HopsGuy

My father never had to raise a hand. Seriously, he had to yell a few times, but most of the time a stern glare would straighten me out. I'll have to ask him how he perfected that.

I ended up staying in town this weekend. I was at Dicey Riley's both nights, but didn't have the energy to make it to the game. At 1:10 PM I was wishing I was there. At 4:30, I was glad to be safe on my couch.

Did you know that her name means "Fresh"? Yowza.

I've had that handle since 1998. It was a school night. The beers were $6.50. I'm getting old. The drycleaners lost my tux. A friend came in from out of town. There was a terrible flood. Locusts! I swear, it wasn't my fault!!! Yadda Yadda Yadda. I'll go to more games during the week knowing that a ticket can be had so cheap. The arena is about 2 miles from my place, so there's no reason not to go. The Sabres will be here in a few weeks.

Things are tough for NHL Hockey in South Florida. Yesterday, my buddy emailed me with a promotion that the Panthers/Ticketmaster had for last night's game against the Caps. FREE TICKETS!!! Even with the TM extra overcharges, 4 tickets came to a total of $5.55. We parked across the street from the Bank Atlantic Center, so no parking charge there. Of course as we walked up, there were several people selling extras below face. I was figuring our seats would be nose-bleeders, but we were in row 14 right behind the goal. It was a decent game: 3-2 Panthers with furious play in the last minute, with Luongo making a great save with 20 seconds to go. I averaged one beer/period, but alas, was not one of the games 3 stars. The reported attendance (per today's Sun-Sentinel) was 10,092, but there was no way there were more than 6000 people there. I would think it was closer to 4000. The A/C was set for a full house, so I was freezing in 50 degree (un)comfort. If they're giving away tickets, this sport is in some serious trouble. The price they want for tickets is way out of whack with the fan base. The front row is $250, rows 2-4 are $150. Who pays these prices? Not me.

In the spirit of the season, here are some lines from "Rudolph" that sound dirty, but really aren't: Head Elf: What's eatin' ya, boy? Santa: Every year I shine up my Jingle Bells. Rudolph: Why don't I fit in? Mrs. Claus: Papa! Eat! Eat! Donner: This is man's work. Yukon Cornelius: You eat what you like, I'll eat what I like. King Moonracer: A toy is never truly happy until it is loved. Hermie: C'mere, open your mouth. Yukon Cornelius: Here's the man, and here's the beast! ----------------------------------------------- I know, I know... I'm going to hell.

Ah yes Blondies. The have lots of small, poor quality televisions. There's a big game room in the back. At least they have a generator, so they're the only place open during the frequent hurricanes that hit South FL. I haven't seen anyone with a 'bomb' in a while, but they generally have the cheapest draft beer on the beach. Good place to get a cold one after spending some time in the sand, but I still prefer the Elbo Room.

We know where you go PHAN, but I gotta think mackey is looking for a different crowd. Mackey - You're walking distance from Beach Place. Just head north on A1A. You'll pass The Elbo Room at the corner of A1A & Las Olas. This is one of the great all-time dive bars Keep going north for Beach Place. Lots of bars on the 2nd & 3rd floors (Max's Grille, Hooter's, LuLu's Bait shack, Sloppy Joe's). Another option is the Himmarshee district. There are quite a few bars to choose from there. My favorite is Dicey Riley's. Tarpon Bend & Side Bar are good, too. Capone's & Max's (both Beach Place and downtown) have 3/1 happy hours on Friday 'til 7. Some of the others might be able to tell you about the Bills fans party at Shooters (Oakland Park & the Intracoastal). I think you need a ticket for that. I'm out of town this weekend, so I'll be missing the festivities.

Bruschi has more hits that the Beatles!

Here. Have fun with this. Family Guy clips.

"Doncha be bringin' dat Kool-Aid into a Gin partay!!!" - Scott Van Pelt (formerly of the Golf Network)

Mechanic: Looks like you blew a seal. Penguin: No-no. It's just ice cream.

