Better November

"I, I always believed in futures
I hope for better in November"
--Futures, Jimmy Eat World

A quick assessment of the highs and lows in the world, as I see them today.
Good: Antonio Gates, the Chargers, The Incredibles, the Clippers (?!? - they beat LeBron and Co. quite handily last night behind 30 strong from EB), Jimmy Eat World (the new album is amazing) and Brett Favre.
Bad: Mike Martz (and Butch Davis and Jim Haslett), Marshall Faulk (13 rushing yards in his last two games--ouch), the New Jersey Nets (see yesterday's blog), Alexander (from what I'm told--I haven't wasted the money on it) and pretty much the entire NFC--the 5-6 Rams and Giants are in the mix for the second wildcard in the Not Football Conference, and either the 7-4 Ravens or Broncos would be out of the picture in the AFC if the playoffs started today--absurd.
Confusing: Chicks. Why do they only call when you don't call? I call once a week for a month and get nothing in return, and then don't do anything and she calls, then invites me to dinner a week later. One would think I would understand the "game" by now, but I just don't get it. At the moment, it's working in my favor however, so I can't complain. I must comply.
It's a short one this morning, because I get to do all kinds of Charger-related work, and I'm rather excited to get it underway. Consider this blog my version of Sports Guy's mini-cowbell, tossing out a few relevant thoughts without getting into full blogging mode.
Back to JEW for a second before I go. I think I'll be quoting songs off the new disc for the foreseeable future, since I'm pretty much obsessed with it. I've got the whole thing on my mp3 player to listen to while I'm working out in the mornings, in my cd player in the car to enjoy on the drive home (when the Lake Show's not playing), and on the computer to provide some mood at home.
Charger day begins. Yes.

Giving Thanks

"For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my thanksgiving"
--My Thanksgiving, Don Henley

