Incorrect regional grammar runs deep

Let me start by saying I am a grammar absolutist. Not a relativist. (Nor a nihilist.) There is a right way, and a wrong way, to pronounce something, no matter where you live. Roof, not "rough." Oregon, not "Or-e-gone." And it's Prescott, not "Pres-kitt."

Now, I don't expect to enact change with this one because it's so ingrained in most locals, but I feel it's worth bringing up. Near as I can tell it's a California thing that sort of spread here, but what's the deal with Arizonans putting definite articles in front of numbered freeways? I have lived in this state longer than I haven't, and it never sounded right. It never became grammatically correct either.

Even some folks who came here from another region have picked up on this mistake. Whereas they used to take 287, to Route 1, to get to work, they now take "the 51 to the 10." For people who once had it right, only to come here and be convinced to speak incorrectly, the mistake is even more egregious.

Oh well. I guess it's just one of those little things that doesn't truly matter for anything in life, yet if you focus on it too much it will drive you crazy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to be getting to the work, which is just located just off of the 24th Street and the Camelback Road.

Wow, thanks for the honesty

Now Tiger Woods has come clean - only after being caught, of course. Among the egregious details are his cheating on his wife while she was pregnant. And how about the voicemail message to one of his mistresses that Us Magazine got a hold of, where he tells her to take her name off her phone because his wife might try to call? Classy. Also, for the entertainment value alone this Taiwanese Youtube video is worth watching - it's a computer simulation of what may have happened the night of the shady car accident. It's terrific from about the 50 second mark forward, complete with wife's face-slap, wife chasing his car on foot (a la T-1000 in Terminator 2), and telephone pole collision.

Way to go, Urkel. No credit for admitting the truth after first trying to cover it up. Going forward, I can only hope he has the kind of remorse and humility it takes to repair a marriage and family.

And yes, it does matter how sports celebrities act. Now more than ever, we need positive role models in prominent positions. One of the byproducts of guys like Tim Duncan and Peyton Manning winning championships, even if they don't play for the teams we happen to root for, is that these kinds of athletes are in the spotlight more. For this reason alone, I hope the Duncans and Mannings of the world continue to win. (My favorite squeaky clean role model athlete of all, Mariano Rivera, certainly took care of his part this year.)

Well, they do play 82 games

The Knicks beat the Suns last night, 126-99. Had a 3-14 team ever previously beaten a 14-3 team, by that wide a margin before? I don't quite have the intrigue level to do this research, but I can't say it's that surprising either. With so many games on the regular season schedule - and this is even more true with baseball - it's impossible for the players to care about every one of them.

Another plea for feisty journalism

Regarding this Tiger Woods phantom "car accident" at 2 AM the morning after Thanksgiving, just outside Woods's driveway...I'm going to make the same plea to the TMZs and National Enquirers of the world, that I did to the sports media when the Bill Belichick/Patriots "Spygate" scandal was covered up by the NFL. And that plea is, Please, please keep pursuing this. Don't just let them sweep it under the rug. Of course the police aren't going to investigate further. But don't let the precious, chosen one skate here.

I really don't have a personal ax to grind against the guy. I just kind of felt pushed in the non-Tiger direction by all the worship of him that goes on. It's the same reason people find Tim Tebow or Brett Favre annoying. It's not their fault they're overexposed or gushed about. In fact, I bet if the exaggerations were dialed back maybe 10%, people could appreciate them for what they are, rather than feel like they have to push back against waves of media fawning over them. And for me, with Woods that effect is multiplied by how I don't believe golf should be paid attention as a major sport at all. (But that was another post.)

So yeah, all that...plus I simply can't stand cover-ups.

The "Zorn Face," and On Temporarily Bad vs. Perpetually Bad

Great article by Czabe today about the "Zorn Face," and the troubles of his hometown Redskins. It almost - and I stress "almost" - makes me feel better about the demise of the Giants this season.

While it's true that, as Bill Parcells used to say, you are what your record says you are, I believe there are different levels of bad in the NFL. Both the Giants and the Redskins have lost 4 games in a row and are spiraling downward. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the Giants' season is lost. But the Giants are a solid, sound organization and they have what it takes to be back in the mix soon, even if 2009 is a wash.

The Redskins on the other hand, have so many issues that it will take several years to rebuild, and that will only be possible with a change in the way things are done in management. (You then have a 4 or 5 team grouping below the Redskins, that are in such disarray it might take a decade or more to clean up, but they are not the focus of this post.)

World Champs!

It is wonderful to see the Yankees win the championship - their 27th - and their first in nine years. It seemed fitting that Pettitte started the game, Rivera came on in relief, and Jeter and Posada played prominent roles, just as it went for many playoff games as this version of the Yankees' dynasty began some 13 years ago.

It was a great series and the Phillies were worthy adversaries, but it was clear that the Yankees were the dominant team. Maybe this team will turn into another branch of the Yankee dynasty, and maybe it won't, but either way I will sure enjoy this one on its own merits.

Regarding the series itself, it is easy to second-guess a manager for decisions or moves that did not work out, but rarely do you hear praise for moves that do. So, a job well done by Joe Girardi on the Yanks' 3-man rotation working out perfectly for the duration of the playoffs.