Hate to correct you Deano, but the question is: How many penguins does it take to cover a doghouse? And the answer... Purple, because ice cream has no bones.

Strangely enough, I'll be out of town. I have a feeling that I won't miss much at the game, although Shooters will probably be a pretty good time.

Adam Duritz is the man. There should be a statue of that guy somewhere.

A guy called into the Paul & Young Ron Show (Morning Zoo of South FL) to tell the guys that he was at the Wiggles show here yesterday. He said that Shaq was there with his kids. They asked him if he talked to Shaq. He replies, "The guy sat down in front of us. He then turned to my wife and asked, 'Can you see?'".

About 10 years ago, Shredd & Ragan did a TV theme song CD for charity. Buffalo bands did their favorite theme songs. I have it lying around somewhere. Songs on it I remember: Unkown Stuntman (Fall Guy) I'll be There for You (Friends); Goo Goo Dolls did this one Theme from Maude Movin' on Up (The Jeffersons); This one is on there a couple of times Those Were The Days (All in the Family); John Valby and Edge DJ Kit Missle Theme from The Banana Splits Both themes from WKRP in Cincinnati Cheers Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard Instumental Theme from Barney Miller There's a bunch more that I'm forgetting.

So you're in favor of moving the Saints to Las Vegas?

How about, "Will you excuse me for a second? My cell phone is ringing. [Glances at cell phone] Oh, never mind. It's RW calling to ask what to do. I'll let it go to voice mail."

I would say the most surprising thing here is that Cleveland isn't in this list. I would have thought you could have put the Mistake at #3. Tampa and Cincinnati are interesting because the suffered for so long. I guess on Sundays a lot of TVs in DC are examining the tape of the morning political shows. Does Miami have a team?

[bart returns unexpectedly after being sentenced to death] Charlie: They said you was hung. Bart: And they was right.

Since there's no risk, I don't see how you could possibly pass this up. Actually, you could probably have some fun with it. Or foward it to that ebola monkey guy.

Ralph would be against that. He's a big proponent of warm weather tourist venues for the Super Bowl. I'm of the mind that you can sell out the game if you play it on a flat surface in ANWR. NFL players will play in any weather. The thing is, the Super Bowl is more than a game these days as the NFL turns it into an "experience". Gotta have nice venues for the parties. Lately, the NFL has been rewarding those teams that have built new stadiums (or made significant improvements (Hou, Jax, Det). Rico brings up the very important point of hotels. Southern tourist cities usually have plenty of rooms. After that, you need a decent stadium which brings us back to the new stadium thing. I'm sure folks are still a bit nonplussed about the game being in Detroit, but I've heard something about this. A friend of mine used to bartend at a hotel in Miami. When the game was there in Jan '95 his place was housing all sorts of media-types. He ended up getting chummy with a dude that worked for the Lions. This guy was in charge of the logistics for the media every year as well as the liason to the network. He was good at it, so they have him do it evey year. Apparently, a few of the Detroit people are always part of the show, so that might be part of the deal for Detroit getting the game. Of course, they have the only new domed stadium up north, so that's part of it, too. BTW, my buddy scored a couple of tickets for the game. I think you can rotate it between these places, and be just fine: Miami San Diego New Orleans (when/if they make it back) Phoenix (when they get a new stadium) Tampa Las Vegas (in my dreams) Of course, I'd love to see people tailgating for a SB at Buffalo, Green Bay, Cleveland, KC, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston or even ANWR (fire up the grill... we've got fresh caribou!!!) but that just ain't gonna happen.

I stopped watching the year after Clooney left (he was in the last episode where Juliana Margulies met him in Seattle). I think that was '99. I saw where Alan Alda was on it like a year later. He's now on "The West Wing", which put on the water skis the year after Aaron Sorkin left. The CSIs and Law & Order(s) tend to focus on single plot lines rather than characters. These dramas are rarely any good after 5 years, with the possible exception of "NYPD Blue". Of course, in my opinion, nothing will ever touch "Homicide: Life on the Street".

The latest edition of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" will include a chapter on gunplay.