the Cheap Seats

Warm it up Chris...

I have received the hundreds and thousands of emails, I have heard your cries for help and I am back to provide you with my own special brand of entertainment. Rest easy my friends, you can once again rely on me to add a little laughter ( I hope) to your busy and sometimes mundane lives. Sorry andrew didn't mean to pinpoint you exactly, oh well.

In an effort to provide my legions of fans with as much structure as I possibly can, here is what you can expect from the new and improved Cheap Seats. Every Monday morning you can look forward to my national fantasy football column (previously found on Foxsports.com and rotoworld.com) entitled Sunday Killers. For those of you in the Philadelphia/Atlantic City area you can hear me on Monday Mornings once again this year on 1490 The Game.

This week I will be previewing the Fall television lineup in a five part series. I will be looking at the old favorites, previewing the new shows and asking questions like, “How does a show like According to Jim stay on TV” and “is ER really back for another season?”

So feel free to let me know what you want to hear more about and I will do my best to appease you.

Where have all the good times gone!

So what happens when you enter the corporate world on an executive level? Here is what happens. You work ...alot...alot more than before. The time you used to have for your blgo (roughly 6 out of the 8 hours in a workday) dwindle down to nothing. Tien at the Gothamist is probably ready to strangle me, since half the time I wake up in some odd hotel in some random city, without internet connectivity. I instlled a wireless router in my house over the weekend...now at least I can work while watching TV. Yesterday, I got to work at 7:00am...got home at 6:30pm, then worked from my couch until 1:00am. Welcome to the real world....

Anyway, I need a place to vent...so I should be here more often.

The Franklin

He is a BEAST! 7.2 pounds of fury!

Uber Cobra is out!

Widespread Panic (my favorite band) is on a yearlong hiatus right now (7 months and 13 days later...) HOWEVER there is some reason for Panic-Stricken fans to be excited today. Panic has released "Uber Cobra", a variety of songs taken from the nov 6 and 7th shows in Mrytle Beach that are all acoustic.

Here is the track list:

1. Walk On
2. Wondering
3. Can't Get High
4. Party At Your Mama's House
5. Nobody's Loss*
6. City of Dreams*
7. Geraldine And the Honey Bee*
8. Expiration Day*
9. Mercy
10. Imitation Leather Shoes
11. Can't Find My Way Home
12. Papa Johnny Road
*with John Keane on pedal steel

Strange?

Is it strange that I just clicked on my own website and was disappointed that there wasn't anything new to read? What was I expecting, I know I had written anything new, but still I went to it, hoping that there would be some new and wonderful post. But nothing, and I was disappointed.....is that strange?

New posts should be coming soon, the last few weeks have been rough in the job world, but I am back on track.

Sydney Ponson calls out the Yanks!

Sydney Ponson today was quoted as saying "The Yankees staff is mediocre at best...." and that "I will stymie them tonight at Yankee Stadium" I paraphrased that from what I heard on the radio, but,....pretty bold considering the Yanks tattooed Ponson for 8 earned runs in one inning last week in Baltimore. Go back to Aruba, Ponson! Or should I say Sir Sydney (he was knighted by the Dutch government) apparently they knight guys for being useless, out of shape pitchers with a history of underachieving. In the Immortal words of Andrew Hurlbut, "Suck it, Ponson!"

Dumb NCAA Rules

Last week I spoke about College gambling; why kids do it. Well here is another reason why the NCAA needs to pull its' head out of its' ASS. I took this from Dave Hickman of the WV Gazzette

"And finally, would someone please explain to me the difference between Jeremy Bloom and, for instance, Kay-Jay Harris?

If you’ve missed it, Bloom is the Colorado wide receiver who is also one of this country’s best skiers. The NCAA last week refused even to meet with Bloom, who has been declared ineligible to play football because he receives endorsement money to support his skiing career.

OK, so there’s a difference between endorsement money and salary. But really, what is the difference between Bloom being paid for something he does in a sport other than football, and all the minor league players who have been paid to play baseball and then decide to return to school and play football? Harris, the West Virginia tailback, did just that.

In fact, the NCAA allows football players to play baseball for pay between football seasons, coming and going from professional to amateur and back again. And here is Bloom, who wants to represent his country in the Olympics. but he can’t train without the endorsement money, which the NCAA says he can’t accept if he wants to play college football.

And the NCAA wonders why it is constantly under fire."

I heard a rumor.....

Here are some rumors I have heard in the world of the NBA...

