I created on my friend, 2006 Miss District of Columbia, Kate Michael. Now while my Wiki page on Kate hasn't had many attacks of vandalism, I cannot say the same for some of the other pages I help maintain. Often these attacks are anonymous with the user's IP address showing on Wikipedia. Needless to say, it's a little frustrating to find that an anonymous person has messed with your work. Well now, there's a way to actually find where the IP address originated from! It's an IP address locator tool courtesy of Geobytes.com.

Click on this link IP Address Locator to find the actual city and state that is supplying the IP address. If you find the address you can put a little note on the user section of the Wikipedia IP Address page for the user telling them their city and state in addition to giving them their requesite first warning. Needless to say, this kind of note usually spooks the hackers and makes them go away. :)

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Angels Clinch AL West!

2008-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

The New York Yankees may own a lot of World Championships, but there is one team they certainly do not own - the 2002 World Champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels are the only team in all of baseball to sport a winning record against the Yankees over the past 10 seasons. Since Mike Scioscia took over As their manager before the start of the 2000 season, the Angels owned a 44-36 record against the pinstripes going into today's contest.

This afternoon, the Angels and Yankees played the rubber game of their three game series at Angels Stadium. Dustin Moseley pitched a strong five innings and Francisco Rodriguez struck out Hideki Matsui to record his 56th save in a 4-2 Angels victory. With the win, the Angels clinched a tie for the American League West crown. They then watched in the lockerroom as Seattle Mariners closer J.J. Putz struck out Texas Rangers shortstop Michael Young in a 4-3 win to clinch the title for the second straight season and 4th time in the past five years.

Congratulations to the Angels on clinching, and here's hoping that the crosstown Dodgers (who lead the N.L. West by three games as of this writing) can join them in the post season. Maybe that Freeway World Series isn't such a farfetched thought after all!

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Liberal Media Attacks on Palin...

2008-09-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to speak on politics here very often, but what the left wing blogs and the liberal media have been trying to do to Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin these past few days is just outright sickening! Here is a family woman with values, integrity and class (even a former beauty queen), and they're trying to run her into the ground.

John McCain trumped Barack Obama and the Democrats by picking a woman who many women can actually relate to, and the response of the liberals tells me that the reason they are trying to smear Sarah Palin is that they are running scared. It is sad and pathetic what the liberal left is doing at the moment.

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Not One, but TWO Cycles in One Night!

2008-09-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hitting for the cycle is a VERY rare feat - so rare in fact that even a no-hitter is more common. Last week, Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals hit for the cycle against the Los Angeles Dodgers in our nation's capital. Tonight, for only the second time in Major League history, TWO players hit for the cycle in the same day - the only other time it happened was on September 17, 1920!!!

Tonight in Arizona, Stephen Drew went 5-for-5 against the St. Louis Cardinals in an 8-6 Diamondbacks victory. Drew singled in the first, tripled in the third and homered to right in the fifth inning off Cards starter Joel Piniero. He completed the cycle with a ground-rule double to center off Kyle McClellan in the seventh. Drew then added another double in the eighth off of Brad Thompson. Drew scored three runs on the night.

In Texas, Adrian Beltre hit a home run on a two strike pitch off Rangers starter Matt Harrison in the second inning. Beltre singled in the fourth and again in the sixth off of Harrison. In the seventh inning, he doubled off of Luis Mendoza. In the eighth, Beltre completed his cycle, mashing his first triple of the season into right field corner off of Josh Rupe. He had a chance to collect six hits, but grounded out in the 9th inning against Warner Madrigal to end the night 5-for-6. Amazingly, Beltre scored all five times he reached tonight (and also drove in three) in the Mariners 12-6 win.

And FYI, Beltre was back in my Thrasher's team lineup (as is Jimmy Rollins) for this week's games, so I got to enjoy his cycle even more!

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5 Down, 1 To Go...

2008-09-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

As Labor Day 2008 winds down, it also means that five months of the 2008 baseball season have come and gone and that there is just one month left to go. For those of us that play the fantasy baseball game, these final four weeks are the most crucial ones of the year. Though many of you may now be focused on your fantasy football leagues, I for one am really focusing on doing what it takes to win my baseball leagues.

With the close of August, here's how my teams in my five most important leagues stood:

Angels: 1st place - 70.5 pts, 4.5 ahead
Crusaders: 2nd place - 72.5 pts, 4.5 back
Crushers: 2nd place - 69.5 pts, 3.0 back
Thrashers: 3rd place - 60.5 pts, 5.0 back
Waves: 3rd place - 64.5 pts, 3.5 back

Yes, I'm in a position to possibly win each of my leagues! This is a far cry from the midpoint of the season when most of my teams were struggling just to stay in the middle of the pack.

The Waves team had a truly amazing week 22, making up 14 points on the lead! That team went from 54.0 pts to 64.5 (a 10.5 pt gain) as the leader lost 3.5 pts from the 71.5 he started the week with. Jason Werth with a .500 BA, 4 HR, 9 RBI's, 8 runs and a steal paced my hitters, while Jake Peavy's 20 K's and Bronson Arroyo's two wins led my pitchers. And I would have made up even more ground in that league if I hadn't benched a slumping Jimmy Rollins for Orlando Cabrera in that league. I benched Rollins (along with Adrian Beltre) on the Thrashers team as well. Combined they did this on my bench for that team: 25-54 for a .463 BA, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 9 R, 7 SB. OUCH!!! I can only hope that this doesn't come back to bite me come the end of September. Regardless, it's been an incredible roller coaster ride this year for me in my leagues... it definitely should be quite the finish in all of them.

Last year, things were quite different. I did three of these leagues and had one won by now coasting with a 15 point or so lead. In another I was hopelessly out of it, in 7th place and playing only for pride. In a third, I was in the runner-up position and made a mad dash to vault into a tie for the lead as the regular season closed. Unfortunately for me, Jake Peavy had to pitch that extra game at Coors Field for the Padres and I ended up losing 2.5 points and finishing second after a valient run from 17 points down...

What will the final month for me hold? Only the man above knows, I just hope He's smiling upon me and my teams!

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Estelle Latest Victim of Billboard Hot 100's Bias

2008-08-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

If you've been following the pop music charts recently, you've noticed the invasion of acts from across the Atlantic including Leona Lewis, Duffy and now Estelle. While Leona has already had a multi-format U.S. #1 smash here with "Bleeding Love" and a follow-up in "Better in Time" about to crack the top 10 on the pop chart, the other overseas acts have struggled to get widespread acceptance here in the states until recently.

Surprisingly, Estelle has been able to hold off Leona's latest hit on the pop chart, currently sitting at #13 with her hit "American Boy" ("Better in Time" is at #14). With nearly 90,000 downloads in the previous week, "American Boy" was the #6 most downloaded song in the U.S. With airplay from other formats thrown in, Estelle's song was just about to crack the top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. As of last week, it sat at #11.

Personally, I'm not really a huge fan of Estelle's hit (though the song is growing on me), but still what has happened this week is just more fuel for my argument that the Billboard Hot 100 should go to a rolling six week sales average to determine the sales component on the chart. This past week, Estelle's label pulled "American Boy" from all of the digital download sites including iTunes. With that, the song experienced a 75% drop in sales this week to just over 22,000 units. Despite the continued airplay gains, the song plummeted to #37 on the Hot 100 chart as a result of the label suddenly repressing downloads!

Did Estelle's song suddenly drop in popularity? No. Did the Billboard Hot 100 just lose even more relevance? Of course.

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Guzman Puts Dodgers In Complete Slide Cycle

2008-08-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

A week ago today, the Los Angeles Dodgers were tied with the Arizona Dimondbacks for first place in the National League's western division... The Dodgers headed to Philadelphia to start a 10 day road trip to hopefully take control of the division... such though has not been the case at all... Greg Maddux got pounded by the Phillies as did Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers losing the first two games by a combined 17-3 score. The Dodgers then wasted a great outing by Derek Lowe, blowing a 2-1 lead and eventually losing 5-2 in extra innings. In game four of the series, the Dodgers reached base a staggering 17 times (13 hits and four walks), and yet failed to plate a run in losing 5-0.

