Living in the now

Got this from Cliff, and it meant a lot to me.

I forget how important karma is and being happy and enjoying life. This video takes about 10 minutes, but it's worth it.

Dr. Randy Pausch

I am a guitar god

Tami and I have a rule in the house that if we see something on TV, we can buy it, no questions asked. It's a weird rule, but it works for us.

Anyway, I've wanted a guitar for a long time, so I bought one off of HSN. It showed up yesterday, and I broke it out.

I've successfully tuned it, however my left fingers are actually sore from playing. I can play two chords so far, so I got that going for me. Lets hope that my miniscule musical ability will come in handy at some point.

Fox 4 News

It is amazing to me the job that I do and the amount of people that watch the show that I work on.

1.) On Sunday, Feb. 17, 177,799 households watched FOX 4 News at 9. That is households and not people. The average household is 2.5 people. I understand that not everyone in a household is watching, but its possible that as many as 445,000 people could be watching my newscast.

When American Idol is on, 224,075 HH (560,187 total) watched our News at 9. Half of a million people. I can't imagine what the total was for Super Bowl Sunday.

2.) Ed Bark is a former DMN writer who has a website, Uncle Barky, that chronicles DFW television. He also interviewed Tami's anchors, Megan Henderson and Tim Ryan, on Saturday at Stratos Greek Taverna in Dallas. So, this guy has a website that only TV junkies go to, yet, there was a decent crowd of people there. It's hard for me to remember that TV people are celebrities. Hell, even Tami was a celeb in Lufkin when she was a reporter.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here's why TV sucks though. There is a NASCAR race that was supposed to start at 1:30pm. It started at 5:30pm, followed by two hours of prime time, then our newscast. So our newscast will get done around 1am, instead of 10:30pm.

Yeah TV

Bill's Book Corner

God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back) by Will Leitch

(phew)

Those who know me understand that my life is TV and I just do not have the patience enough to read a book. When I do read it's generally non-fiction or sports related.

So Bill's Book corner will be sporadic at best. (or it will never run again)

About 2 years ago, I basically gave up on ESPN.com as my resource for sports after I discovered several blogs. Specifically deadspin.com and thebiglead.com. There are others, but these two really captured a lighter side of sports and entertainment that Page 2 of espn.com lost several years ago. Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, was a must read for me, but not so much anymore. He got too big and full of himself.

Will Leitch is the editor of Deadspin and is an accomplished writer in is own right. "God Save the Fan" is an extension of Deadspin and it cracked me up in several places. Its light reading and can be used for trips to the "office".

Enjoy

Mavericks trades

OK, the Nowitzki-Traylor trade gets a little more interesting. It turns out that Don Nelson traded Tractor Traylor for Nowitski and Pat Garrity (19th pick).

Nelson turned around and traded Garrity, along with Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and a 1st rd pick for Steve Nash. Well, that 1st round pick turned out to be Shawn Marion. Who was traded for Shaq. So basically:

DALLAS - No one
MIAMI - Shawn Marion
PHOENIX - Shaquille O(ld)'Neal

Checklist:

Nowitzki - good
Nash - bad

Worst trades in history

With the idea that the Mavs will end up getting Jason Kidd for the entire franchise, $3 million cash and two 1st Round draft picks, I thought I would remind you that the Rangers corner the market on bad trades. Thanks Jon Daniels!

1989 - Sammy Sosa, Wilson Alvarez and Scott Fletcher for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique
We all know about Sosa, but Wilson Alvarez pitched a no hitter for the Sox and went 15-8, 2.55 ERA

1992 - Ruben Sierra, Bobby Witt and Jeff Russell for Jose Canseco
Canseco missed most of 1993 after blowing out his elbow pitching (!) and knocking a HR off his head, but he did introduce steroids to the Rangers, allowing them to win 3 divisional titles.

2002 - Travis Hafner and Aaron Mayette for Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese
Who is the one player you've heard of?

2005 - Alfonso Soriano for Brad Wilkerson, Armando Galarraga and Terrmel Sledge
Soriano had 40 HR, 40 steals and 40 doubles and led the league in outfield assists in 2006 while Brad Wilkerson hit .222 and .234.

2006 - Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez and Terrmel for Adam Eaton, Akinora Otsuka and Billy Killian
So basically, Jon Daniels traded Soriano, Young and Gonzalez (three all-Stars) for Otsuka

The Mavericks get a one-time pass for the Nowitzki for Tractor Traylor deal.

The Cowboys get an all-time pass for the Hershel Walker deal.