So it's now been called to my attention that people actually read this little thing, meaning that a) I need to be more diligent about producing a blog every couple days (not waiting two-plus weeks, as is currently the case) and 2) I need to watch what I say a little bit. I don't think I've ever really called anyone out on my blog, but it's a good reminder to keep it all positive. Oh yeah, I've definitely called out Rocky Biddle (recently released by those Washington Nationals), but I'm fairly confident that Rockpile is not among the loyal few who patronize this place.
That being said, it's the aftermath of Thanksgiving weekend, and what a wonderful weekend it was. If I needed reminders about the people and things that matter to me (and for which I am thankful), I received them en masse Wednesday through Sunday. A brief recap, if you don't mind...
Wednesday: Thought I might be able to make it up to LC in time for the alumni game and/or the TP experience, but work beckoned--as it often does--and I was immersed in Antonio Gates NFL films stuff until 9. (Quick related note: Gates is in studio tomorrow (along with fellow Charger Keenan McCardell) and I'm beyond stoked. This will mark the first time I will have requested a photo with a guest, and it will maintain a prime location on my wall.) Exhausted from just three days of long work, I decided instead to head back home, enjoy some honey wheat thins and an 11 o'clock bedtime. From what I gather, I didn't miss much at the alumni game (not much of a game at all) or at Twin Palms (out of control as usual). Sleep sounded way better than either one.
Thursday: Woke up and packed for a weekend in LC, then headed up (after a game or two of NCAA Football on XBox, in which my San Jose State Spartans have been promoted to the Pac-10, replacing lowly Washington State...it seems that all the top high school kids want to come play in the Silicon Valley now, meaning my program will continue its domination of college football for years to come--and yes, I'm even playing on Heisman level these days). Long parenthetical departures from the main story--my bad. So I got to mom's in time to help--very little--with Thanksgiving dinner preparation, and then proceeded to enjoy a wonderful time with brothers and mother and cousins and others, well into the evening. We got to continue the turkey day tradition of attending the Clippers-Nets game and sitting courtside, which definitely didn't suck. Saw Rob Kane and his dad, Becky Johann and her dad, Andy Carlson's brother Craig, and a few members of the Trumbo clan (though I didn't know it at the time)--LC representing strongly. Clips won the game, too, behind Marko Jaric (23 points) bombing threes and some solid team defense (though in all seriousness, New Jersey might be worse than UCLA right now--after Richard Jefferson, they don't have a single person who can score with any kind of consistency. And watching Alonzo Mourning suck and complain and then suck more is just sad. Really sad). Got back from the game pretty late and played some Halo 2 with Side and the bros--part of the reason I don't have time to do anything else these days is that Halo 2 has crept in and now occupies many of my at-home awake moments, of which there are few. We need to just beat the game and be done with it so I can resume normal living patterns.
Friday: Slept in a tiny little bit (9 a.m., about four hours after my normal rising time), and got to read and play guitar all morning, which was quite lovely. Had an Imports lunch with Joel and Nick (Wang and El-Saden in attendance as well), and opted for the sandwich over the pizza. I know you can't really go wrong with either one (Joel actually chose both), but I agonize over that selection every time I'm there--thank goodness I don't live close enough to make it a regular thing anymore. I then headed down to the HS for the big football game--and speaking of football games, Peyton Manning threw six (!!!!????!!!!????!!!!) touchdown passes Thursday and is on pace to destroy Marino's single-season record. The way the Colts defense has looked, Peyton will likely be matching Marino's post-season history as well, meaning 0 Super Bowl wins. Suss definitely did not resemble Peyton Manning (except maybe during last year's AFC Championship game, when the Pats picked him off like nine times), but the 00 v. 97 game was fun, albeit one-sided. I spent the duration on the sidelines pretending to be a cameraman and am hoping to turn the results (a 32-minute digital tape) into some sort of a cool piece, cut to music and everything, but we'll see when work will allow such a project to be undertaken. Went from the game to Joe's and tried to start the editing process, but computers weren't being friendly, so it wasn't happening. Had a couple turkey sandwiches for dinner (thanks mom) and went to the LC playoff football game with Suss and his friends, excited to watch Tom and Pat and Ben (not dressed, unfortunately) take on the No. 2-seeded squad in the division. It was a fun game, not just because it was competitive (28-23 in favor of North Torrance, after several back-and-forth sequences in the second half), but because of all the people I got to see. Philip Swenson is perhaps my favorite person ever (that's only a slight exagerration), and I also got to see the D'Elias (Chris, Matt and Bill), EI, Ross and Mikey, Perry and Cindy, among countless others. It's fun to go back and see people on occasion, but I can't do that more than once a year--too overwhelming. Got out of the game around 10 and took our time getting up to the Schmitts' house, which was another overwhelming situation waiting to happen. Fortunately, it didn't turn out that way, and we stayed until 2 or so, enjoying all kinds of pleasant company. By the way, when I said Ben wasn't dressed, I meant he wasn't wearing his full uniform, not that he was naked. Fortunately, they don't usually let people do that in high school football.
Saturday: Tried to sleep in again and was again unsuccessful, so I got some more guitar (new Sister Hazel) and reading (Ted Williams autobiography) in before meeting Ben at 76 and going to lunch at Baja. Of course, we encountered numerous familiar faces--Darren, Stu and Daniel Fekete among them--and enjoyed the Mexican grill a great deal. Hung out at his house for a while afterward and then joined the bros at your father's for his dad's birthday--93 or 94, both of which are remarkable numbers. During dinner and dessert and presents and whatnot, we were able to watch the Matt Leinart Heisman party against Notre Dame. Dominant performance from the amazingly accurate lefty, and another sweet Reggie Bush moment on a swing pass that turned into a long touchdown. That team is ridiculous. Home in time to join Darren and BZ for a screening of "The Incredibles," which was well worth the free price of admission. It would have been worth several dollars, as a matter of fact--a thoroughly entertaining film. Back to mom's around 1, and then down to home in Manhattan by 2, which meant not nearly enough sleep for a day of football work.
Sunday: Up early to get to Fox on time, then got to watch several bad games and a couple good ones--hmm, Chargers 34, Chiefs 31 comes to mind--through the course of the morning and afternoon. Spent some time after the games continuing the Antonio Gates project (which was finished today, and it's a solid production, I must say) and then headed up to church, where I met up with Suss and BZ. Good (not great) sermon from Jim Lee, who doubles as an assistant football coach at Oaks Christian (where sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen, Casey's younger brother, has thrown for 51 touchdowns this season). Chatted a little with my two compatriots, and also saw the Colemans, Stu and Niemann (LC everywhere you go), then headed to Ashley's house for (another) Thanksgiving dinner with her and her mom. Quite a lovely evening--I'm still full, seriously--and I departed after 10, which meant that I would again be limited in sleep heading into a full work week.
Oh well. Sacrifices must be made. I'll gladly give up a long weekend's worth of sleep in order to spend time with all the quality people that God has put in my life, and that I had the pleasure of encountering throughout the weekend. I'm eternally grateful for the guys and girls that have blessed me with their friendship. If you are one of those people (I'm again reminded that people do evidently read this), then thank you.
Looking forward to my picture with Antonio and Keenan tomorrow. Yup.