Also, a tip of the cap to Fox for their excellent coverage. Particularly the isolation on each Yankee player with a different camera, for the final out. I thought that was a really neat touch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to listening to We Are The Champions on a loop...what was the name of the band who recorded that song again?

In bad economy, too much hubris a major turn-off

It's amazing how some businesses have the moxie to continue to charge draconian prices, or even raise them, in this economic climate. And when I say economic climate, I don't mean the one that's portrayed in the media (super-horrible worst thing ever), but the realistic one (kinda bad; not terrible, but certainly not helped by aforementioned media sensationalism).

I feel cable companies are the best example. It seems they are just begging people to yank it out of their homes. I've said this before about movie theater prices ($10 per person in this era where you could buy the DVD and watch it in high-definition forever for about that much), and it's almost stunning the amount of hubris it takes to price yourself out of a market and assume no one will leave you because they simply MUST have cable. Well not me. I recently bought a house and for the first time in over 5 years, was faced with the decision of whether or not to pay the current rate of over $50 a month for cable. I said no.

I know where technology is going. So much is online now - ABC, Fox, CBS, and NBC upload most of their prime time shows, and even some of my favorite cable shows like South Park, Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, are also available. Not to mention everything people put on Youtube. And there's Netflix. In fact, I think the only thing on cable these days that can't be worked around, is a live, cable-televised sporting event. And for that, I submit just any bar or restaurant.

One of my friends has canceled his cable service in the past few months. I have 9 friends so sure it's a small sample size, but hey, counting myself that's 20% of people I know that have said no to cable lately.

I think the backlash is delayed a bit, but in the not too distant future we're going to see record numbers of people cut down on this entertainment expense, from companies that either simply don't understand their market, or have the heap of arrogance it takes to ignore it.

Jumping the gun

At about noon yesterday during the Vikings-Steelers game on Fox, the local Phoenix affiliate, Fox 10, ran a promo for their sports show, featuring Jude LaCava.

LaCava: "Coming up on Sports Wrap Up Tonight (or whatever the exact title of the show), it's the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. We'll preview the matchup, and blah blah blah..."

Nice and accurate, except for one problem...this was a good five hours before the first pitch of Angels-Yanks ALCS Game 6 was scheduled to be thrown.

So either someone at Fox 10 has a sports almanac telling him the participants of the next 50 World Series that he traveled back in time to give himself, or Jude LaCava didn't want to come in on a Sunday so he recorded recaps of several different versions of things that could happen.

I'm reminded of the old SNL skit where Dana Carvey plays Tom Brokaw, and Brokaw wants to go away for the summer and has to record all kinds of news stories with crazy scenarios, just in case. "Former President Gerald Ford dead today...mauled by a circus lion in a convenience store."

Pro athletes to the rest of us: "Don't try this at home."

Something I don't recommend is timing yourself in either the 100 meters, or 40 yard dash. You'll only be disappointed to find that you're a lot slower than you think you are. It happened to me this fall, as I began getting ready for what I vaguely call "Sports Season" - the time in Arizona spanning approximately mid-October to late-March, when people can actually perform physical activity outdoors, including sports if they care to organize them.

I felt pretty good going out to my local Community College track and field facility to time myself. I even felt fast as I tore up the track. I looked at my cell phone (it has a stop watch function - fancy!), expecting a 100 meter time in the high 11s or low 12s. (Not in the 10s though - I'm not that delusional.) Then I saw it: 14.2 seconds. What a wake up call. In fairness, it was my first sprint in many months, and I have since gotten my 100 time all the way down to 13.5. But man, that pales in comparison to people who run fast for a living. I'm not even going to publicize my 40 time, but rest assured, it's slower than any NFL lineman.

My immediate reaction was to be embarrassed and disappointed, but then I realized a few things that made me feel better. One, NFL players are among the best athletes in the world. Two, even the 300-pound linemen are fast; they only appear slow compared to the breathtaking speed of the running backs, receivers, defensive backs, and most linebackers. Three, these men's whole existence revolves around being fast. It's their career. Of course they are genetically gifted, but they also devote their livelihood to sports. If any of us were put in a scenario where we could quit our jobs and just focus on running the 40 for a while, I'm sure we would all get a little faster.

So, this Sunday when I settle in to watch football, I'll be reminded of just how wide the gap is between professional athletes and the average guy. And I'll just be satisfied to be as fast as the friends with whom I play sports.

Whew!

What a relief, as the Yankees escaped last night with a 2-0 series lead over the Twins. I think Joe Girardi made a couple of questionable managerial decisions in the game (waiting too long to bring in Rivera, and letting Damaso Marte anywhere near the mound in the playoffs), but those were masked by the dramatic, clutch homers by Rodriguez in the 9th and Teixeira in the 11th.

A sweep sure would be nice. It would remind me of the kind of confidence I had in this team in the late 90s when they'd match up with Texas in the first round and I'd say, "Yeah, they'll take care of these chumps, no problem." In first rounds since, they've either had to sweat it out (Oakland 2001, Minnesota 2004), or were outright upset by a lesser team (Anaheim 2002, Anaheim 2005, Detroit 2006, Cleveland 2007).

Of course, the Angels concern me bigtime, as the Yanks can't seem to beat them even when they are the better team, and the Angels are leading Boston 2-0.

So maybe this newfound Yankee playoff confidence will be short-lived. But, that's what makes playoff baseball so exciting - as Czabe says, it's more random than a game of plinko.