While being swept by the playoff contending Phillies on the road is hardly embarrassing, what happened to the Dodgers in the nation's capital the past three days was beyond bad... In game one of the series, another strong outing by D-Lowe was wasted as the Dodgers could only manage a single run off Collin Balester and four Washington Nationals relievers. A throwing error by Greg Maddux led to two unearned runs - the margin of defeat - as the Dodgers lost again to the Nats last night, 5-4.

Game three of the series was a complete rout almost from the outset. After Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a home run which also plated Andre Ethier in the first inning, the Nationals offense exploded. Clayton Kershaw gave up five runs in just 2 1/3 innings, including a solo home run Cristian Guzman and a three-run blast from the just returning Elijah Dukes. Dukes would homer again in the 7th inning... it was Guzman though who stole the show, singling in the second inning and then doubling in the 6th inning. In the 8th inning, Guzman drove a ball deep and over center fielder Matt Kemp's head for a triple to complete the rare cycle. In the four year history of the Nationals, Guzman's was only the second cycle, the first being by Brad Wilkerson on April 6, 2005. At the end of the night, the Nationals had an 11-2 win and an improbable three game sweep of the quickly fading Blue Crew.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks have been losing as well but their losing streak is only four games. With a day off today, the Dodgers loss increased the D-Backs lead to 3 1/2 games in the National League West. Tomorrow, the Dodgers start a crucial three game series in Arizona. Needless to say, something's got to give. Realistically, the Dodgers really need to take at least two of the three games to have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. Of course, if the Dodgers lose two of three or (gasp!) extend their losing streak to ten games, it will look like my hopes of a "Freeway World Series" will be all but dashed once again.

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Fantasy Baseball Update...

2008-08-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

With completion of tomorrow's games, there will be exactly five weeks left in the Major League Baseball season. For those of us that play Fantasy Baseball, it means the six month daily grind of managing your teams is soon coming to an end. If you've done well, you're still contending for some titles.

As for me, I'm in 18 leagues total this year, and I still have a chance at winning 13 of them. Most importantly, I'm still very much alive in almost all of my five money leagues! At this very moment, I'm in first in one (by 6 points), in second in one (5.5 points back), fourth in one (only 8.5 points back), and seventh in two (but only 9 points out of first in one and 18 points out in the other).

Come September 1, the goal is to generally be within 10 points of the lead in a standard 5x5 roto ML universe league if you want to have a chance to win... to be in that position in four of my five leagues, tells me that I've at least done something right. All you can hope to do is draft well, manage your team well and put yourself in a position to win. What will happen to me over the final five weeks? I have no idea, but I can only hope that the guys who have been most instrumental in helping get me to this point such as Aramis Ramirez, Jermaine Dye, Brian Roberts, Geovany Soto, Chris Snyder, Aubrey Huff, speed demon Willy Taveras, Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, James Shields, Tim Lincecum, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Ricky Nolasco and the ageless Randy Johnson can keep it going another five weeks. If so, chances are I'm going to be very happy come October 1!

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Fixing the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part V

2008-08-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

So how do we fix the Billboard Hot 100 so that it has meaning again? Before I get into that, we have several more examples of the chart's irrelevanace this week's chart. This past season's American Idol runner-up David Archuleta debuts at #2 on the chart this week with his first single from his upcoming debut album called "Crush." Taylor Swift's "Change" debuts at #10 and Chris Brown's "Dreamer" debuts at #16. Have you heard ANY of these songs yet? I didn't think so. Meanwhile, Kid Rock's mega-format smash "All Summer Long" inches up to #25 on the chart despite moving up from #6 to #4 in Hot 100 airplay! Thanks mostly to the aforementioned hit, his "Rock N' Roll Jesus" album sold over 101,000 units this week, good for the #3 spot on the Top 200 albums chart. Are the three debuts more popular songs than Kid Rock's hit? Of course not.

Once again we have cases where a formatically popular artist (an A.I. winner, a Country star and an R&B/Pop star) released a song to the online sites for download and it debuted high on the Hot 100 chart based almost exclusively thanks to sales. Do big week one sales make a song popular? As I've said before, the answer to this is an EMPHATIC NO! Big week one sales on a new release, whether it be of an album or a single mean the ARTIST is likely popular. As for the song, it's sales over time and how it does on the airplay charts are what determines whether or not it indeed is popular.

So how do we fix what is broken with the Hot 100 chart so that it once again has some sort of semblance of meaning? Following are my three main suggestions:

1. Change the sales component to a rolling six week sales average. As I've mentioned before, sales tend to run quite a bit ahead of airplay, so by getting the sales in sync with airplay songs will more naturally go up and down the chart, rather than having the jagged up and down style that is prevalent today. Also, by making the sales a rolling six week average, you eliminate the biases which currently exist on the chart thanks to the practice of "repressed downloads" and new releases by popular artists and/or American Idol contestants.

2. Factor in album sales for all charting songs, most especially for those which there is no physical single available. Should Kid Rock (or anyone else for that matter) be penalized on the Hot 100 chart just because he doesn't have a physical single available? I think not. The purpose of the Hot 100 chart has always been to reflect the songs that are most popular in the nation. Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" is definitely much more popular than the #25 position currently shown on the Hot 100 chart. For the album sales component, again use a six week rolling sales average, and award 75% of those sales to the current biggest hit track on the airplay chart. If this were done, Kid Rock's hit would be in the top 5 of the Hot 100, which is reflective of it's true popularity today.

3. Change the airplay component back to just pop radio airplay. Songs peak at different times at different formats. Those who are in the business and/or follow the charts religiously are very aware of this. Indeed, it's very common for a song to peak at Pop or Hot AC and then not peak for another six months to a year at Adult Contemporary. A country song may similarly cross over to pop radio or Adult Contemporary in a similar way. When Billboard combined the airplay of all formats, this resulted in unnatural jagged runs on their airplay chart. While the intention may have been good, this was not a well thought-out change. This change was also made with the assumption that all formats move sales units fairly equally. From what I've presented previously, this is not at all the case. Urban and Urban AC in particular don't move units. The three main formats which sell singles today are Pop (Top 40), Hot AC and Rhythmic in that order. My suggestion here would be to weight the airplay component so that it's based on 50% pop airplay, 35% Hot AC airplay and 15% Rhythmic airplay. The reason for the lower weight on the rhythmic side is that the format is not open to playing "all of the hits" as are Top 40 and Hot AC.

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MLB Finally Getting Replay!

2008-08-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

It was just over a year ago when I wrote my blog entitled A Case For Instant Replay In Baseball. Well today, I finally got my wish as Major League Baseball along with baseball umpires signed an agreement to institute instant replay. Now while replay won't encompass all controversial situations, it will be used in the so-called "boundary calls" such as determining whether a ball is fair or foul and whether or not a flyball cleared the outfield fence.

Baseball has finally attempted to follow the NFL's innovative lead. All I can say is it's about time!!! Getting the call right is what it's all about, and this long overdue change should help revolutionize and popularize baseball as it did football. Heck, baseball umpires (like NFL officials) will likely now become more popular... Half the excitement of an NFL game these days is seeing the official go to the replay booth to correct a missed call. This should be fun and it should help make baseball games more enjoyable for the players, coachers, managers, umpires, and most especially the fans!

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Dodgers reacquire Maddux!

2008-08-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux for the stretch run, and he helped lead them to a playoff appearance going 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 12 starts. Some may question the acquisition of the now 42 year-old future Hall of Famer, but Maddux is still going along strong, posting a 3.99 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 26 starts for the San Diego Padres this year. His 6-9 record is very deceiving as the Padres offense has been all but nonexistant in 2008.