My Wonderful Job

"I draw plans draft the diagrams
An architect in effect, and it slams
And if it's weak when I'm done
Renovate and build another one
I go to work"
I Go to Work, Kool Moe Dee

I don't recall whether or not I've used this one previously, but I don't think one can ever really get enough Kool Moe Dee, so I'm sure it'll be fine. Work has been quite laid back today, as I was able to sleep in (trying to not be sick) and roll in at 11:15, which was nice. No show to tape, so I took care of the various tasks to which I was assigned and took plenty of time doing so. I sit here now with nothing left for today and very little to take care of tomorrow, which will provide for another relaxing day. Nice.
Smiling as I am today, I'm thinking about the cool job I have and the fun stuff I've been able to do over the last ten or so months here at Best Damn. I know I'll forget some things and have to add them later, but for now, here's a top five or six--in no particular order--coolest things I've been able to do because of my job...

- sharing honey wheat thins with Lisa Dergan at Chris Rose's 4th of July party...a box of HWT's was my contribution to the party, and since everyone on the show loves them (only because I used to bring them in every day), it was a no-brainer. Lisa D ended up enjoying several of them and when I went to grab a few near the end of the evening, she apologized profusely for taking the last one. It led to a nice little conversation, and though I've only exchanged a few words with her since then, I'd like to think we shared a moment.
- playing guitar and singing "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Leeann Tweeden (and others) after shooting on a Friday evening...my buddy Bernie and I had brought our guitars to mess around a play a little bit after work one day, and more people were interested in listening and singing along than we had anticipated. We sat in a hallway of sorts, Leeann immediately to my left, playing all kinds of requests, and hers was a boisterous appeal for Bon Jovi. I immediately launched into the acoustic intro to DOA, and her eyes lit up. As the first verse and chorus progressed, we all sang way too loud, LT and me sharing what I believe, once again, was a moment.
- hanging out on the court with Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and numerous other NBA stars as a producer at Magic Johnson's Charity All-Star game...I haven't had more fun on a day of work than being at the Forum with my buddy Zeus and our on-camera guy, a comedian named Alex Thomas. He knows everybody, so all the stars and athletes were more than willing to talk to us, and I had the privilege of walking up to everyone and requesting their presence on camera. Bill Bellamy, Magic himself, Lisa Leslie, Steve Harvey and all these NBA dudes, just like normal guys. I don't think I realized how much fun I was having (or how overwhelmed I should have been) until well after the fact.
- hanging out on the beach with several AVP stars, Emeka Okafor, Mark Cuban and a half-dozen playmates at our Hermosa Beach show in July...it was an unbelievably long day (5 a.m.-7:30 p.m., followed by a late-night drive to Palm Springs, no sleep, and a day of golf in 105-degree heat), but it was awesome to see a show at a remote location come together. I was in charge of our interns, and we all put in all kinds of manual labor, moving chairs and camera stands and tons of other stuff, but we also got to be in the mix and enjoy the show taping, and we got to eat all kinds of free food as well--never a bad thing.
- getting luxury suite and pit passes to the NASCAR race in Fontana...Side and I, both heretofore anti-Neck-car, were treated to a great racing experience, one that forever altered our view of the left-turn circuit. We got bleacher tickets, and visited those first, emerging rather unimpressed. However, once we took the tram to the infield and got to see our suite, its proximity to the pits, its unlimited free food (breakfast and lunch, probably dinner if we had stayed), we were sold. Watching (and hearing) those cars go by from such a proximate vantagepoint made it quite the memorable experience. We bought the NASCAR Thunder video game on the way home, and I must say, I've watched the races and highlights with much more interest since then.
- being able to say "I'm a television producer" and not having it be a lie...Especially when I wasn't working (or was working like one day a week as the sports editor at the Outlook Newspaper), it kind of sucked to meet people and have to explain what I did. Now I look forward to it. I'm not that impressed with what I do (just excited about the idea of watching sports for a living), but it seems that others tend to be very impressed. It's like in Swingers, when Mikey fumbles through the whole "I'm a stand-up comedian" thing, and Trent rescues him--and quickly captures the attention of both girls--when he asserts, "I'm a producer." It's pretty cool.
There, that's five. I think I'm pleased with that. It doesn't even mention the other people I've met here (Mike Tyson, Jeremy Roenick), seen perform here (Rick Springfield doing "Jesse's Girl" in studio comes to mind), or the pieces I've been able to work on and produce. Actually, I think I will mention something along those lines as my last...
- Writing, producing and cutting a feature that aired on the show...I came up with the idea for a season-ending baseball piece, pitched it to our senior staff, and then went about the entire process of putting it together. I wrote it, tracked Chris Rose doing a voice over for the whole thing, got some baseball players to say certain things for it (A.J. Pierzynski, Torii Hunter, Jose Lima), and then spent three long edit sessions finishing the whole thing up. It was all worth it that night, watching the thing on television with the roommates and seeing it come full circle--from my head to the screen. That's a little bit of a selfish one, but I was pretty proud, so it'll have to do.
All right, time to head home and play a little Madden with Phil. I guess Halo 2 will be arriving soon, so I need to get in some time with these other games that will be going on the shelf for about a year when we start playing Halo.
Read some good stuff in Purpose Driven Life today (worth checking out if you've never read any of it), regarding the way we view our lives. It's an incomplete lesson, but it's a valuable thing to think about: am I here to party? to be successful? to create good television? I need to view my life in a bigger picture, and, though this part of the chapter didn't deal with this specifically, I need to acknowledge that my life is God's, so whatever I plan on doing had better be in line with what he's got for me. I'm glad that he's got me here right now, and I think it's a valuable, potentially influential place that he's sent me. So I'm not here to make good tv, I'm here to worship God, and I can do that through my work. Kinda cool. Sorry for the sermon.
A pleasant good evening.

