Friday, January 30, 2009
A "Low Budget" Flashback
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Shaq Man Love Incident Effects Caron Butler's Thinking
I know it's only a couple of guys, from an individual standpoint, that have done what I've done over the course of the last couple of years -- Kobe Bryant, myself and LeBron James. I know that team winning percentage [is important], but if you're going to reward an individual, I should be on that team.
Again, I think Caron is great. But, he isn't Kobe or LeBron. And, we all know the Wizards aren't the Lakers or the Cavaliers.
A Third Super Team Arrives in Tampa
Here are two articles on the situtation. The first is from the AP and is very news like. Read it here. The second is from The St. Petersburg Times. It digs a little further into the "business" aspects of Tampa's adult entertainment scene, discussing cover charges & escort services and even quotes a pole dance instructor named Nikita Cash and the publisher of NightMoves magazine. Read that article here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Quickies
Second, in the first of two of music related items that are VERY different, Texas country singer Amber Digby talks to Country Standard Time about her new CD. Read about it here. The piece includes the cut "We're the the Kind of People (Who Make the Jukebox Play)".
Finally, in a clip from one of the best music documentaries ever made, The Road to Memphis, Bobby Rush performs "I Ain't Studdin' Ya" with help from his lovely dancers.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Q & A With Frank Howard from Nationals.com
Frank Howard is the subject in one of my favorote photographs. The picture is of Howard kneeling in the on deck circle at RFK Stadium, wiping away the sweat on a hot & humid D.C. summer night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the photo, which was taken by a Washington Post photographer, anywhere on the internet to be able to include it in this post.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Shedd on D.C. Music Starts Here
The Thrillbillys' anniversary started me to thinking about doing some blog posts on the D.C. music scene, so here is the first one in what will hopefully be an ongoing series. There will be plenty more on the Thrillbillys, the Grille, other bands and other venues in coming weeks and months, but for now you can whet your appetite with this clip of the Nighthawks during the days of their classic line up; Mark Wenner, Jimmy Thackery, Pete Ragusa and Jan Zukowski.
Good and Bad Times for Former Redskin Ryan Clark
Monday, January 19, 2009
Quickies
Other 2009 class members include Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C. and Bobby Womack. Elvis Presley band members Bill Black and D.J. Fontana will be inducted as part of the Sidemen category as will Spooner Oldham.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sign of the Apocalypse
I don't know what turned my stomach more, hearing those tidbits or seeing the concert crowd shots where thousands of mindless lemmings were singing along with Carey with all their hearts.
Snyder & Cerrato Ready to Star in Smokey & the Bandit Remakes
These movies will be set on a football field as Big & Litltle Enos Burdette, played by Snyder and Cerrato, wager large contracts to a long line of coaches playing the Bandit. The wager to Norv Turner, Marty Shottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs & Jim Zorn is the coach can turn around a franchise that Snyder destroyed and continues to meddle in while not ruining the coaches' individual reputation.
Rumor has it this was the lone creative project to come from Snyder's brief joint venture into Scientology with Tom Cruise. Meanwhile, Shedd's Spot has learned there is no truth to the rumor former senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson has signed on to play Sheriff Buford T. Justice.
(Pictured at the top are the original Big & Enos Burdette as played by Pat McCormick and Paul Williams. Just above are the new Burdettes, Snyder and Cerrato.)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Why are the Eagles in the Playoffs and the Redskins Sitting at Home? Two Word Answer...Akeem Jordan
There's no need to recount the many free agent signings and bad trade busts the Redskins have made during the Snyder regime. (Plus, I don't have the time to write a blog entry the supposed length of the Redskins 200,000 person season ticket waiting list.) But, it easy to assess the Redskins' basic problem, especially in comparison to the teams that are competitive on a year to year basis. Teams like the Steelers, the Patriots and, yes, the Philadelphia Eagles.
These organizations continue to build the core of their team through player scouting, the draft and player development. Then, these teams use an occasional big name signing to help them take the final step toward a deep run in the playoffs (e.g. the Patriots signing of Randy Moss). While the Redskins continue wallow away in the glitz of free agent signings, trading away mid round draft picks for busts, and drafting flash over substance in the early rounds of the draft (two WRs in the 2008 draft), teams such as the Eagles are scouting colleges at every leval and in every area of the country and signing players like Akeem Jordan.
The Philadelphia Eagles signed LB Akeem Jordan in the days following the 2007 NFL Draft as undrafted free agent rookie out of James Madison. Jordan made the Eagles' roster at the end of training camp, but days later was cut by the team and then signed to their practice squad. Jordan remained on the Eagles' practice squad for the the first half of the 2007 season, earning the practice squad salary of $5000 per week.