The Dodgers definitely now have a nice blend of veteran presence and youth, and Maddux should definitely help take some of the pitching burden off of co-aces Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley, while helping out rookie sensation Clayton Kershaw. Indeed Kershaw was sitting next to Maddux in the dugout tonight in the Dodgers 8-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies, so it looks like he is already making an impact.

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Phelps Wins Record 8th Gold!

2008-08-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Amazing, unbelieveable!!!... what an accomplishment for U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps as he broke the Mark Spitz record for most Gold medals in a single Olympic Games, winning his eighth tonight as a member of the 4x100 men's relay. Congratulations to Michael on breaking this record that was set by Spitz 36 years ago.

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Fixing The Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part IV

2008-08-15T23:36:00.000-07:00

Most of you are probably very familiar with the show American Idol. In it's seven years, the singing talent show has uncovered many great stars in a variety of music formats including Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Jordin Sparks and Kellie Pickler. Idol will always be associated closely with it's season one winner, Kelly Clarkson. On September 4, 2002, Clarkson was crowned the champion and did a tearful rendition of her soon-to-be released single "A Moment Like This." The song was released to radio almost immediately, debuting at #41 on the R&R pop chart just nine days after Clarkson's crowning moment. Four days later, on September 17th, 2002, the single for was made available for purchase.

Due more than anything to the show's amazing popularity, "A Moment Like This" sold a staggering 236,000 copies in it's first week. I still remember purchasing this song myself at my local Best Buy and noticed that it was the ONLY song out that was available at the time as a single. Needless to say, since there really wasn't anything out at the time readily available as a single, it had a HUGE advantage saleswise over anything else charting on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to the strength of it's Pop (Top 40) and Adult Contemporary airplay, the song had already climbed to #52 on the Hot 100. Needless to say, with it's huge sales advantage, the song had no problem leaping 51 spots to number one on the Hot 100 after the first week sales were tabulated! Was this fair or right? Hardly. Eventually, the song would climb to #4 on both the Pop and AC charts, while also peaking at #27 on the Hot AC chart. So yes, the song did turn out to be a pretty significant hit, but was it deserving of being called the "number one song in the U.S." at any point during it's chart life? No.

Sadly, Billboard did nothing to fix this inherent flaw on the Hot 100 chart methodology. As bad as the Kelly Clarkson example was, it was nothing compared to what followed. Since Clarkson won, a string of songs which hardly anyone outside of fans of the American Idol show would become "number one hits" on the Hot 100. On May 21, 2003, Ruben Studdard narrowly won the second American Idol title over Clay Aiken. Three weeks later, both Studdard and Aiken released singles. On June 28th, 2003, Aiken's "This Is The Night" debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 chart, while Studdard's "Flying Without Wings" was right behind at #2. As per the Clarkson example, nothing else was readily available as a single at the time. Aiken's song would go on to become a VERY minor pop radio hit, peaking at #48 on July 18, 2003, while Studdard's song never even charted on the pop chart! American Idol as a show was definitely popular, but were these two songs the two "most popular songs in the nation" at the time? Heck no!

And so it went... Fantasia won season three of the show, released a song called "I Believe" which flopped on U.S. radio, but managed to sell enough to reach #1 on the Hot 100 chart. Carrie Underwood won season four of the show and released a song called "Inside Your Heaven" the her first single. Season four runner-up Bo Bice also released a version of the same song as a single. And once again, both Idols would be at #1 and #2 on the Hot 100. While Carrie's song would eventually peak at #10 on the R&R AC chart, and also barely crack the Top 50 at Country and Top 40 radio, Bice's song never charted on a radio chart. Once again, we had songs ruling the Hot 100 which were hardly relevant outside of American Idol's audience.

In season five, Taylor Hicks won Idol in what most to this day still consider a HUGE upset. Anyone who watched the show that year knows that the guy with all of the talent that year was one Chris Daughtry. Daughtry only took fourth place that season, but he would end up having the last laugh as I'm sure you know. Taylor's coronation song, "Do I Make You Proud" flopped at pop radio as did most of the previous winner's songs. The song did manage to eventually peak at #20 on the Adult Contemporary chart - not much of a feat, considering it usually takes less than 200 spins in a week nationwide to get to that position. Sales in excess of 228,000 copies though ensured yet another illegitimate #1 Hot 100 debut. Not even two months after release, the song was off the Hot 100 chart as sales for it dramatically fell after the first two weeks.

Jordin Sparks won season six of Idol. Unlike the previous winners, her coronation song, "This Is My Now," was not released as a physical single. The main reason for this is that Billboard had FINALLY come to the realization that physical singles were no longer relevant. Even if a song sold 150,000 physical copies, it wasn't going to have a significant impact on the Hot 100 chart now. Like Hicks' song, Jordin's song was available for digital download though. The song did not receive signficant airplay and also didn't sell all that well as many people were probably looking to buy a physical copy. As a result the song "only" reached #15 on the Hot 100 chart. Jordin's first "official" release from her debut album, called "Tattoo" was released to radio on August 27, 2007. Despite her label, Jive, repressing downloads of the song for four weeks, the song would only manage to get to #8 on the Hot 100. "Tattoo" would turn out to be the second most successful pop radio Idol winner debut hit to date though, reaching #5 on the Mediabase pop chart. It would also crack the top 10 at AC and hit #12 at Hot AC.

With Billboard's realization that digital was now the preferred method of single purchase, you would have thought that some sense of accuracy would be applied to the chart... However, as seen with the Mariah Carey and Rihanna examples in Part III, this was hardly at all the case. With season seven Idol winner, David Cook, the Hot 100 chart would arguably reach it's all-time low. Prior to Cook's winning of Idol, Billboard decided to attempt to "tweak" the chart again in 2006. Digital sales became a HUGE component of the chart. So much so, that it was now common for songs that no one had heard of to chart. Miley Cyrus had SIX songs debut on the Hot 100 with the release of her Hannah Montana album. Cook would have 11 songs debut on the Hot 100, including four in the top 30, when his album came out earlier this year! Cook's first single, "The Time Of My Life" debuted at #3 on the Hot 100 on the strength of 236,000 sales in it's first week. The song has gone on to become a decent-sized hit, reaching #30 at Top 40, #6 at Hot AC and #3 at AC. Since radio airplay is now a bigger component of the Hot 100 chart, the song did not make it to #1 despite it having the second largest week one sales for an Idol winner's coronation song. Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" and "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis - two singles which have sold more than 5,500,000 units to date combined - prevented it for hitting the top spot.

I bring up the sales figures for "Lollipop" and "Bleeding Love" for many reasons, but first and foremost is that huge sales over a long duration (rather than a few weeks)are usually a sure sign of a hit record. Additionally, sales usually run ahead of airplay on the charts today. In other words, a song usually will peak in sales before it has peaked in radio airplay. If the people at Billboard realized this, it would go a long way towards fixing the Hot 100.

In part five, I'll explain the above statement along with asking the agelong question - why can't Billboard find a way to incorporate album sales into the Hot 100, especially in cases like Kid Rock's??? In case you don't know, Kid Rock currently has the #5 pop song in the nation with "All Summer Long." It's also #4 at Hot AC and even #13 at Country! It's a bona-fide multi-format smash! Even in Billboard's much-maligned airplay component, the song is in the top five at the moment with nearly 90 million in estimated listening audience. Kid Rock's current album Rock N Roll Jesus is selling in excess of 90,000 copies a week. Yet, Kid Rock's HUGE current hit sits mired at #28 on the Hot 100 chart!!! Why is it sitting so low, despite the fact that over 1,500,000 copies of the song have been sold to date? That's to come, along with me finally recommending some solutions to fixing the chart.

