Dom's Dish - LEAP ahead edition

Dom's Dish - Friday, February 29, 2008


"Well, well, well, DominNIC, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???"

So after a five...no, NINE month hiatus of officially writing the dish, not just giving it to those of you I've seen at parties...there is a lot to recap. I have been right and I have been wrong....there have been ups and definitely downs. Mitchell released his report, Obama is taking the US by storm, I witnessed the Phillies clinch the NL East, the Pats went 18-0 only to lose to the Giants, the Big 3 in Boston, Tiger added a major, and I have been to a total of 17 states*, watching it all. So without much further ado about where I've been and what I've been up to, it's time to delve right in...


I was right:

Michael Vick. Need I say more?

I mentioned that they may put Parcells on MNF on ESPN to replace Theismann (Jan 22, 2007) - I was close, at least they did the right thing and get rid of broken leg Joe. Ron Jaworski had a good first season, and he did give me plenty of material for when I play at RON JAWORKSI'S Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, NJ! Jaws here!


I was wrong:

Wes Welker - and I quote from March 6, 2007: "I rescind my offer that Jeff Garcia will end up the Gil Meche of the NFL free agency period. That title now goes to Wes Welker." Wrong on both accounts but I did go on to say "He does fit the Patiot-jack-of-all-trades mold".

Billy Donovan - remember that? My last dish on June 1 was right after he signed with Orlando of the NBA for all that money. I praised him and thought he might be a good NBA coach...only to have him rescind and go back to the University of Florida.


Ok, and now on to the topics...

NFL Free Agency is here! Big news? Asante Samuel in Philadelphia? More on that in a bit. Well, Derek Anderson rejected the Browns one year offer and hit the open market after midnight. Good news for those Brady Quinn fans out there, or is it? Late report is that Anderson has agreed to a multi-year deal with the Browns now. It hasn't been too crazy yet these last 16 hours - no big names off the board yet (Randy Moss, Lance Briggs, Bernard Berrian, Alen Faneca, Michael Turner, Asante Samuel). However the 49ers have made a number of moves for some mid-grade players- LB Dontarrio Thomas, QB J.T. O'Sullivan, KR Allen Rossum and RB DeShaun Foster. A lot of lobbying for position as of now - trying to convince these free agents to come on out to sign those enormous contracts - in terms of green, not paper. Speaking of green, apparently one of those teams who was able to convince a visit - Asante Samuel is in Philadelphia and word is a 6 year $60 million contract by days' end is possible. It would be a great sign for the Eagles, but word is Lito Shepphard would become expendable. It's just about 6 months to the beginning of the season, can you feel the excitement yet?

The Super Bowl Champs lost a player (Kawika Mitchell to the Bills) and word is that teams are inquiring about Jeremy Shockey. Aside from that, a lot of rumors abound, I sit amazed the number of items on the Bottom Line of ESPN News. It should be an interesting weekend into next week.


Big news for all you Europeans out there...Soccer will be coming to Philly in 2010! The MLS - that stands for Major League Soccer NOT Multiple Listing Service (AKA MLS number for all you homebuyers out there) - has agreed to give Philadelphia a franchise that will start up in two years. No word on team name during the press conference yesterday, but work is set to begin on a new stadium just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester, PA. The stadium will be right along the waterfront bringing some economic opportunity to an area that could use it. Now, I'm no soccer fan, but with the MLS's new contract and a team in Philly, I could be.


So, the NBA trade deadline has come and gone with a lot more moves than normal. For those even following along even with ESPN highlights you know how ridiculous the difference in conferences is - East vs. West. In the West, there are 9 teams seperated by 6 1/2 games - so all of these games down the stretch will count big time. With the trades, we all know about Shaq to the Suns, Paul Gasol to the Lakers and Jason Kidd to Dallas. The West all got better, but again it is going to be a blood bath in the playoffs as they are all evenly matched. Somehow the Lakers have won 10 straight out there and as they work in Paul Gasol, they are every NBA Analysts' favorite for the NBA Western Conference and NBA Title. Not bad for going back a few months when Kobe wanted out of L.A. But don't leave out the Eastern Conference - the Big 3, and not just Boston - Detroit and Cleveland could be in there as well. Detroit is far and away the definition of team basketball, Boston has a great defense led by Kevin Garnett, and Cleveland...they have LeBron. Nice trade at the wire for the Cavs to get some nice role players around King James. Many think Kobe is the best player in the league right now, but we'll see as the stretch run comes. That would be an awesome NBA Finals - Kobe vs LeBron? We could only hope, except Kobe would have the disadvantage as there is only one of him and four LeBron's.


