5 Minutes for Blogging, Jan. 9
Fast and Furious…
1. I DON’T CARE WHAT THE SCOUTS SAY ABOUT TIM TEBOW … Florida’s championship QB can quarterback my team, anytime. So spare me the talk about footwork, accuracy, mechanics. Some quarterbacks are winners. Some quarterbacks make the big plays with the game on the line. Some quarterbacks just inspire belief and confidence. You just want the ball in their hands at the end of the game. Tebow is in this category. He’s the anti-Bulger.
2. WELCOME TO THE ST. LOUIS RAMS COACHING SEARCH BOWL, SATURDAY ON CBS: It’s Baltimore @ Tennessee in the AFC playoffs, 3:30 p.m. kickoff STL time. This is your chance to check out two candidates for the Rams job: Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, and Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. And Rams’ coaching-search consultant Dan Dierdorf will be the color analyst on the CBS broadcast. Maybe Dierdorf can do a little advance work for Rams GM Billy Devaney. Then again, DD can just go with the flow and rubber-stamp Jim Haslett.
3. NON-SPORTS OBSERVATION OF THE DAY: OK, I keep getting these e-mails from people I don’t know, inviting me to join their LinkedIn network. Just a quick question: what the hell is this? OK, in the beginning, I’d receive an invite from some folks that I did surely know — sportswriters, editors and such — and I thought, “Why not. I’ll link up with them, even though I have absolutely no idea what it is, and what it’s supposed to do for me. Maybe this will make it easier to exchange Bruce Springsteen concert bootlegs, or something.” Now the damned thing is like a virus. LinkedIn invitations come from all over the place. A guy who works at Walgreens invited me to join his LinkedIn network, and I’m at a loss to understand how this will help me. Do I get a discount on Zantac tablets? Does it mean that I can now open a bag of Doritos at Walgreen’s and eat them as I walk the aisles, not having to pay up until I reach the register?
Memo: I’m LinkedOUT …
4. IF CHRIS PEREZ WANTS TO BE THE CLOSER IN 2009 … he has to diversify and come up with an alternative pitch. When behind in the count, the big man threw fastballs to RH batters 93 percent of the time last season. Behind in the count to LH batters, he threw the gas 96 percent of the time. According to STATS LLC, here are some of the batting averages against Perez when he fell behind last season: 1-0, .500. 2-0, .400. 3-1, .333. (He did fine on 2-1 counts). Perez has a popping fastball, but in the bigs, the hitters can rip on it, especially if they know it’s coming.
5. KURT WARNER WEATHER UPDATE: As they head into Saturday night’s NFC playoff game in Carolina, much has been made of the Arizona Cardinals’ failures in the eastern time zone this season. But what about their QB, Warner, and cold weather? Because Warner has played so many games inside climate-controlled facilities in St. Louis and Glendale, Ariz., it’s unusual for him to have to perform in frigid conditions. Warner has made only four NFL starts when in games played at a temperature under 40 degrees, and the results weren’t handsome: 50.7 completion rate, 3 TDs, 11 INTs, and a QB rating of 41.8. Yikes. But here’s some potentially good news for Kurt and his fans: the forecast for Saturday night in Charlotte is a temperature of around 50 degrees, with a chance for rain. It may get wet. But it isn’t supposed to be cold. Still, this is a tough assignment for the Cardinals; the Panthers are 8-0 at home this season.
60-SECOND BONUS: I failed to note the Jan. 8 birthday of the late great Elvis Presley. My three favorite Elvis songs: (1) Suspicious Minds; (2) Kentucky Rain; (3) In the Ghetto. Question: did you prefer the younger, slimmer Elvis or the older, Fat Elvis? I’m weird. I liked the paunchy, white-jumpsuit version of Elvis. Why? No. 1, I’m a fat guy. No. 2, I have a bizarre childhood memory that I can’t shake. We were supposed to go see Elvis in concert at the Baltimore Civic Center. It was my only shot at seeing him. I must have been 11 or 12 years old. We show up, and wait, and the concert was canceled. Why? well, as it turns out, as written in the local newspapers the next day, Elvis reportedly ate 9 banana splits backstage before the show and became violently ill. Awesome.
-Bernie
I got to see Elvis a few times back when he and I both were young. He was about 3 months older I. I was raised in West TN, after finishing high school in 1953, I moved to Memphis to attend an electronics school. Because of finances, I soon went to work for a company in Memphis and that ended the schooling.
They were playing Elvis’s songs on Memphis radio quite a bit by late 1954. One day I heard on the radio that he and his band, Bill Black and Scotty Moore, would be performing at the grand opening of a strip mall in East Memphis.
I went to it, they were using a flat bed truck for a stage out on the parking lot. There really wasn’t that many people watching the performance. I drove my 1953 Ford Victoria hardtop right up close to the truck and watched them. If only I had had a camera.
The company transferred me to Little Rock soon after that, we had a contract at the Little Rock Air Force Base that was being build at that time. In the late summer of 1955, Elvis and his band came to L.R. for a show. That was his first time here. They played to a big crowd this time at the Robinson Auditorium. His career had skyrocked my then.