Next: Part V - The Fix

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Fixing The Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part III

2008-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in Part II, Billboard revised their Hot 100 chart formula in the mid-1990's to include all major types of popular music in the airplay end of it, rather than just pop (top 40) radio airplay as it always had been. The very erroneous assumption that all formats of music move sales units equally was made in doing this, an error which to this day Billboard has failed to recognize. This assumption couldn't be further from the truth! Formats such as Rock, Country, Alternative, Urban and Urban AC were figured into the Hot 100 formula instead of just pop stations. And while there may be many of these kinds of stations around, the fact of the matter is that these formats (no matter how much they play their format's hits) DO NOT SELL singles!

Since it's heyday in the early 1980's, the pop radio format has fragmented somewhat. And while Mainstream Pop (top 40) is still the dominant format, the Rhythmic format was birthed out of it in the 1980's, and in 1994, we saw the debut of the Adult Top 40 charts (also known as Hot AC). When you study the sales charts of the top selling singles of today, the popular songs from these three formats tend to dominate them. For all it's popularity, the Country format as a whole does not move singles units. However, Country crossover artists such as Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift (who both hit the top 10 of the pop chart last year) tend to sell very well.

As a result of the revised Hot 100 policy, the chart began to slant toward the Rhythmic end of things in the mid-1990's and has continued to do so to this day. Straight ahead pop hits, or pop songs with a rock edge rarely had a chance to hit the top of the chart anymore because formats such as Rhythmic, Urban and Urban AC effectively were not "mass appeal" enough to play a mainstream pop record, no matter how big of a hit it was nationally.

So, as we entered the 2000's, the Billboard Hot 100 continued to be very inaccurate on both the airplay and sales fronts. When digital downloads began to be incorporated into the Hot 100 formula in 2005, there finally was some hope on that end of things. For the first time in about 15 years, you could purchase practically any song you heard on the radio for a reasonable price. Whether it be via iTunes, Walmart, Rhapsody or some other source, the digital download now ruled the singles marketplace.

Unfortunately, Mariah and the evil minds at her new label, Island, figured out a new way to manipulate the sales component of the Hot 100 chart. It was basically the same thing Sony did with the physical singles back in the mid-late 1990's and early 2000's - they repressed sales of a new release until it had racked up enough of an estimated listening audience (airplay) to ensure a #1 hit on the Hot 100 chart. And while in early 2005, Mariah had her huge comeback hit, "We Belong Together" - a song which no one can dispute was a legitimate MASSIVE #1 hit on the Hot 100 and otherwise, a lot of funny stuff happened in the two years after that.

On October 11, 2005, Mariah and her label officially released a song called "Don't Forget About Us" to pop radio. Although a huge hit at several formats, including Pop, Rhythmic, Urban and Urban AC, it "only" managed to reach #2 on the Hot 100 in it's first 9 weeks of official airplay. It would have reached #1 and probably would have had a very long run at the top of that chart if they had released a single for purchase. Island decided to repress the song, and didn't make it available for download until December 13, 2005. Not surprisingly, the song sold A TON of units in the weeks that followed, and ended up spending two weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 chart.

Fast forward to 2008. In the two years that passed, other artists such as Rihanna repress singles to purchase a #1 hit on the Hot 100 chart... Mariah in the meantime has completed a new album entitled E=MC². The lead single, entitled "Touch My Body," is released to radio on February 12th. Since Mariah was coming off a huge 6x Platinum album in The Emancipation of Mimi , it figured that no matter how good or bad the song was, that it would have no problem getting airplay or adds at the formats where her previous hits had been successful. The reception to the song though was VERY lukewarm at pop radio after the initial hype died down. After reaching the top 10 in only five weeks, it was out of the top 10 just six weeks later, peaking at #7. Low callout scores (as with "Honey") doomed this song's chances from the start. Quite frankly, the song just wasn't anywhere close in quality to Mariah's early albums or her comeback hits from the last album. While a #7 song is nothing to sneeze at, most expected Mariah's first single to do better.

Which brings us back to the Hot 100 chart. While Rhythmic, Urban and Urban AC stations played "Touch My Body," it wasn't as huge as any of the three hits off the previous album either. Yes, it reached the top 10 at all of these formats, but not number 1. As a result, it was stalling in the mid-teens on the Hot 100 chart. Island figured they could get Mariah another easy #1 if they repressed downloads. What the label didn't expect was the lukewarm reception to the song on all levels. On March 24, 2008, the label finally released the song as a single to all of the digital outlets. Of course, when you build up demand for a song for six weeks, you would expect that when the song was finally released in it's seventh week on the radio that people would buy it. Think of it as compressing seven weeks of sales into just one. It's not exactly rocket science here... Sure enough, the 48 days of sales compressed into a week were enough to sell 286,000+ units. "Touch My Body" moved from #15 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, knocking off a legitimate number one song in "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. Mariah would spend a second week at #1, before being replaced on top by Leona.

Just five weeks after Mariah's shenanigans, Rihanna's label bought her another Hot 100 #1 by repressing downloads of her hit, "Take A Bow." The song entered the top 40 chart on March 23, 2008, but wasn't available for download until six weeks later, on May 6, 2008. Unlike Mariah's song though, this song turned out to be a legitimate hit, reaching #1 on the Pop chart the first two weeks of July, 2008.

NEXT: PART IV - American Idol uncovers a new Hot 100 flaw, and Kid Rock exposes the BIG flaw which the Hot 100 had even before the problems of the past two decades...

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Leona Hits #1 Again!

2008-08-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

After 10 week runs at number one on both the Pop and Hot AC charts, there really was only one music chart left for Leona Lewis to conquer here in the U.S... and after waiting seemingly forever, she finally has reached the top of the Adult Contemporary chart. With this morning's update, "Bleeding Love" reached the #1 position, knocking off another song to reach #1 on all three charts, "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles.

Top 5 by spins:
Date: lw TW Artist Title TW lw Move aud
2 1 LEONA LEWIS Bleeding Love 2149 2071 78 17.543
1 2 SARA BAREILLES Love Song 2086 2240 -154 16.629
4 3 DAVID COOK Time Of My Life 1926 1829 97 14.613
3 4 JOHN MAYER Say 1810 1873 -63 14.110
6 5 TIMBALAND/ONEREPUBLIC Apologize 1497 1335 162 9.699

Leona is now ascending the pop chart here in the U.S. with her second single, "Better In Time" which has already reached the #20 position and is also the biggest airplay gainer on the entire chart the past week. While it would be crazy to think that "Better In Time" would be able to be as massive a hit as "Bleeding Love" was, it's not out of the question for the song to duplicate her first hit's success and hit #1 on the pop chart. Congratulations to Leona on another #1 and her continued incredible success here in the U.S.!!!

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Dodgers Dunn in?

2008-08-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded yesterday for one of baseball's premier sluggers, acquiring Adam Dunn from the Cincinnati Reds. Despite a low .233 batting average, Dunn is leading the National League with 32 home runs and also has driven in 74 runs. The move definitely is in direct reaction to the Los Angeles Dodgers acquisition of Manny Ramirez. While the Manny trade probably made the Dodgers the favorite to win the divison, this latest move probably evens things back up, or even swings the ball back into the D-Backs court.

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Harrington Gets Double-Major!

2008-08-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Padraig Harrington is doing his best to take the place of one Tiger Woods while the world's #1 player in the world recovers from surgery. Harrington holed long putts on the final three holes in a very Tiger-like performance to outlast both Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis to claim his first PGA Championship by two strokes yesterday.

Congratulations to Padraig on winning his second consecutive major and third career one. He definitely has taken full advantage of Tiger being gone, hasn't he?

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Carlos Lee Out For Season! :(

2008-08-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I'm an avid fantasy baseball player, and a less avid fantasy football player. I still play the latter, but I honestly believe it takes little to no skill to win a fantasy football league - it's usually about luck. Anyways, being a fan of fantasy baseball, I participate in nearly 20 leagues each year. Some or more casual, others are more important - particuarly the money leagues I play in every year on CBS Sportsline. When I tell you the prize for winning such a league is in the four figures, you'll probably understand why I'm a little upset at what is going on right now.

