buckeyemike

An open letter to Wegman's: Dear Wegman family, I am a resident of the Cleveland area. I have been to your Hamburg/McKinley Mall store in Western New York. That is the best grocery store I have ever been in. Since your nearest store to me is in Erie, and because Tops has totally left this area, do you think you can see your way a couple more hours down Interstate 90? I know one prime former Tops location that is still empty in North Olmsted, a store Tops built less than a decade ago. In other words, Please Come to Cleveland!

Good Lord. Where the heck were these teachers 25 years ago? Because they sure weren't teaching at Rocky River High School (my alma mater).

I don't think so...watch her reaction again in slow motion. It scared the crap out of her.

I thought it was a funny ad, but Chef's absolutely right.

...and why do the flying saucers go to places like West Virginia and the deserts in New Mexico? If the aliens really wanted us to know they were here, they'd land in the middle of Times Square. During rush hour.

His name is Mike Haden...a star at PHS, who later became the head football coach at South High and led them to a state football title a few years back. I believe he has since retired. I was in Marietta, Ohio on Friday. Marietta's 15 miles up the Ohio River from Parkersburg (I was there for a family reunion in nearby St. Marys, West Virginia). I saw the Parkersburg paper on Friday, which is when the ESPN segment was taped. The article I read about it took up half the front page of the sports section. They were expecting a crowd of 7,000 at the stadium and having all kinds of giveaways for the crowd...Parkersburg turned it into one great big tailgate party. Kudos to them.

Last night's entry was for Parkersburg, West Virginia. Parkersburg, a city of 33,000 on the Ohio River, has a combined 192 state championships -- that's right, 192 -- between its three high schools, Parkersburg High (the Big Reds, who have the largest high school stadium I've ever seen outside of Canton or Massillon), Parkersburg South (the Patriots) and Parkersburg Catholic (the Crusaders). Link to video on ESPN's website. If you remember the story about my cousin Sarah Shingleton that I posted here a while back (Sarah died of cancer about a year ago), she was a student at Parkersburg Catholic. Sarah was a volleyball player, who unfortunately could no longer play because of her cancer, and PCHS is known for their volleyball program. If you get a chance, vote for Parkersburg as Titletown. I don't think they have much of a chance to win, because they're one of 20 entrants (including New York, Chicago, L.A., and Green Bay), but I know it means a lot to the town that Parkersburg is simply included as a finalist.

Died this morning at age 84. Her Sophia character on The Golden Girls had some of the best one liners ever. It was rumored, however, that dementia was setting in even before the show ended...Estelle often could not remember her lines, and needed cheat notes on the salt & pepper shakers on the kitchen table. Interesting to note...she was only about 18 months older in real life than her TV daughter, Bea Arthur.

They're real, and they're spectacular.

7 if you count the near-disaster that was Apollo 13. There were seven attempted moon landings (six successful) between July 1969 and December 1972. We have not been back to the moon since. I think it is simply amazing when you consider the technology that we had then, that the moon landings number six in only a 42 month time frame. Your XBox360 has a more sophisticated computer in it than the space capsules did. I was 7 weeks old at the time of the first moon landing. My father told me he watched until well into the night that Sunday. He once said, "I always thought we'd go to the moon, but I didn't think we'd take a TV station up there so the whole world could watch!".

Someone will read this and think this is serious. Once again, it is the ONION, people! If it comes from the Onion, it is satire and NOT true! EDIT: Hard to believe, but Steven Tyler turned 60 in March...

Saw it in a skyscraper book at a local Barnes & Noble just a few days ago. It's an iconic design...and a surprising one too. I really should have been an architect, but I didn't want to take drafting in high school.

Ilio Dipaolo's...some of the best Italian food and yes, good pizza.

What I'm surprised about is that Packers Chairman Mark Murphy has had little, if anything, to say about the Favre mess. Murphy, unlike Thompson and McCarthy, actually played in the NFL for many years at a high level. Not as long as Favre has, but IIRC, Murphy was an all-pro DB for the Redskins in the 80s. How come he hasn't had anything to say, unless he is letting his football people handle the decision? In the Packers' ownership structure, Mark Murphy acts as CEO and represents the Pack at the owners' meetings. Murphy is new in Green Bay, just a few months into his tenure, but I've been watching closely to see how he handles this situation.

Even before this trade, I had New Orleans as the second-best team in the NFC, behind Dallas. Yes, I think that the moves they've made on the defensive side have been excellent. New Orleans is my dark horse pick for the Super Bowl. I still think they're one player away from pulling even with the Cowboys, but as Lori said, the Saints have to be the overwhelming favorites in the NFC South with this deal. I was thinking Shockey may hate this trade, as it takes him out of the New York spotlight, but it IS New Orleans, which is still America's biggest party town, even post-Katrina. The Saints needed a solid TE, and now they've got him. Shockey may thrive in New Orleans, and I hope he helps gives cause for celebration on Bourbon Street in February that isn't Mardi-Gras related. The Saints are certainly a contender with Brees, Bush, Colston, and a healthy Deuce McAllister on offense and a much-improved defense with Vilma in a 4-3. Payton will know how to get the most out of him.

...and Beerball's just the man to do it!

Have you seen Chris Evert recently? Let's just say she's like a fine wine...she's aged very nicely.

Jon Lovitz, who I think can be very funny, is absolutely right about Andy Dick. Grade A idiotic behavior...I'm surprised he hasn't gone the way of John Belushi and Chris Farley, both of whom were far funnier than Mr. Dick. Andy Dick's about as hilarious as a root canal.

So true.

Go to the head of the class, Chef.

I think this is their best work yet!

You always were a cunning linguist. (I know, I know...wrong one, but I couldn't pass it up, and I can't come up with a pun using fellatio.)

According to the Wikipedia entry, it's based on a true story. The first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series in 1957. Linky. I saw the same trailer before WALL-E...I think what you mean regarding your statement about this movie making people mad...I think you mean those who are incredibly PC. It's meant to be an inspirational story about a team that thrives in the face of prejudice. Those who are over-politically correct fail to realize that it's only been within the last fifty years that this country has begun to overcome its prejudices (and quite a few of them still exist today...I'm not discounting that). How else do you go from segregation in the South to a black man with a 50-50 chance of becoming President? In only about 50 years? Don't mean to bring a political point, because this movie is simply entertainment, but I hope you grasp what I mean.

Lori, Dancing Queen is on right now. At least the third time today. EDIT: Believe it or not, they just played Dancing Queen again. This time, a live version. Back to back.

I know you would, but trance music is not my cup of tea.