I bought two tickets to the show as I had just started dating my future wife. Back then, kids got their parent’s permission for things, she asked and that was a mistake. Her dad said no way, they had heard the “bad” things about Elvis and “his kind” of music. I don’t think she ever forgot that he caused her to miss her only chance to see Elvis.
My son that’s almost 50, has played music since he was a teen, I just told him this story a couple weeks ago. He could hardly believe that I had never told him before about an important event like that.
But Elvis wasn’t the only one, I saw lots of the early Rockers around Memphis in the mid 1950’s.
Sorry about the long reminiscing from an old dude.lol
I remember the Elvis story from your radio show, as an Elvis fan I was…well, something.
It was entertaining though.
I prefer the 70’s Elvis.
He sang as a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he had problems and he really tried to mean something with his songs (in fact he didnt care for a lot of the earlier songs, thinking they were kiddy or something). and he sang like a motherf@#*&r. He was always a great singer but by the 70’s he was in a whole ‘nother world.
I just relate to this guy more, he wasnt the guy that everything went his way, he wasnt the supercool guy but he was still great.
I do think he was only really fat for like two or three years near the end though.
I also like 50’s elvis, but I tend to dislike movie era elvis.
obviously check out the 68′ comeback special and the DVD “thats the way it is” both are awesome, and both are pre fattness.
You want to see something crazy though?
watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E32SCqI_3sE
Im pretty sure its from the tour you see in Graceland or one of the places right outside it.
Look at him, hes not even him. If you look hard enough you can see him in there, hes a beaten, broken man physically. The world is bearing down on him, he looks likes hes dead already, but listen to him, the only life thats left is in his voice, but man what a voice
“Elvis songs:
1) Suspicious Minds
2) (you’re so square) Baby I Don’t Care
3) Bossa Nova Baby/It’s Now Or Never/Jailhouse Rock (tie)
I don’t know. I guess I am a sucker for some of the songs he performed in his movies. Who wears a sweater by the pool and sings????? There was only one….”
bwahaha… so true on that last part.
I could talk about Elvis all freaking day, but I wont because I dont want to spam up the site (more than I already do).
I had completely forgotten about the “baby your so square song”
and Bossa Nova Baby is a great song. I mean its cheesy but still good.
Ive actually been contemplating doing an “Elvis hour” or maybe a full Elvis show with my band as a side thing.
I was listening to 2nd to none the other day and I actually wrote out a list of like 40 something songs that would be a blast to learn.
another great song he did was “Such a night”
its the way he sings it, its like a juggler or something. He doesnt sing the words, he plays with them. Its almost too easy and effortless.
and I have a soft spot for the Berry penned Promised Land. Ive always wanted to do that one.
In the Ghetto…way to slick and over-produced. Suspicious Minds is not far behind in that category.
Bernie…
Preach on about Tebow… this guy ins’t Chris Leak or Danny Wuerrfel.
Will you joined my linked in network.. I clean portapotties for a living and I understand you occasionally have to use the restroom.
9 Banana splits! As a fat guy myself that’s impressive and even more impressive women dying to get backstage despite the girth and gluttony. But wow talk about thumbing your nose at Charm City, he could have at least been courteous enough to get sick after eating 9 or more crab cakes.
Tebow never plays a down. Really???? Even Danny “no arm” Wuerffel played several years in the NFL, abeit poorly. And, overrated where? Clearly not in college football.
Tebow is overrated by anyone who rates him as one of the top QB’s in college. If he played for a less talented team, nobody would even know who he was.
Question is what NFL team can re-align their offensive line and playbook for a southpaw QB?
O-Lines and playbooks are built around which way the QB throws.
No doubt on Tebow as a gamer. Zorn, Stabler, Brunell, Esiason, and Steve Young come to mind. But, teams with righty QBs would have to move some of their schemes around, and personnel. For one player, perhaps Tebow is worth the shift.
I don’t know. But, it’s gotta come into play. Why is a left tackle protecting a blindside rush on a righty QB such a prized commodity in the NFL?
And TheGeneral, LOL. Again.
If Tebow is the anti-Bulger, then he is exactly what the Rams need, but when will he be in the draft, this year or next?
Aren’t they talking about Chris Carpenter closing? If so, maybe this would give Perez time to develop another pitch.
My favorite Elvis songs are “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Love Me Tender”, and “Don’t Be Cruel.” I liked the thin early Elvis the best. I saw him at Kiel Auditorium in 1957 when I was in 8th grade. Two of my friends and I took the bus down town to see him. He wore a shiny gold suit. The thing about Elvis that made him different from a lot of other teen idols that followed him is that he really had a good voice. The link from one of the other posts of him singing “Unchained Melody” really brings this out. He deserves to be called the King. But I really don’t know why people give that name to Kevin Slaten. He seems more boorish than royal.
Bernie,
Who knew Arizona was going to dominate Carolina? My bad and apologies to Kurt and Company….I guess I ate too many banana splits…
BTW, I thought Bill Bidwell looked very cute on the sideline with his bow tie and baseball hat on…Some people just don’t look the part no matter how hard they try.
Over and out