In case you missed the news, Carlos Lee of the Houston Astros was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo last night. The pitch broke Lee's left pinkie and he's going to be out 6-8 weeks. In other words, he's all but done for the year!!! Just how big of a loss is this? Lee was leading the National League in RBI's with 100, and was 4th in the league in homers with 28, to go along with a .314 batting average. Yes, this is a major jolt to not one, but TWO of my five teams!!! And it could have been worse as I traded him for Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon a couple of weeks ago in a third league.

Players such as Carlos Lee are deemed by Sportsline and most other fantasy sites as "too valuable to drop," so they are typically put on the respective site's list of Undroppable Players. In other words, even if you want to drop these players, you can't drop them. Albert Pujols, A-Rod, Johan Santana and other players that would typically be picked in the first five rounds of a fantasy draft are usually on these lists. Anyways, as of early this morning, Carlos Lee was STILL on the undroppable list for CBS Sportsline even though he's done for the year! Given that lineups freeze on Monday and I need to get a decent substitute to replace him with, you can probably understand my frustration. It would be awful to lose a league as a result of something being there to protect the integrity of leagues. Hopefully, I will be able to drop Lee VERY soon!

** EDIT **

After some going back and forth with a representative at Sportsline this morning for a bit, I was able to get him dropped from my teams and he is now off the Undroppable List. Mission Accomplished! I only can hope that my fill-ins Mike Cameron and Jason Kubel will perform decent for me in the coming month and a half.

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Note: Fixing the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part III will appear tomorrow... ran out of time today as I was celebrating my hephew Jason's birthday.

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Fixing the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part II

2008-08-09T17:26:00.001-07:00

By the early 1990's, physical sales singles were no longer a very accurate way to measure a song's success. Billboard in their infinite wisdom, decided to mess with the one part of the chart which didn't need fixing - the pop airplay component. Pop radio stations (also known as Top 40) were known as such because they played the songs that were popular regardless of format. Whether it be pop, rhythm and blues, country, easy-listening, etc. a song had a home at top 40 radio if it was truly a hit. That's always been the beauty of top 40 radio - it's the "melting pot" of POPular music so to speak. Instead of just tracking pop station airplay, Billboard would eventually combine the airplay of EVERY other popular format into one chart: The Hot 100 airplay chart. This created a whole new monster, one which I will explore in Part III.

In the meantime, while the "airplay only" hits were finally allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, they still faced a serious disadvantage to any song actually available as a single. The very first song that was #1 in pop airplay after Billboard revised it's chart policy in late 1998 was "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins. Despite spending five weeks on top of the Radio & Records pop airplay chart, it only made it to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And this handicap was the norm for #1 pop hits without an avaiable single - they rarely ever cracked the top 5 of the Hot 100. Billboard would later revise it's formula from 60% airplay/40% sales to 80% airplay/20% sales, but the reality was even this wasn't good enough as for all intents and purposes, the single was dead.

There were so few singles available by this time, that even a song that didn't get much pop airplay could chart VERY high on Billboard's Hot 100 chart if it sold a lot of units, so the record companies decided to start the practice of deeply discounting CD singles to the point that they were actually losing lots of money on them. Typically, a deeply discounted single sold for only .49 cents.

The first artist to habitually exploit this loophole in Billboard's Hot 100, perhaps ironically, was Mariah Carey. As this GREAT article entitled "Hot 100 Blues" by Jon Cummings points out:

"Labels began playing more overt games with the Hot 100 as well during those years. More and more frequently, beginning with Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” in September 1995, they delayed releasing a single until airplay was cresting – and then often put the singles into stores at a huge discount – so that a song’s combined airplay and sales figures would result in a Number One debut. Sony employed this strategy with Mariah Carey three times between ’95 and ’97."

Up until the early 1990's, the Hot 100 had always been a chart that a song would naturally rise up and down based on it's popularity. As per the above, Michael Jackson's song was the first song to debut at #1 on the Hot 100. "Fantasy" would do the same for Mariah four weeks later, on September 30, 1995. Sony then began to even more blatently manipulate the chart starting with Mariah's duet with Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day." And while "One Sweet Day" indeed was a huge radio hit, spending eight weeks at the top of R&R's pop chart, the record label manipulation (i.e: deeply discounting the song), to go along with the fact that so few songs were now available as singles allowed it to spend a ridiculous 16 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100!!!

In the modern era (1965-present), The Beatles were the first act to spend as many as nine weeks at number #1 on the Hot 100 with their hit "Hey Jude" in 1968. Debby Boone broke that record in 1977, scoring 10 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 with "You Light Up My Life." Olivia Newton-John tied that record four years later with "Physical." With the single getting phased out in the early 1990's, it became easier and easier for songs to have long runs at the top of the Hot 100. In fact, from 1992 to 1994, FOUR songs spent 11 weeks or more at #1! Those four songs would be "I Swear" by All-4-One (11 weeks), "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (14 weeks), and the Boyz II Men hits "End of The Road" (13 weeks) and "I'll Make Love To You" (14 weeks). Clearly, even prior to Mariah's first two chart manipulations in 1995, something was VERY wrong with the Hot 100 chart.

In 1997, Sony employed their shady chart tactics a third time as the song "Honey" was released from Mariah's Butterfly album. Unlike all of her previous releases, "Honey" was not accepted well either by pop radio or Mariah's huge fanbase. Indeed, at the time I was such a fan of Mariah's that I would buy her albums the day they came out. Well, Butterfly marked the first time that I was disappointed with a Mariah album. "Honey" was a very highly anticipated single, and within two weeks of relase, it had already reached #18 on the R&R pop chart. It struggled mightily after that though, peaking at #10 just four weeks later. Callout scores (numbers which measure a song's popularity amongst radio listeners) were also very low for the first time with a Mariah release. Seeing all of this, Sony rush released "Honey" to the record stores just in time to get it three weeks at the top of the Hot 100 chart, again discounting the song to .49 cents just to ensure that it got there.

Over the next three years, Mariah's label would continue this practice of chart manipulation. "My All" reached only #15 on the R&R pop airplay chart in 1998, "Heartbreaker" reached #21 in 1999, and "Thank God I Found You" peaked at #28 in 2000. Thanks to Sony stalling the release of the deeply discounted singles until the songs were peaking at radio and thanks also to perhaps only 5% of songs at that time even being available as singles, all three of these songs managed a #1 peak on Billboard's Hot 100. Have any of you out there even heard of these three songs? I didn't think so. None of these songs was a radio hit, nor the "most popular song in the nation" as the Hot 100 would lead you to believe.

While people could shell out .49 cents for the few singles that were available during the late 1990's/early 2000's, the fact of the matter was that for most popular songs, you usually had to purchase a full length CD to get the one song you wanted. So out of public frustation more than anything, the file sharing site called Napster came to prominence as more and more consumers became fed up with having to shell out $10-$11 for a full length CD for their favorite song. By 2001, many other sites, including Kazaa had sprouted up and tried to get a piece of the "illegal file sharing" marketplace. Several years after the illegal sites came into prominence, the record industry finally figured out a way to tap into this source of potential revenue. The single was re-birthed (for the most part) via iTunes, Walmart and many other online sites where you could legally download popular single songs to your computer for .99 cents or so. Unfortunately, Billboard didn't start using digital downloads in the Hot 100 formula until 2005. With this change, it finally looked like there was hope for the Hot 100 chart...

WEDNESDAY: Part III ... Just when things were looking better, Sony finds yet another way to manipulate the Hot 100.

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And why is Facebook???

2008-08-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Putting on ads by MoveOn.org giving out a million Obama buttons??? If they're going to be promoting Obama stuff, they better start doing the same with McCain... it's only fair, right?

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Fixing the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Part I

2008-08-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, when I cite the positions of popular songs, I rarely even mention the word "Billboard" here in this blog. Usually, I will use the radio airplay charts from Mediabase (old Radio & Records), and occasionally, I will cite sales figures from iTunes or Soundscan. For those of you that don't know the reason why I don't care for Billboard, it's because I don't recognize their main chart, the Hot 100, as being realistic or even close to resembling what is truly popular.

