Best of 2004

Alright, alright. I might as well get on the bandwagon and do my own personal list of favorites and memorable experiences from 2004. Remember, this is a personal list, and does not necessarily reflect the popular view.....

BEST SPORTS MOMENT OF THE YEAR, NATIONAL

For me, the best moment in this category was the systematic thrashing of the "spend your way to a championship" New York Yankees, by the Boston Red Sox, in the world series. I'm not a BoSox fan, in any sense, but it was great to see the mighty Goliath and all those cocky front office bastards get theirs. In a big, big way. It ranks up there with seeing the same philosophy Detroit Red Wings get thrashed in the playoffs over the past few years, when they were clearly the season favorite. Spending does not always win championships. Heart and character do. Money breeds laziness.

WORST SPORTS MOMENT OF THE YEAR, NATIONAL

This is almost a dead tie for me, between two equally disgusting events:

The first is the steroid scandal. Yeah, we all pretty much "knew" that Bonds, et al. were juicing up big time, but I think the little kids in all of us didn't want to believe it. Now that it's out, and we realize just how FAR this all goes, it's a true travesty. I feel dirty, like sports now has this dark secret that we all know about, and someone is going to have to decide what to do about it. Fast.

The second is the almost assured cancellation of the entire NHL season. I'm still amazed that this hasn't been worked out somehow. The owners, claiming poverty, set themselves up for this mess by offering 5-6+ million dollar contracts to guys who weren't even scoring 20 goals a season. I think 5-6 million is more than ANY hockey player should be making, and several fat pocket owners decided to just go crazy on the salary structure. And who can really blame an average at best player (or anyone for that matter) for taking as much as they could get. But now it's time for the sides to come to some sort of agreement on how to fix this mess, and the two are being so bullheaded, they are truly jeopardizing the future of the NHL.

BEST SPORTS MOMENT, LOCAL

The Reading Royals hockey team, affiliate of the Manchester Monarchs and LA Kings (of the soon to be defunct? NHL), had their first playoff appearance of their brief 3 year existance. They had to overcome an away do-or-die qualifier on the last day of the season, then entered as the lowest seed, meaning they would not have any home ice advantage. They rolled through two tough fought series and made it to the conference finals, where they went down 2 games to 0 in a best of 5. With games 3 and 4 at home, the Royals totally spanked the opponent (Florida), winning 6-0 and 4-1. It was a classic shellacking. The crowd was so into the moment. I don't think any Florida player could probably think at all, with the noise in the house. They went down by a goal in the deciding game 5, which would have put them in the finals, but all was not lost. It was a fantastic run, one that will be remembered for a long time in this championship starved region.

BEST ALBUM

I have to go with my boys, U2 on this one. The album is a very strong representation of what a true "band" can do when they pour their minds and hearts into a project. I can't wait to see some of these tunes performed live in the 2005 tour, which may be the tour of the year for next year.

BEST CONCERT I PERSONALLY ATTENDED

This one is a sentimental choice. I saw Phil Collins in his (sure to be) announced farewell tour, in Philadelphia. The show was full of energy, and the musicianship, and Phil's voice were top notch that evening. It was truly a trip down memory lane. All the years I've followed Phil (from about 84 on) came rushing back for me that night. Each song sparking a wave of memories of the past. It was quite cool. Perhaps the highlight was when Phil and the band broke into the Genesis classic "Misunderstanding". It was the first time I'd ever seen Phil play a "Genesis" song in a solo concert. And with the background screen showing the 1981 video with Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, and with Chester Thompson and Darryl Steurmer playing on stage with Phil, it was probably the last time we'll ever see "Genesis" all together on one stage. Quite moving.

BEST "WARDROBE MALFUNCTION"

I'm going to have to go away from the obvious choice here, and pick Tara Reid. There's something sexy about a really sexy girl standing on the red carpet, giving an interview, with her entire left breast hanging completely out of her dress, and not noticing it. A classic moment, when her publicist had to physically pull her dress back up after about 20 seconds of her standing there, flashbulbs popping, being totally oblivious. She's MUCH hotter than Janet, too.

BEST VACATION 2004

I spent a wonderful 5 days in Toronto, ON, and a great 7 days at a conference in Chicago, but nothing tops the 2 days spent (WIFELESS) in Dewey Beach, DE with my old compadre Hap and Jimmy C. It was a fantastic 48 hours of just hanging out and drinking. It didn't matter that it was 52 degrees in the middle of August, we had enough anti-freeze going that it was irrelevant. I haven't drank that much in a LONG LONG time. Our bar tab between the 3 of us the first night was nearly 200 dollars. Craziness. It's something I rarely get to do anymore, but seems like a necessity to recharge the batteries from time to time.