Steroids in Baseball - like you, I'm sick of hearing about it. As certain as I am that Barry was involved with BALCO and "the clear", I am now certain that Roger Clemens tried it once or twice. Now granted, this Brian McNamee is one shady character keeping "stuff" for years and years, I mean how do we know that he hasn't doctored the evidence in his basement (by the way Nic Santillo, I have a very sugary cereal bowl with your DNA all over it from when you were 7 years old). I don't want to spend too much time or energy on this (I'm winded from writing this much already) but it's sad to see such a controversy like this, especially with the prosperity of the game now. I hope Roger and Barry don't come back this year -


As a follow-up to my last dish, I spoke about plumbing and bathroom design. It's still something I notice while washing hands - finally last week I had an "almost" - outside Denver in the staff lounge at the hospital where I worked - very nice, deep place to wash your hands without touching the side of the sink...except the faucet only had one speed - full on, and water goes everywhere. Oh, so close!


Happy Leap Year Day everyone! I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to my beautiful wife Beth on our special day today... "last year" I proposed to her, and it's been bliss ever since.


"They must be Oakland fans....did you hear the latest injury report? POSERS!"



Around the balls:

Giant-orange- Kelvin Sampson, the former Indiana Hoosier head coach is a cheater. No big surprise there, my buddy Matt in Illinois told me this all last year - this after he recruited a player who had already verbally committed to Illinois. Anyway, College Basketball is heating up - only about 2 weeks before the NCAA brackets are on everyone's mind. Memphis got the loss out of the way in a great game, can they be the favorite heading into the tournament? Will Villanova make it? If not, can they win the NIT?

White-leather-stitched- In case you're living on the moon, you realize it's staying light out later and know that Daylight Savings is coming up on March 9...so you know that Spring Training has started in Florida and Arizona.

Rubber-non- The Devils are up top in the Eastern Conference, Sid the Kid is still out with an ankle, and Alexander Ovechkin is scoring goals at will. The season is about to wrap up - I guess more people would care if it were actually on some sort of TV Network other than "Versus" and NBC on Sunday afternoons occasionally.

Big-brown-oblong- Aside from the Free Agency period, the Combine and the upcoming draft, keep an eye and ear on the situation with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Tiny-white- Tiger is three for three this year - Dubai, Torrey Pines and Accenture Match play. Good thing that the US Open is in California at Torrey Pines - looks like another major. For those that missed his interview about a perfect season you need to see the ESPN.com video about him peaking.

Green-fuzzy- Somehow Roger Federer lost in the semi's of the Australian Open - he must have been hurt or something. Maria Sharapova won the Australian Open - she was just in a zone that last match. Funny news - A 9-year-old girl from Melbourne, Australia has been banned from playing tennis at her local club over the grunting noise she makes while competing. Her favorite player is Maria Sharapova. Hopefully more people will do this - it's so annoying watching the Williams sisters and others.

Big-black-and-white- Reports say that Jose Mourinho turned down an offer to coach Lyon after leaving Chelsea. I don't know what that means, but it's my duty to report it.

Giant-black-holey- Sundays are for bowling. Nothing new here, just pins and balls.

Rubber-wheels- Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500. Dale Jr. has a new team and a behind the scenes show on ESPN. Yeah, cars going in circles - fun to watch when nothing else is on.


Program Alert:
Jackie Moon and Semi-Pro debuts in theaters today! I'll spend $10 to laugh for 90 minutes at Will Ferrell's fro!