Once upon a time - think back about 20 years - you could buy pretty much any song you wanted to that you heard on the radio in the form of a physical single. Singles were pretty cheap back then, ranging from .99 cents to $1.99 depending on where you went to buy them. If you liked a song, it was much better for the consumer to spend a couple of bucks on a single instead of $9-10 or more on a full-length album. And for the real music fan like me who actually collected singles, it was a GREAT hobby. If I really liked an artist or multiple singles from the album, then I was more likely to buy the album in addition to the single.

At that time, Billboard's Hot 100 chart was comprised of Pop radio station airplay and physical sales, unlike today where they combine the airplay from stations of all formats (more on this inherent problem later). For a very long time, this method of combining pop airplay and sales produced very reliable and informative charts which represented what was truly popular. Sometimes you'd have songs not be such huge airplay hits such as Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone" (which never even cracked the top 30 in pop airplay) be such huge sellers, that they would end up in the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart. Conversely, there were songs such as Billy Joel's "Allentown" which were huge in pop airplay (#3), yet only sold well enough to get to #17 on the Hot 100. And of course, you had other songs that did well in both areas such as "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, which was #1 in airplay for eight weeks and also #1 on the Hot 100 for the same eight weeks as a result of it's dominance on the sales front.

In the late 1980's though, the first signs of true corporate greed within the music industry began to take hold. Record companies were looking at ways to generate more revenue. Short-sightedly, they inferred that sales of singles cut dramatically into album sales. As a result, the physical single started to become harder to come by in 1989 as record labels began to limit their releases. By 1991, this trend got to the point that even releases by very popular artists such as Mariah Carey were affected. Mariah's hit "Emotions" reached #1 on the pop airplay chart for four weeks late in 1991, and #1 on the Hot 100 for three weeks. However, due to the fact that the label didn't release a ton of copies of the single, it only reached #10 in sales. Songs that weren't even reaching the top 40 in either sales or airplay were becoming top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. For example, Nelson's "Only Time Will Tell" reached #28 on the Hot 100, yet only reached #42 on the airplay chart and #51 in sales. Cher's "Love and Understanding" reached #17 on the Hot 100 on the "strength" of reaching #38 on the pop airplay chart and #45 in sales. Clearly, the once reliable Hot 100 chart had some major problems... and it only got worse! 17 years later it's STILL trying to recover!

The main reason the Hot 100 lost it's accuracy in the early 1990's is that Billboard was slow (and I mean VERY slow) to react to the fact that the record companies were phasing out the single. "Airplay only" hits became more and more prevalent as a result. In 1994, the Counting Crows had a HUGE #1 pop radio hit called "Mr. Jones." Their follow-up single, "Round Here" also cracked the top 10, peaking at #9 on the Radio & Records airplay chart. Not surpringly, their debut album August and Everything After was a huge success here in the U.S., eventually going 7x platinum. If you were watching the Billboard Hot 100 chart during their 1994 run though, you would have completely missed out on the Counting Crows. Since neither song had a physical single released, neither was eligible to chart on the Hot 100.

Remember the T.V. show Friends? Of course, you do!!! And yes, it's true that I've been known to recognize Courtney Cox-Arquette just from seeing her amazing blue eyes on a magazine cover. Anyways, a band called the Rembrandts had a song called "I'll Be There For You" which turned out to be used as the theme for the show. The song spent eight weeks at #1 on the R&R pop chart in mid-1995, but once again didn't chart on the Hot 100 while it was huge on the radio. Over 3 1/2 months after it peaked at radio, the song was finally released as a single. By that time, most of us had shelled out $10 for the Rembrandts' LP album and didn't need a copy of the single. As a result, it only reached #35 in sales, and a #17 Hot 100 peak.

In 1996, a band from Southern California called No Doubt was gaining national prominence... Their debut song, "Just A Girl" hit #22 on the R&R pop airplay chart. The follow-up, "Spiderwebs," hit #11 on the chart. Late that year, the song which probably more than any other single song caused Billboard to FINALLY start to rethink their Hot 100 chart policy, "Don't Speak," spent nine weeks at #1 on the R&R pop airplay chart. As with the Counting Crows, none of the No Doubt songs was available as a single and of course none of them charted on the Hot 100. By the end of 1997, their Tragic Kindgom album was 11x Platinum here in the U.S...

To further add insult to Billboard's injury, the Cardigans came from across the Atlantic to have their hit "Lovefool" spend six weeks at #1 on the R&R Pop airplay chart in early 1997... once again, no single available, so no Hot 100 chart appearance. The next year, Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" would spend 11 weeks at #1 on the Pop airplay chart. Later that year, "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls would spend four weeks at #1 and an amazing 28 weeks in the top 10 of the R&R pop airplay chart. On December 5, 1998, Billboard FINALLY made the change to their Hot 100 chart which had been many years overdue - they allowed airplay only hits to chart... but did that fix the problem? No. In fact, the colective record company greed of the 90's decade finally caught up with them, creating it's own "piranha" so to speak the very next year in the form of a little thing called NAPSTER.

SATURDAY: Part II...

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Pujols FINALLY Gets To D-Lowe

2008-08-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

The St. Louis Cardinals have always owned Derek Lowe - OK, everyone but perhaps superstar Albert Pujols. As I told a few friends and family over the weekend, I had a VERY bad feeling about this game for Lowe and the Dodgers. I told them that I think Pujols is long "overdue to have a good game against D-Lowe." Coming into last night's game pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals, Pujols was only hitting .235 in 17 career at bats against Lowe with no home runs. Overdue, you bet!

With a 1-5 career record, a 5.24 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and a .325 batting average allowed in six career starts against the St. Louis Cardinals, it was clear going into tonight's game that Lowe was going to have his work cut out for him. The good news for him was that Rick Ankiel and his career .500 batting average against was out of the starting lineup again for the Cards. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, known "Lowe killers" Ryan Ludwick (.571), Adam Kennedy (.379), Yadier Molina (.308) and Troy Glaus (.300) were all in tonight's starting lineup for the Cards. The writing was certainly on the wall...

Lowe and the Dodgers though got off to a quick start tonight, taking a 2-1 lead after two innings thanks to Manny Ramirez's third home run in four days, and an Angel Berroa run-scoring triple. Ramirez would score Matt Kemp with a single in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. Lowe gave up four hits in the first two innings, so he was already looking shaky, but got bailed out by overanxious Cards newcomer Felipe Lopez in the bottom of the second. Lopez tried to score from second on a Cesar Izturis single with two out in the second inning, but was cut down easily at the plate to thwart the rally... A Pujols double, a Ludwick single, a Glaus single and a Molina single in the third quickly tied things at 3-3.

Things went from bad to worse for Lowe in the fourth inning. Opposing pitcher Joel Piniero opened it with a single, Izturis followed with a one out single, and then Kennedy singled. The bases were now loaded and Mr. Pujols was coming to the plate. You probably can guess what happened. Pujols unloaded on a fastball, driving it high and deep into the left field stands for a grand slam. Ludwick followed with a home run of his own and Lowe's night was done for. The carnage: 3 1/3 innings pitched, 13 hits allowed, eight earned runs allowed - the kind of performance that can severely hurt your fantasy team... The Dodgers would try to rally, but it would come up short as they would lose 9-6.

As for Pujols, he certainly got well quickly against Lowe and now owns a robust .350 career average against him with his 3-for-3 effort tonight. He also walked in the sixth inning and added a fourth hit in the 8th inning to complete his perfect night at the plate. With the 4-for-4 hitting barrage, Pujols upped his batting average to .352 on the season.

Being an owner of Lowe in four of my five most important fantasy baseball leagues, I'd ordinarily be very upset about his poor start and how it negatively affected all of my fantasy teams... But, it didn't affect me in the slightest as I had the foresight to bench him in EVERY ONE OF MY LEAGUES this week! Yes, I dodged a BIG bullet!