When the Eagles' linebacking corps was decimiated by injuries in the second half of the 2007 season, Jordan was promoted to the active roster. He immediately exceled on special teams and, because of even more Eagles injuries, he was starting at outside linebacker by the final game of the season.
Jordan made the the Eagles' 2008 roster as the Eagles' fourth linebacker and as a speacial teams standout. During mid-season, Eagles coach And Reid and Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson decided to shake things up in their defense and benched starter Omar Gaither in favor of the quicker Akeem Jordan. Jordan has started since then and should start Sunday as the Eagles take on the Cardinals for the NFC Championship.
Now, obvisously one linebacker from a Division I-AA school, making the league minimum salary, is not the reason the Eagles have a top three defense this year and are competitive most every year. But, when you team Jordan with two mid round draft picks at the other linebacker spots, you begin to see a trend. The Eagles also start Chris Gocong and Stewart Bradley at linebacker. Gocong and Bradley were both 3rd round draft picks in 2006. Bradley was drafted out of Nebraska, while Gocong came from Caly Poly-SLO, of all places.
On the surface, when and where a player comes from may all seem irrelevant. But, when you dig into the financial and salary cap aspects of it, it's an entirely different ball game. The 2008 base salaries for the Eagles starting LB corp are:
Stewart Bradley $370,000
Chris Gocong $445,000
Akeem Jordan $370,000
The total you ask? As Big Enos Burdette once said in Smokey and the Bandit, "chicken sh*t money" of $1,185,000.
Meanwhile, Dan Snyder, who thinks himself to be the Big Enos Burdette of the NFL (I guess that makes Vinny Cerrato Little Enos), is paying the Redskins' linebackers base salaries of:
Marcus Washington $4,4250,000
London FLetcher $1,240,000
Rocky McIntosh $445,000
Those total base salaries of $6,110,00, bought the Redskins one certified bad a** (Flectcher), one nice guy who is on his last leg...literally (Washington), and a young player who was benched mid game during a loss to the Bengals (McIntosh).
The comparison of the two teams linebacking corps is even more shocking where the rubber meets the road, the salary cap. The Eagles trio of LBs comes in at:
Stewert Bradley $541,000
Chris Gocong $644,630
Akeem Jordan $1,476,360
Even with Jordan receiving other bonuses, which are not signing bonuses, the Eagles cap number is $2,661,990.
Out at Redskins Park, Big and Little Enos Burdette had to work out the salary cap issues with a linebacking group who had these cap numbers:
Marcus Washington $6,445,416
London Fletcher $3,440,000
Rocky McIntosh $ 1,520,000
That's a not so chicken sh*t total of $11,405416, or over four times the salary cap charge the Eagles are taking for their three starting LBs.
So Redskins fans, feel free to brood over the reality that is the Snyder led Redskins as you watch Akeem Jordan from "little James Madison" (as John Madden used to say about Gary Clark) play in his first NFC championship game. And, try to forget the Eagles are playing in their fifth NFC championship game since 2001.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
What Shedd Knows that Apparently the Nationals Don't
I read this morning Nationals OF Elijah "Put Up Your" Dukes owes his estranged wife NiShea Dukes over $40,000 in back child support. Dukes was in court in Tampa yesterday and was given until January 23rd to pay up or face 90 days in jail.
Dukes has kept his nose (and hopefully, his "bat") relatively clean since he landed in D.C. last spring. Yes, there was the excessive celebration problem against the Mets and the yelling match with Nats' manager Manny Acta, but in the entire scheme of thing, those flare ups are minor compared to him sending a picture of a gun to estranged wife's cell phone with the caption "you dead dawg".
In regards to Dukes court appearance, Nats GM Jim Bowden released a statement saying the Nationals have "kept abreast of Elijah Dukes' financial situation through his advisors, agents and attorneys." With that said, either Dukes or the Nationals should hire me as an "advisor" and here is why.
Apparently, no one involved in this situation has heard the words "wage garnishment". Having been the controller of a pest control company for 18 months, I had the displeasure of withholding plenty of child support from plenty of paychecks. There aren't too many industries with more shady characters than the pest control industry and a lot of those guys acted as if the never heard of the words "rubber", "raincoat", "jim hat" or "condom". In fact, I wish I had dollar for each time I got a complaint about one of those garnishments that was followed by a sentence that started with "my baby's mama" and ended with a word that begins with a "b".
So, my beloved Nationals, take my advice and get over your fear of Elijah Dukes ripping the front office apart and just withhold the child support directly from his paycheck. We'll all be better for it.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Third Person Hall of Famer
This week it was announced Rickey Henderson will be joining Jim Rice as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2009. In my book, Rickey was already in one Hall of Fame, my personal Illeism Hall of Fame. He joined Leon from the Budweiser commercials of a few years past in the innaugural class immediately after I heard Kevin Towers recount the story mentioned above during a story on Henderson in an epsisode of HBO's Real Sports.