Links:
Tiger Video: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3254792


* - states outside NJ since June 07 - California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ontario (Canada), Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia


--------------------------------
For those new to "the dish", I once dreamed of being a sports-caster having my own column. Let me know if you don't like it, and/or want to be discontinued from the list. If you have another email address to send it to, send that to me also. For older issues of the dish, email me. domsdish@gmail.com or go to http://domsdish.blogspot.com/

Dom's Dish - The Long Overdue edition

Dom's Dish - Friday, June 1, 2007


Every once in a while, we are witness to someone growing up in a big way. For those that were lucky and smart enough to keep on the Cavs/Pistons game, you probably are still in awe as much as I am. It was not a 70 or 80 point performance, however that was LeBron James' moment. For all the criticism from game 1 of the series when he passed the ball for the last shot (in a loss), and for not drawing enough contact in game 2 (in a loss), last night more than made up for it, and might have gotten his team over the hump and into the NBA Finals in this, only his fourth year in the league. Simply amazing - LeBron scored 29 of his team's last 30 points! ARE YOU KIDDING? Detroit couldn't stop him. No matter who defended, 'Bron was on his game, jab-stepping for a jumper, spinning for a fade-away jumper, rolling off a screen for a three, weaving through the lane for jam...unbelievable. Aside from the number (23) and the obvious athleticism and similar shots (fade-aways, etc), there isn't much similarity. That is, MJ had Pippen and a shooter. Last night and all season, LeBron has had to play like Kobe - score the points so his team can win. I'm not going to make predictions as to what his career will be way down the road, all I can say is - I hope you are watching intently when you can. There's the chance his career as "King" could trump all before him...

With the Giants coming to town, which Phillies team will we see this weekend? One that pounded the Braves or couldn't hit the starting pitching of the D'Backs? Considering the Giants have almost as much of a closer issue as we do, having traded Benitez yesterday, one never knows. Now if only Barry were going to play Sunday afternoon, I have some extra batteries I need to get rid of....you take away all of the fun.

Ron Mexico's flight landed for good. Air Tran Airlines has ended its relationship with Michael Vick. AirTran won't say why, however things like his water bottle incident and his publicist blaming ATA for Vick missing a meeting before Congress might have soured the relationship. Speaking of dogs, I wonder if he has a Chihuahua?

Did you hear the Kobe interview? Talk about depressed! How about Stephen A. Smith? I still swear his speech varies too much. When he was interviewing Kobe he was coaxing him and "talkin brotha" to him. Then he appears on SportsCenter with some white dudes and talks like an educated journalist. Either way, he sure does interview well. With all of this Kobe drama though, there's crazy rumors - Kobe to Dallas; Jermaine O'Neal to the Lakers, Marcus Camby to the Lakers, Kobe to the Bulls? Kobe to the Knicks? So you got lied to Kobe? I still don't think the average American that makes his weekly salary in 6 months and has been lied to by their bosses about promotions and mergers will understand or feel bad for him.

Billy Donovan - the baby-faced coach of the two time champs Florida Gators, has left college to go to the pros. Will he finally be the one to follow in the footsteps of a Larry Brown and be as successful in the pros as the college ranks? I can tell you one similarity - Green$$$. $27.5 million for a 5 year contract in Orlando? Oh, and I get to coach Dwight Howard? I'll take that check.

I actually parred a hole last weekend! I came close a few other times, in the last and only 8 times I have been out on the golf course prior, but this time it was a par 3. Maybe not the greatest of feats - for one with great feet - but a personal accomplishment nonetheless. A frustrating game at times, I know I will never make the pro tour, so alas I have not (yet) broken a club on a bad shot. Although I was very inconsistent - 300 yard drive straight as an arrow off the tee, followed by a 5-iron 75 yards hooking off WAY right, it was a good time, and not bad for a $130 pair of clubs from Sports Authority and a bunch of balls that my grandfather "stole" from near his house. Tiger, you're safe for now...