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Favre Traded To Jets! :(

2008-08-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm in a state of shock and sadness with this news. Brett Favre is the Green Bay Packers, or make that WAS... It's a sad day to be a cheesehead for sure. While I'm sure Brett will have some success as the QB of the New York Jets, it's certainly not going to be the same seeing him in that uniform. An era has ended, a legacy is over... it's very sad to see what the Green Bay Packers brass has done to ruin the great thing they had... I guess it goes to show that you're truly only as good as your last pass. For those that forget, Favre's last pass as a Packer was an interception.

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My iPod is OK after all! :)

2008-08-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Good news on the iPod front... after telling a few of my friends at work what happened with my iPod the previous day, many told me just to wait a while and it would start working again on it's own. Skeptical, I said "O.K., if you say so" to all of them, expecting the worst. Well, these friends of mine obviously knew something that I didn't from past iPod experiences as sure enough I plugged it into my computer after work last night and the "charging" sign came up!!! It appears to be just fine this morning. I guess Leona didn't bleed it dry after all! :)

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iPod Bled Dry???

2008-08-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

... at least that's what my friends are telling me. My iPod, which I only have had since Christmas last year suddenly stopped working yesterday a little before 10 a.m... Perhaps appropriately, the last song it played before it ceased function was "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis - far and away the song I had played the most on my iPod. My friends have told me that perhaps it will start working again if I let it sit for awhile. I did drop it a few times - the worst one being at the gym about four weeks ago when it somehow fell out of it's protective case while I was doing some arm curls. That was about a three foot fall right onto the hard gym floor. I just hope it starts working again soon and/or that it isn't too expensive to repair. I'm missing it A TON already!

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Dodgers Get Manny Ramirez!

2008-07-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

In dire need of a power hitter, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Andruw Jones in the off season. As we all know, that free agent signing has not at all worked out. Jones has all of TWO home runs and 13 RBI's to go along with an abysmal .167 batting average in 192 at bats this season. Where did the guy go who hit 118 home runs in the previous three years with the Braves? We're still wondering. Today, the Dodgers decided to acquire a disgruntled Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox as part of a three team trade. With the move, it's expected that Jones' role on the bench will be firmly cemented.

In Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers get an aging superstar who still has some life in his bat. If Dodger fans were not familiar with the phrase "Manny being Manny" before, I expect over the next two months, they will become very familiar with it. Manny has battled some injuries the past two years, hurting his production somewhat. After only hitting 20 home runs last year in 483 at bats, Manny already has that number in 365 at bats this year to go with a .299 batting average. With 510 career home runs, the sure-bet future Hall of Famer is definitely a welcome addition to the Dodger line-up. I assume he will hit in the clean-up spot, taking the place of second basemen Jeff Kent.

With a 54-53 record, one game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the N.L. West, the Dodgers now become the favorite to win the division. With the Angels acquiring Mark Teixiera earlier this week, the local teams here in Los Angeles have certainly come out smelling like roses! It should be a fun next two and If we're lucky) three months here in L.A. Maybe that "Freeway World Series" that I've dreamed of since I was little isn't such a far-fetched notion anymore!

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Parcells, Packers & Pierce : the Killer P's...

2008-07-30T01:21:00.000-07:00

... and there certainly is no penalty box large enough to contain all three of these "Killer P's" after what has transpired over the past couple of weeks... yes, it's time for a rare rant from me, er make that three of them all in one blog entry!

Bill Parcells has a big ego, and yes we all have known it for a very long time. Christmas came early in our nation's capital this past week as Parcells shipped the best player on the 1-15 Miami Dolphins team he took over, Jason Taylor, to the Washington Redskins for basically nothing!!! Parcells didn't approve of Taylor missing a couple of weeks of training camp time due to his time spent on Dancing With The Stars. Seriously! I still can't believe that coach Parcells is so full of himself! While the Dolphins were not nearly as bad as their record last year indicated, losing six games by three points, this "move" certainly did nothing to improve the "Fins" for 2008 and beyond. And by the way, I hear noted leader Tiki Barber is interested in playing for you, Bill!

The Green Bay Packers brass REALLY needs to man up and do what is best for the organization and for the fans of their organization. I personally have nothing against QB Aaron Rodgers, however, he's no Brett Favre. Let's go back in time a little here. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls. Over the course of the next 24 seasons (1968-1991), the Packers made the playoffs all of two times! Only five of those seasons did they have winning records. Yes, they were HORRIBLE! In 1992, guess who became their starting QB? Favre helped guide the Packers to a 9-7 record, and though they missed the playoffs that year, the Packers would make the playoffs six straight seasons (winning Super Bowl XXXI) and 11 of the next 15. Only once in Favre's 16 years as a starting QB have the Packers had a losing record. Last year, of course, Favre nearly guided the Packers to the Super Bowl. If Favre had been bad last year, perhaps I could understand them not welcoming him back with open arms, but clearly he still possesses the skills to guide this team. The Packer brass needs to swallow their pride and do what is best for the team and their fans. Do you people NOT understand what Brett Favre has done for your team? Your city? GROW UP! With Brett Favre, the Packers have a good shot at getting to Super Bowl 43. How many rookie QB's have led their teams to Super Bowl wins? Exactly.

And what is the deal with Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce? Here's a quote from him when asked about Kobe Bryant being the best player in the world: "I don't think Kobe is the best player. I'm the best player. There's a line that separates having confidence and being conceited. I don't cross that line but I have a lot of confidence in myself."

Hmmm... Mr. Pierce, have you checked your Webster's lately? You might want to make sure your picture isn't in there illustrating the definition of the word "conceited!"

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Angels Land Big Teix!

2008-07-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the "Big Teix Sweepstakes" this afternoon, landing superstar Mark Teixiera from the Atlanta Braves for first baseman Kasey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steve Marek. The Angels have baseball's best record at 66-40, but at have times have struggled offensively. The addition of "Big Teix" assures Vladimir Guerrero some protection in the three spot, while it should also give Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson lots of RBI opportunities behind him.

Well known as a big second half performer, Teixiera already has 20 home runs and 78 RBI's to go with a .283 batting average. The Angels celebrated his acquisition by polishing off defending World Champion Boston Red Sox for the second straight night in Fenway Park, 6-2. Angels starting pitcher John Lackey took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Dustin Pedroia broke up the no-no with a one out single. Kevin Youkilis then followed with a two-run homer to take away the shutout.

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Leona Scores Rare Double-Double!

2008-07-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Six months ago, if you said the name Leona Lewis here in the U.S., it's very likley you would have had no idea who she was. Fast forward to present day, where Leona has a number one and platinum debut album in Spirit, along with a single in "Bleeding Love" which has sold over 2.6 million downloads in America this year. FYI, it's the most downloaded song of the 2008 calendar year so far.

While Leona's sales achievements are impressive, the accomplishments of "Bleeding Love" continue to mount. It recently set all-time records for spins and estimated listening audience on the Mediabase CHR/Pop chart during it's 10 week run at the top earlier this year. This week, Leona moves into some truly elite compnay as "Bleeding Love" spends it's 10th week on top of the Mediabase Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In doing so, it becomes the second song EVER to spend double-digit weeks on top of both charts! In 1998, Natalie Imbruglia's #1 hit "Torn" spent 11 weeks on top of the CHR/Pop chart, to go along with 13 weeks on top of the Hot AC chart. Yes, this is a VERY rare accomplishment... In fact, no other song has ever spent nine or more weeks on top of both charts (though several have spent eight or more on top of both).

Congratulations to Leona on yet another incredible accomplishment! By the way, her follow-up single "Better In Time" is doing just fine, already at #33 less than two weeks since it went for adds with over 3/4 of the reporting panel playing it. Today alone, "Better" gained 162 more spins. Yes, Leona's got another HUGE hit on her hands here!

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Nats hit new Lowe in L.A.