Less Frequent These Days...

So if it's your time, speak your mind
That's what regimes are for
But I'm not here anymore
I'm Not Here Anymore, The Badlees

It's a bummer to me that my writing has been reduced to this once-a-week, half-hearted effort, and for that, I apologize. I'll try to take advantage of the limited writing time my job permits and make this a good one.
NFL thoughts from the weekend:
So I guess the Steelers are for real. They absolutely dominated Philly from start to finish, both sides of the ball. The Bus ran it down their throats (and Aaron Haynes, when necessary), Big Ben made the throws he needed to make and didn't turn it over. The defense was all over McNabb, sacking him, forcing bad throws, and keeping him out of the end zone. Joey Porter, James Farrior, big-time linebackers. It seemed strange that they extended Cowher's contract this past off-season after a shaky 2003 season, but he's done a tremendous job bringing them back to the top of the conference (and maybe the whole league). His reign in Pittsburgh has been remarkable: just three losing campaigns in his 13 seasons (7-9 once, 6-10 twice), a Super Bowl (loss to the Cowboys--thanks, Neil O'Donnell), multiple AFC championship games, and now another season headed in that same direction. He's gone through O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Kordell, Tommy Maddox and now Big Ben, and he keeps on winning. Not enough respect for that guy, I don't think.
Another coach to whom I gave no respect was Marty Schottenheimer, because of the downward spiral that was the Charger franchise. Somehow, and besides Drew Brees' rising from the ashes, I don't know how, he's got the Bolts in a tie for first place in the AFC West. They're leading the league in scoring (?!?!?), behind the amazingly accurate arm of Brees, his favorite target Antonio Gates (the second-best tight end in football behind Tony G), a new No. 1 receiver in Keenan McCardell, and the balanced running game provided by hobbled Ladanian Tomlinson and Jesse Chatman. The defense has been great too, with some young dudes stepping it up, big-time. Rookie Igor Olshansky and second-year guy Jacques Cesaire have been solid on the line, and DB's Quentin Jammer, Terrence Kiel and Sammy Davis have been good (despite Jammer's quota of pass interference penalties each week) in the secondary. I love this team. I figured we'd be good for another 4-12 season, if that. Nobody picked them to end up with more than three or four wins, and I even saw one pre-season article that said they'd go winless. Seriously. Instead, they've played themselves into the playoff picture, and Brees has played himself into the MVP race. I'm still not sure I believe it.
Bill Belichick is the Tony LaRussa of the NFL, mixing up strategies and using offensive and defensive players in various roles, a trait which was never more evident than Sunday's win over the Rams. Receiver Troy Brown played cornerback (and almost had an interception), linebacker Mike Vrabel played tight end (and made an outstanding catch in the corner of the end zone), and kicker Adam Vinatieri threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal (to the aforementioned Brown). Crazy stuff, but the Pats also did the normal, fundamental things to win the game, and those have been a Belichick trademark as well. They've got a better running game than in years past, thanks to the arrival of Corey Dillon, who ran for 112 yards and a touchdown. Tom Brady threw for 234 and two scores, and despite injury absences, the defense played well. I know they lost to the Steelers last week, but I'm not ready to knock these guys off their pedestal just yet. If they do get healthy, they'll be just fine, and this defense against a rookie quarterback in January will be a much different story.
The NFC sucks. Period.
Hoops: The Clippers, almost. First of all, props to the Clips for taking the defending world champs to double overtime. Bummer they ended up losing the game, but Corey Maggette (25 and 19 boards) and the boys made a great showing. It speaks to the Pistons and their unattractive brand of basketball that even with two overtimes, neither team was able to score 100 points. That's so sad. I hate that the NBA has been reduced to this, an over-coached, over-muscled, defensive struggle every night. I wish Phoenix and Dallas could play every night, and every other team could learn from the entertaining style they each bring to the court. These Lakers might get there too, with a little more time together. Kobe, Lamar and Caron are three elements to what could be a great fast-breaking team. Tierre Brown needs to play more for that to take full effect--he's the up-tempo point guard they need, but he's too inexperienced for now. P.S. Andrei Kirilenko is the best player in basketball. I can't get enough of watching this guy play, all over the court. He blocks shots like he's eight feet tall, gets in the passing lanes for steals, finishes on the break and in the halfcourt, and can even step out and hit the three. SportsCenter had a great highlight last night (watched on the re-run this morning at work) where he started a run with a trey, blocked two shots, picked up a steal and an assist, and then finished off the run with a jumper--all in a minute of play. Amazing.
I'm hoping to have time for college football later in the week, because a playoff system is the topic of discussion again after Utah fell out of the top six in the BCS. I'll get to it. Work now.