Ray Allen may go to Portland......Etan Thomas, a free agent, might look good playing in the Garden (Madison Square)...Dallas told Steve Nash to exercise his option and test the free agent market. They may sign him, but want to see what fair market value is for the canadain point guard.....by the way, does anyone else want to see Steve Nash and Johnny Damon in a reality show as roommates? Or is it just me? Let's make it happen....Big Changes lie ahead for Denver, they won't be keeping all of their free agents....The expansion draft is being held this summer, which means each team can protect 8 players, the others are open game for the Expansion Charlotte Bobcats to draft. This poses a big problem for Memphis, where they want to keep at least ten of their current players....where will the Lakers go? Is it time for Kobe to break away from Shaq, if they win the title, i think the answer is yes.

Dear Athletes....

I need to jump on a soapbox a little here, because I am getting sick and tired of pampered athletes comparing themselves to soldiers. Don't athletes know that comparing themselves to soldiers is absolutely absurd? In times when the world is quiet and the war is not on the forefront, we tend to let these comments slide, but during troubled times, it is hard to ignore. How can an athlete who makes has made over $200 million (Kevin Garnett) playing a game compare himself to the men and women of the U.S. who face death day in and day out in the hostile territory of a foreign land?

Last year Kellen Winslow II, or K2 as he calls himself, had this to say about a football game. "It's war, they're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. We don't care about anybody but this U. They're going after my legs. I'm going to come right back at them. I'm a fucking soldier." What an Idiot. Yeah, you are a real soldier, go back to your dorm room and play Xbox while some groupie feeds you grapes.

Last night Kevin Garnett had some idiotic things to say. I like Kevin Garnett, I think he is one of the classiest athletes in the business, but his latest actions have made me re-think that. "It's Game 7, man. That's it. It's for all the marbles," Garnett said. "Sitting in the house, I'm loadin' up the pump. I'm loadin' up the Uzi. I got a couple M-16s, a couple 9s. I got a couple joints with some silencers on them. I'm just loading clips, a couple grenades. I got a missile launcher with a couple of missiles. I'm ready for war."

This is the reigning MVP of the league. I am sure he will retract that statement in due time, like Winslow retracted his, but the fact of the matter is that these athletes need to think before they speak. By now, they should know that comparing themselves to a soldier is like Keanu Reeves comparing himself to ...well any good actor, take your pick.

Pat Tillman played football and died in war, I wonder what he would have said about comparing the two?

College Gambling Scandal

ESPN released a report this morning about college athletes gambling. "According to the study, 35 percent of male athletes and 10 percent of female athletes have bet on college sports in the last year, and Division III athletes are the most likely to gamble." This is not news to me. In college I witnessed players from my own alma mater place bets, my roommate (a former bookie) used to take bets from all sorts of athletes at our school. One day we got a call from the locker room, 30 minutes prior to kick-off, for some players to place bets. Here is my take:

As a former college athlete, myself, I can categorize the athlete-gambler in a two different ways. (No I never bet, they didn't have lines on baseball games and I didn't play long enough.)

1) The Betting on Myself Gambler-College athletes make NO MONEY. Colleges use these players to make MILLIONS of dollars, and most of the athletes get nothing to show for it. Yes, they get a free education and free room and board, but no money for living. The real kicker is that during the school year they are NOT allowed to have a job. So what do they do for money? I have never personally heard of any of the players that I have known to bet AGAINST their team. The calls that my roommate would typically get from the locker room would be "We are fired up today, give me a dime on us." I am sure there is something unethical about that, but I had no problem with it. I would hope that my players were motivated to win. If he called and said that they were gonna lose, then I would have had a major issue with that. But betting on yourself, that is just good business.

2) The In too Deep Gambler: I have watched many college football games and basketball games, and I am positive that I have witnessed players throwing a game. Turnovers, bad shots, poor decision making. Granted in some cases it is a fine line, but there are times when it is blatant. This is the athlete-gambler who has gotten in too deep and is trying to save himself or his family from harm or financial ramifications. Example: I casually bet on my team to win and we lose. I owe money, I double up on the next game and we lose, I owe more money. It gets to the point where I am down $5-$10k...the bookie offers me a way out. Throw the game and I will wipe your slate clean, if not, pay me or I break your sisters leg. What would you do?

So people should not be surprised that college athletes gamble. They need money and because of scholastic rules, they are not allowed to make money playing sports and they are not allowed to make money by getting a part-time job. Pay them, even if it is just a little bit of money and you will not see these problems.

You don't see athletes in the MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL losing games on purpose. Why? Because you can't pay them enough to. The kid from Northwestern that threw the game by fumbling did it for a $400 bet. $400? Pay college student-athletes some form of money and you will not see this problem much longer.