2008-07-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

After splitting the final 128 games of the 2007 season, the Washington Nationals looked at 2008 with some hope and anticipation. A returning Nick Johnson, a promising young offense led by Ryan Zimmerman, comeback player of the year Dmitri Young and the slugging Wily Mo Pena and a promising young pitching staff led by Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann and closer Chad Cordero looked to at least be a .500 team this year as they opened Nationals Park in our nation's capital.

Things started going wrong almost before they began though for this year's Nationals. Team mainstay John Patterson was released during spring training, and then the injuries began... every one of the above mentioned players has been hurt some point this year, and in the case of Johnson, Pena, Hill and Cordero, they are either done or looking to be done for the year. This week, the Nats traded arguably their best player this year, fill-in closer Jon Rauch to the Arizona Dimanondbacks... being an owner of Rauch in two of my five main fantasy leagues, this trade was especially disheartening.

Coming into tonight's matchup against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, it should come as no surprise that the Nats came in with the worst record in the majors at 38-65. Ex-Dodger Odalis Perez took on his old Dodger teammates... It was no contest from the start as Derek Lowe had his sinkerball working all night long, while Perez struggled from the get-go. Matt Kemp homered in the first inning with Juan Pierre aboard, and a scoring flyball by Nomar Garciaparra in the same frame gave the Dodgers an early 3-0 lead. Garciaparra hit a homer of his own in the fourth inning to key another three run inning for the Blue Crew. That was more than enough for "D-Lowe" as he completely stifled the Nats, allowing only a hit and a walk in hos eight innings of work. How bad was it for the Nats? Lowe had as many hits as the Nats did combined, going 2-for-3 on the night. Joe Beimel took over for Lowe in the 9th inning to preserve the 6-0 Dodger victory.

Being an owner of Lowe in four of my five most important fantasy leagues, this strong outing was very important personally, especially in one where aces Justin Duchscherer and Cole Hamels got torched to the tune of 12 earned runs and 20 batters allowed in just 9 2/3 innings of work between them. By the way, I am not winning any of those leagues at the moment... however, one is in second place and three others are within striking distance of the top. The league races are so tight at the moment that only eight points separate first to seventh in the one where I'm in 2nd place, 5 1/2 points out of the lead. In another where I trail the leader by only seven points, I'm actually in 6th place at the moment - FYI, this is the same league where I was down 33 points and mired in 9th place just 2 months ago. You can never give up in this game or ever rest on your laurels for that matter. Yes, it's a long season, a marathon if I must say!

With the win, the Dodgers keep pace, 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West, while the Nats move to 38-66, 18 games behind the New York Mets in the N.L. East and still possessing the worst record in baseball. For the Nats, 2008 is looking like it won't be ending soon enough... for the Dodgers though, there is a lot of hope, even with a 50-52 record thanks to their division being so weak.

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Harrington Goes Back-to-Back at Open

2008-07-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

The Cinderella story of Greg Norman didn't have the happy ending so many of us hoped for. With just seven holes to play it still looked quite possible though as the "Great White Shark" was tied for the lead at 7-over-par with playing partner and defending British Open champion Padraig Harrington. Fortunes quickly changed after that for the two champions as the Shark bogeyed the 12th and 13th holes, while Harrington birdied 13 and 15 and then hit the shot of the tournament - a 5-wood approach to within five feet on the par-5 17th hole. Harrington drained the eagle putt and parred the final hole for a four stroke victory over Ian Poulter. Norman ended up tied for third with Henrik Stenson.

Did any of us expect a 53-year-old to be competing in a major, let alone leading with just seven holes to play? Probably not. It was definitely like walking back in time, seeing the Shark contending, and although he didn't win, he certainly fought valiently and got everyone's attention. Yes, the Shark shot a disappointing 77 in the final round, but in reality even a good round of 72 would have lost the tournament. Greg Norman didn't lose the 2008 British Open, rather Padraig Harrington simply took control of it over the tournament's final seven holes. Harrington's approach shot which set up the eagle on the 17th was one of the bravest, most heroic shots I've ever seen. A foot shorter and perhaps he finds the rough and is struggling for par... It's perhaps a very different tournament if that happens.

So no, there was no Tiger to be found, but the old Shark certainly gave us all as many thrills as Tiger ordinarily would in a major. Harrington becomes the first back-to-back winner of a major since Tiger himself won the Open in 2005 and 2006. Congratulations to Greg Norman on putting up such a valient fight, and to Padraig Harrington on his great win!

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Shark Sighting at British Open!!!

2008-07-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

No Tiger? No problem... we've got a Shark!!! A Great White Shark, that is! He's an "old" shark, but one that over the years has provided just as much drama as the world's current #1 ranked player. Yes, thanks for filling in for the Tiger so admirably the first three days of the British Open, Mr. Greg Norman!

As for the actual happenings at the tournament, round one saw U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate share the clubhouse lead with Robert Allenby after 1-under-par 69's in the most dreary of conditions. How bad was it on Thursday? Three of the world's best players - Phil Mickelson (79), Vijay Singh (80) and Ernie Els (80) - combined to go 29 over par! Phil and Ernie would manage to recover with rounds of 68 and 69 respectively on Friday to make the cut, but Vijay would go home after a 1-over-par 71. After two rounds, the surprising leader was K.J. Choi, whose 3-under-par 67 put him at a 1-under-par total of 139 - one stroke ahead of the 53-year-old Norman (aka: "The Great White Shark"). Norman matched par 70 for the second consecutive day in far calmer conditions than Thursday.

The "Shark" is perhaps best known for his heartbreaking losses over the years in the Masters than his two British Open wins... Norman recently married tennis star Chris Evert and credits her for the sudden resurgence in his play. Today's conditions were nearly as bad as Thursday's, and despite them, Norman managed a 2-over-par 72 for the third round lead - by two strokes over Choi and defending Open champion Padrig Harrington. Other than the VERY troublesome 10th hole (which he double-bogeyed), he played very steady golf, with three birdies and three bogeys to go with 11 pars.

So can he do it and become the oldest player by five years to win a major? Will it be another story of heartbreak to add to the long list of sad Sundays for the Shark? I for one will be rooting for the Shark. In a year that has seen so much drama in the golf world, a win for the Great White Shark would truly be a story even bigger than Tiger's win on one leg in the U.S. Open!

The drama of the fourth round begins at 8am ET/5am PT on your local ABC station.

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Getting Better In Time

2008-07-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well, as some of you may know, it's the "official" radio adds date for the latest single by Leona Lewis called "Better In Time." The song has already garnered enough support at radio to crack the top 50, debuting at that position on Sunday on the Mediabase pop chart. Though I don't think the song is going to be the huge (10 week at #1) hit "Bleeding Love" was, I do expect "Better In Time" to be a very big (top 5) hit that will help push sales of Leona's Spirit album towards double platinum status here in the U.S.!

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Josh Hamilton = WOW!!!

2008-07-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

If you weren't impressed by the staggering 95 RBI's that the amazing Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers had put up at this year's All-Star Break, perhaps tonight might have convinced you to be truly IMPRESSED. The annual Home Run Derby was held tonight at Yankee Stadium in New York, and Mr. Hamilton got on a roll that amazed even the greats of the game like Reggie Jackson. He even had the Yankee fans rooting for him. And trust me, the Yankee fans don't root for anyone not in their beloved pinstripes - EVER!!! Hamilton hit three balls over 500 feet and ended up belting a record 28 home runs in the first round - 20 more than the next closest competitor!!! WOW!!! At one point, he hit 13 in a row over the fence. Unbelievable! Perhaps more unbelivably, he didn't win the contest, losing 5-3 to Justin Morneau in the finals. But what a show he put on for us!

If you haven't heard of Josh Hamilton, or know of his story, I strongly suggest you read up. It's truly an amazing story of perseverance and triumph. Congratulations to Josh on his incredible record-shattering performance tonight and also for keeping things in proper perspective throughout. Despite what he did, he remained amazingly humble - what an example!

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