Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Looks like Roda is out of the afternoon drive timeslot

http://blog.cleveland.com/entertainment/2007/03/munch_bishop_switches_stations.html

Monday, March 19, 2007

A few words about Israel, Part One

Here are some fun facts about Israel you will not get from my article, should you choose to read it. (I'll probably end up posting it here on Friday.)

-Israeli kids are taught English in elementary school. My group visited a school in a northern city called Tsfat. No Hebrew is allowed in English class. Telly would get along with Israeli kids, becuase they love MTV. They were proud to show off their language skills through the medium of song. These sixth graders sang, of all things, "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira. They also busted out with some Kelly Clarkson ("Because of You").

Israeli schools are rife with budget problems, leading to larger class sizes. The class we visited was packed with about 40 students. Not the best behaved bunch , but who could blame them? During Israel's war with Hezbollah over the summer, their town was hit by hundreds of rockets, and many of them had to flee with their families. The principal, who has the unlikely handle of Chaim Zinger, carries a handgun to protect students from outside threats.

-I landed in Israel on a Friday, a day when observant Jews around the world leave work early to prepare for Shabbat, which lasts thru sundown on Saturday night. Orthodox Jews use no electricity and walk to synagogue on the Sabbath; to accomodate them the Israeli work week is Sunday-Thursday. On the opposite end of this spectrum are secular Jews. They don't observe the Sabbath, and are more nationalistic than religious. There are no "Conservative" or "Reform" Jews in Israel, only Orthodox and secular Jews. As you might imagine the gap between them goes from here to the rearview mirror (Points if you get that reference). In other words, they don't get along.

Anyway, I was surprised to find out that nightclubs are open on Shabbat. The place we went to in Jerusalem that Friday was packed with heathen drinkers. Israelis have interesting taste in music. In the nightclubs/bars I visited I heard a combination of house music (no surprise there) and questionable Western pop from 10-20 years ago, i.e. "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "5,000 Miles," and "Eye of the Tiger."

That didn't stop people from getting down..

...Expect a link to my article to appear on this site sometime over the weekend...I may have some more of my awesomely keen insights to share by then...

Sunday, March 18, 2007

I may love Gus Johnson...

Fourth and one against Purdue all over again......


________________

...Dan Bonner: "Ohio State still has time....they have their four best three point shooters in the game..."

Gus Johnson: "...and he missed it!"

Bonner: "gotta hurry..."

Gus Johnson: "Conley...5 to go...Lewis has been awesome....lets it go...rings it...Ohhhhh!!!!......he ties it at 62.................and we're going to overtime...............in Lexington.............Ha ha!"

(Viacom already made YouTube take down the original video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdK4qdJXGbU

Monday, March 12, 2007

By season's end, he'll pass Tim Couch

Our boy is playing arena football. Second game, Joe Germaine threw ten touchdown passes.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Friday, March 2, 2007

Two Views on Troy...

In this widely quoted story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob McGinn says that Troy Smith is no good and totally not impressing the scouts.

Stewart Mandel, on the other hand, from SI.com, just jumps on the bandwagon and piles on how much Troy "sucks"...

Is it just me, or isn't there one or five GMs out there who think, just maybe, this guy might have it, and are trying to downplay the expectations so they can grab him for a bargain in the third round or something?

Finally, Charley Rosen on FoxSports.com has an interesting analysis of the Cavaliers, in the wake of their loss to the Mavs last night.