Lake Show

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."
--Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

I could think of nothing better to describe the Lakers' fortunes after the first two days of the regular season. Wow, did they look good on Tuesday night, dismantling a Nuggets team many said would finish higher in the Western Conference standings, getting outstanding games from Caron Butler and Chris Mihm, and showing great team defense. And wow, did they look awful last night, getting blown out at Utah, shooting LESS THAN 30% FROM THE FLOOR. Ouch.
I knew that this season would test my mettle as a Laker fan, give me some challenges, but this was unbelievably quick to go from so good to so bad. Mihm crashed back to reality with a 6-point, 5-rebound performance, and Kobe had to score almost half of the team's points (38 of 78). That's not going to be a good trend. The best 23-year-old pair of forwards in the league (I really can't think of a better young pairing) went 27 and 11 (Carlos Boozer) and 16, 6 and 8 blocks (Andrei Kirilenko). Butler and Odom were no match.
Tomorrow night brings the Spurs to town--more than a little worried about that one, for sure. They beat the 0-2 Kings last night behind 30 and 14 from Duncan, 24 from Ginobili and 16 off the bench from Brent Barry. Peja and C-Webb battled for leadership of the team by shooting 5-14 and 7-22, respectively. That's a combined 33% from your two superstars. Not gonna get it done.
I know I've only blogged politically once on this thing, but here's my quick thought in the aftermath of W's re-election. I voted for Bush, not because of his stance on specific issues, but because he's a leader. He's been true to himself--love him or hate him--since he came onto the national scene more than four years ago. He stands firm (some might call it stubbornness) and doesn't hide who he is at all. Kerry, on the other hand, has just rubbed me the wrong way every time I hear him talking. The baseball stuff--pretending to be a Red Sox fan and all that--just pushed it over the edge for me. He seems to have tried way too hard to be someone he's not, flexing and bending his views and opinions depending on who's listening. I can't stand that. It's the same way Gore seemed to be working way too hard to change his public image. I heard a guy on television last night say that how you vote (in the Senate) and what you actually do in office reflects who you are and what you truly believe; what you say in speeches reflects what you want people to think you are. It's not a healthy pattern to get into. On the flip side, I want my leader to be the guy on the mound before the World Series at Yankee Stadium, firing a strike in front of 60,000 fans (circa 2001). Watching "Nine Innings From Ground Zero" and seeing that moment re-created was awe-inspiring. That's my leader.
Real quick NBA thoughts before I go: Way to go, Grant Hill, Stevie Franchise and Orlando. Big buzzer-beating win for what is pretty much a brand-new team down there. Francis' dotted-line dunk down the middle on some poor soul was sick. The other sweet dunk of the night came from my boy Chris Andersen, a.k.a. "The Birdman." Got to hang out with him at Magic Johnson's charity all-star game a few months ago, and he was hilarious. Very strange, but definitely hilarious. He went baseline and mashed on Shawn Bradley, which is no small feat. LeBron v. Pacers in double ot is just a portent of things to come from this year's MVP (no joke). He'll have them in the playoffs, probably in the top half of the seedings, despite the loss of Boozer in the off-season. I know I mentioned the Kings 0-2 start, but I just wanted to bring it up again for full enjoyment. Let it breathe a little bit, you know. I still hate them. Out.