Baseball

I sure wish I could get excited about baseball season starting. The Rangers officially opened spring training today in very fitting Surprise, AZ. Although, there is no surprise where the Rangers will finish this year, last place. Surprise, the biggest issue is pitching. For 37 years its been pitching. What was done in the off-season to address this? The most significant signing in the off season just turned 61. 2nd biggest news this offseason was John Rocker admitting he used roids as a Ranger. He joined Canseco, Pudge, Juan Gone, Palmeiro as the cream (and the clear) of our crop.

Here are some Rangers highlights:


1972-1993 - Nolan Ryan beats up Robin Ventura

1994 - Rangers win first division title. They were 52-62 that year. . So embarrassed MLB, they cancelled the World Series.

1996-1999 - Rangers win three division titles in four years. Postseason record: 1-9, with a nine game losing streak to the Yankees.

2000-2007 - Rangers finish (in a division of four) 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th

The Rangers are the oldest franchise that has yet to appear in a World Series; in fact, they have yet to win any playoff series. They are the oldest franchise in the 4 major pro sports to never win a championship. They have never won a home playoff game.

The Rangers list five Hall of Famers:

Ted Williams - Really? What did he contribute as a Ranger? He managed the '72 team that went 54-100
Ferguson Jenkins - In a 19-year career he pitched six years for the Rangers
Gaylord Perry - 22-year career, three years for the Rangers
Nolan Ryan - 27-year career, five years for the Rangers
Rich Gossage - 22-year career, one year for the Rangers

One Ranger hat in the Hall, Nolan. Mets: 5 years, Angels: 8 years, Astros: 9 years, Texas: 5 years. He wears the T because he worked for the Rangers at the time. It should be an Astros cap.

Let's look at retired numbers:

42 - Jackie Robinson
34 - Nolan Ryan, franchise savior
26 - Johnny Oates, dead manager

So, I know your thinking, Bill, there's always next year. OK, lets look at the Strangers starting lineup:

C: Gerald Laird - 2007 average: .224
1B: Ben Broussard - typically the power corner, 2007 HR: 7
2B: Ian Kinsler - Baseball Reference compares him closest to Bill Salkeld
SS: Michael Young - Centerpiece of franchise. Actually, decent so he'll be traded midseason
3B: Hank Blalock - Power corner, 2007 HR: 10
LF: Marlon Byrd - Percentage owned in ESPN fantasy league: 2.3%
CF: Josh Hamilton - He's owned in 6.1% Congrats! You're the star in the outfield!
RF: Milton Bradley - He's got some game
DH: Frank Catalanotsupposedtostarto: 2007 - 44 RBI

Rotation:
"Ace"(hole) - Kevin Millwood: 10-14, 5.16 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, .301 BAA, 172 IP, 123 K
Salary: 9.8 million
Vincente Padilla: 6-10, 5.76, 1.63, .299, 120 IP, 71 K - Salary: 9 million
Jason Jennings: 2-9, 6.45, 1.55, .301, 99 IP, 71 K - Salary: 5.5 million (This was the Rangers signing to bolster the staff)
Brandon McCarthy: 5-10, 4.87(congrats for being the only Ranger under 5.00), 1.56, .278, 101 IP, 59K
Kason Gabbard:
Stats with Boston: 4-0, 3.73 ERA
Stats with Texas: 2-1, 5.58 ERA

In the fantasy world, most drafts run 25 rounds, 10-12 teams. That is 250-300 players. ESPN projects the Rangers will have 1 pitcher that would be drafted, C.J. Wilson, in the 25th round. And only because he collects saves.

As the great Ron Jackson says: GO RANGERS!

Congrats to Evan!

Tim, Molly, Tami and myself were all lifeguards and good swimmers, but Evan takes the cake. As a sophomore, he has qualified for the Regional Finals in the 100 Fly. He swam it in under 59 seconds. To put that in perspective, if this were 1960, he would hold the world record.

Way to go!

Couple of new links

Jimmy Kimmel is my hero. I thought he was hilarious on the Man Show, he dumped his long-time wife for a celebrity and he gives us these comic gems:

I'm F$#*ing Matt Damon

Unnecessary Censorship

More Emmitt and Berman

Here is the L Cool JJ reference.

I liked Chris Berman 15 years ago but he's doing the same schtick over and over again quoting 70's music and giving dumbass nicknames. But here is a monumental meltdown. It is NSFW.

Thanks to Awful Annoucing for the treats!

Mama said knock you up by L Cool JJ

Those who know me, know how much I despise Emmitt as a commentator. Jimmy Kimmel put together a best of.

Click Here