From the thoughts we've all had but not voiced section:
So, what is it with plumbers and bathroom designers? You would think that along with making sure that the toilet flushes and the pipes don't leak that they would consider the bathroom sink. I'm not talkin the kitchen sink or anything that sophisticated, I mean the bathroom sink. Ok, airplanes are one thing, aside from that, in the world we live in, there is no excuse for no using space appropriately. Ala, the bathroom sink. Is it really too much to ask that if you spend thousands o dollars on bathroom fixtures that you might consider the spout and side of the actual sink? Case in point, you piss on your hands, by mistake of course (unless you have a nasty case of "athlete's hand" you're trying to get rid of) and you go to the sink to wash the nasty yellow stuff off your mitts. You turn the water on, wet a hand or two, grab for some soap, then go to wash, only to be "side blocked" by the damn sink!!! Come on! The bowl of the sink is like 16" across and the spout can't even reach 3 inches over the front side of the bowl? What is this? For the love of goodness people, can you create a sink in which washing your pee-stained hands won't interfere with the sides of this large bowl that has been touched by poo-stained hands before us? Come on, you know that's happened to you once....weren't expecting the tp to be that fragile...ah well. Anyway, let me check the design of your bathroom. The only thing worse is heading to a bathroom at a party that doesn't even have hand towels to dry your hands after washing them. You do wash your hands once in a while, right???


Around the Balls:
Corn-hole- In interesting new drunk game news, while in Chi-town, I was able to play an interesting little ditty that involved getting "my bags" in a "corn hole". Props go out to my "partner" Matt Engle of the Lakeview part of Chicago for his efforts to make the Dom/Matt team the champs of this game. We sure corn-holed those other guys and gals!

No more Around the Balls this week....they're sore.


Program Alerts:
LeBron goes for the closeout at home, Saturday night 8:30pm
Yanks / Sox - can NY climb out of the basement?
Roger Clemens makes his first start in Chi-Town on Monday. It's June, he's already made how much by 4pm today?
French Open - Men's Tennis - Can Federer win any and will he and Nadal have another showdown?


Links:
http://www.cornhole-game.org/

Dom's Dish - The really, really short edition (no, really)

Dom's Dish - Friday, March 23, 2007

Kobe Bryant is unbelievable - and no, I don't just mean his side of the alleged rape in Colorado. I mean on the court. One sportscaster called them "the Los Angeles Kobes" - only the fourth player in NBA history to score 50+ in three straight games. He scored 175 points in those games. When you watch him, it's like the people around him are high school players, well at least sometimes.

Dribbles into a corner, picks up his dribble, then looks for someone to pass to. That's Josh McRoberts, every time I watch him get the ball in the half court, he'll dribble down the right side, about 20 feet from the basket and pick up his dribble. They won't show that on his highlight tapes, but I've seen it every time I watch. And he is declaring for the NBA. Hopefully the Sixers aren't THAT stupid....are they? By the way, how old is Greg Oden of Ohio State? Damn, there are all these comparisons to Patrick Ewing how he plays, but its sad that he looks AS OLD as Patrick Ewing, right now!

Andy Reid is back - listening to the Press Conference, he had to ask the media TOO many times to stop asking questions about his family. The guy has been through enough, come on people. With about a month left before the draft, I still don't see the "leave" as a big issue - the Eagles signed some quality people, and you know he had a hand in it. The key will be staying free of the devastating injuries again. And by the way, he has the two older sons, and three younger sons.

Around the balls:

White-leather-stitched- I hate that I jinxed the Phillies - my prognostication came true - one of the starters is hurt and now they'll keep Lieber. Having too many starting pitchers is as much of a problem as having too many defensive linemen. Even if they are "OK" or "good" - keep them fresh.

Big-brown-oblong- Ron Mexico in the news again - he claims this time that his "water bottle" that security officials thought had "marijuana" in it, is a "hiding place" for "jewelry" and "earings." Sorry Ron, still don't believe you. You better hope you grasp Bobby Petrino's offense, otherwise you'll wind up replaced like David Carr. "Marijuana" won't help you grasp it - that only works when playing Madden.

Small-bug-with-noisy-legs- In world Cricket news, reports out of Jamaica say the Pakistani coach was strangled. What is this soccer? You lose and get off-ed?

Program Alert:

NCAA basketball is on this weekend again!?!?

Oh, and Tiger is playing golf this weekend in Orlando.

--------------------------------

For those new to "the dish", I once dreamed of being a sports-caster having my own column. Let me know if you don't like it, and/or want to be discontinued from the list. If you have another email address to send it to, send that to me also. For older issues of the dish, email me. domsdish@gmail.com or go to http://domsdish.blogspot.com/