BEST POLITICAL MOMENT

I hate politics. Moreso now that ever. I'm a Bush supporter, but not a straight Republican. Anyway, my "best" moment of 2004 was the minute that the election was conceeded. I don't think I could have handled any more BS coming from either candidate's mouth, and the prospect of another few months of recounts and whining was almost too much to bear.

Well, enough for now. If I don't get back "blogging" before the weekend, everybody have a great New Year, and drink some for me.

s42

It sucks to be a Philly Fan

GOD I hate the fact that I'm from the Philly area sometimes. Our sports teams have been so frustrating over the past 25 years or so. We, as fans, have been pushed to the brink of greatness so many times, yet the teams always seem to fall short when the chips are down. The Flyers have done it several times over the past few years. Even being up 3 games to 1 over Jersey in the semi-finals, and choking in 7 games and not making the finals. Hell, our one trip to the finals in recent memory resulted in a 4-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Red Wings. The Phillies have made strides to improve their sorry-ass team, but they still seem to underachieve every year. Use the injury excuse if you will, but every team has injuries to deal with, so I think that's a bit of BS. The sixers, well, that's basketball, and I don't follow it as much as the other sports. But I did become a sixer fanatic when they went to the finals several years ago....and handily lost to the Lakers. Oh, we did win game 1 on the road. But that was it.

So we come to the Eagles. Oh the Eagles. Tear my heart out, pour gasoline on it and light it on fire Eagles. Three years, three great teams, three trips to the NFC championship (2 at home, no less), and the SQUARE ROOT OF DICK to show for it. So as I watch them rolling over other teams like they are playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, I can't help but think that I'm setting myself up for yet another major disappointment come playoff time. I can't HELP but think that. I'm from the Philly area, and our teams are overWHELMING underachievers. At least when it comes to the important games. And, I mean, LOOK at the team right now. We could easily have All Pro starters at QB, WR, RB, and CB. Four of the five positions that most experts agree are the most important for success of the team (the other being DE, which is occupied by a very able Freak). They made the Packers, the team that was supposed to be their greatest challenge, look like total shit. And sure, you can say that the Pack didn't show up, but it was such a HUGE disparity, that even if the Pack does decide to show up, and the Eagles have an off-day, the Eagles should still win handily. Nobody in the NFC scares me, except the Eagles themselves. For they still have that word in their name "Philadelphia". And as a die-hard fan of many, many years, I've seen it all. Or at least I think that every year until NFC championship time, when another chapter in amazing futility is written. Lord, PLEASE let this be the year....

s42

Profession of the Week

I'm currently reading a book about the "lives of cadavers", called "STIFF". It's pretty funny. Light reading, believe it or not....

Anyway, there was a passage in the book about people (women, obviously), who get paid quite well to be Professional Vaginas. It seems these women spend a full day allowing themselves to be pap smeared and examined by medical students, and they provide commentary on the performance of the students.

So the next time your wife/girlfriend/sig. other complains about her job, offer her this alternative. There's truly something for everyone in this world.....

s42

The Christmas Rush

I'm amazed every year how people start thinking about Christmas earlier and earlier (even in September in some stores), yet we seem to never quite be prepared for it, and it causes WAY too much stress than it should. I've always been a last minute shopper. I've only ever gone out once on Xmas eve for a gift, but I usually do push things until the last week. But I've found that it forced me to focus and get things done in several hours, and then it was done. Same thing with getting our decorations up. It was always nice to get a tree 2 weeks before Xmas, and decorate then. The tree stayed nice and fresh through the New Year's celebration, and again, it was "let's do it this weekend, and then it's done".

Now that I'm living in a more upscale community, it seems as though it's almost en vogue to try to outdo everyone else for decorations, and in getting those decorations up as soon as possible. Most of my neighbors had their lights, deer, santas, snowmen, trees, wreaths, more lights, etc. up the day after Thanksgiving. I was feeling too fat to even THINK about that on the day after Turkey day! And my wife wanted to get all the shopping done on Black Friday, as well. That's crazy. I have to commend her, that she did finish all of her planned shopping over that weekend, but the net result of her having a MONTH to think about Christmas = more gifts that were not planned, and not in the budget. Like, it wasn't enough to get her sister a musical vibrator that plays "O Come All Ye Faithful", but now she wants to get her the matching butt plug. And the people in the neighborhood are adding to their decorations on a daily basis, it seems.

I think Xmas works so much better when you have a plan, and you stick to it, and you EXECUTE the shopping/decorating/cookie baking, etc. within 2 weeks of the holiday. It's so crazy to drag out a single day holiday for a full month. Think of it this way: if we drug out the New Year's celebration for a full month, people would be bombed for the whole month of December, and we'd probably miss Christmas entirely.

Moderation in all things, people. Even Christmas.

s42