Now, there are more Rickey speaking in the third person stories than there are children fathered by Shawn Kemp, but this one has always been my favorite. While playing for an independent minor league team in a comeback effort shortly before hanging up his spikes for good, Henderson was heard saying:
Last night, I dropped down on my knees and I asked God, 'Why are you doing this to Rickey? Why did you put me here?'
Who knows if Rickey's questions were ever answered. But, it's good to know there is at least one person who Rickey thinks more highly of than himself.
I have to admit I didn't care for Rickey too much when he was playing. Actually, I hated him. When I was younger, I thought the hatred was driven by his attitude. But now as I look back, I think the hatred was driven by all the time Rickey spent in the pinstripes of the Yankees. Being an Orioles fan throughout most of Henderon's career, I disliked all thing Yankees. (I have to say now that I'm a Nationals fan that feeling hasn't subsided.)
A friend of mine who grew up in the the Bay Area, and who now is Shedd's Spot west coast bureau chief, once tried to convince me Rickey Henderson was the fifth best baseball player of all time. If I remember correctly, my friend had Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron ahead of Rickey. My reaction at the time was "no f**ckin' way". My friend has recently admitted to me he may been "overzealous in that argument" regarding Rickey's standing among all the all time greats. But, I think both my friend and I agree Rickey Henderson is possibly the all time best in the field of illeism.
If you would like to know more about Rickey Henderson's exploits, both on and off the field, read this 2005 piece from The New Yorker.
And finally, in a case of "if it's on internet, it's gotta be true", the Wikipedia entry on Rickey Henderson says he was named after Ricky Nelson. I wonder if Henderson has a sister named Mary Lou?
Monday, January 12, 2009
Quickies
Thursday, January 8, 2009
January 8th Happenings: National Debt Was Once $0 and a Former National Retires
Shedd's Spot's west coast bureau forwarded this news to the home office today. Former Nationals pitcher John Patterson has annouced his retirement. Patterson showed glimpes of greatness during the Nationals innaugural season in 2005, but injuries have hampered his career since then. Read more about it here.
Long Live the King...and Esau Smith
(I spent a few days this past September in Memphis. You can read my travel blog entries about my visit to Graceland here and here.)
So, please wish both Elvis and Esau Smith a big happy birthday!
If you are curious as to Esau Smith is, read my second travel blog entry on Graceland. You may find it very interesting.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Who In The Hell Is This Honky Bitch?
Among the many albums Chapman has released over the span of her 30+ year career is It's About Time...Recorded Live at the Tennessee State Prison For Women, although the CD almost had an entirely different title.
In 1993, Chapman accepted a four year old invitation from the prison's warden to play a concert for the inmates. Although the inmates had no idea who Chapman was at the time, she recorded the concert to release as a CD. Microphones were set up in the audience prior to the concert to record the inmates' reactions during the show. The engineer started rolling tape as the inmates filed in. When Chapman listened to the playback of the tape the first time, she heard an inmate utter, before the show, the words which were almost the CD's title, "Who in the hell is this honky bitch?"
Mexico's Grand Warlock Predicts U.S. Troop Build Up on the Mexican Border as the U.S. Looks to Expand into Mexico
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Musical Oddity
At first I thought it funny a rocker such as Baird would cover "Dancing Queen", but then I rememberd the Georgia Satellites' hits, Baird's "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and their cover of "Hippy Shake", weren't exactly known as literature set to music. In fact, when the Satellites attempted to move away from such songs and toward Baird's more serious compositions, the band fell from the public eye. During an interview after the glory days of the Georgia Satellites, Baird said
The most gratifying and shameful moment of that whole experience was at the Indiana State Fair. Some woman came up to me and said, "I love that "huggie-kissie" song you do. My two year old dances every time we see it on CMT." I knew then that I had reached the lowest common denominator.
Maybe when you feel you've already hit the lowest common denominator, singing "Dancing Queen" doesn't seem so bad.
More info on the Yayhoos can be found here:
http://www.yayhoos.com/
And yes, the aforementioned Hillbilly Jim is the Hillbilly Jim who once wrestled in the WWF.
Congratulations to My Friend Steve Tuttle
http://www.newsweek.com/id/150240/
and see the entire list here:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/176822
Unfortunately, none of Steve's other pieces, including the ones on the electorate in Appalachia and Steve's personal battle with cancer, made the list. But, the Crocs piece did generate thousands of comments on the Newsweek website, including a few which were marriage proposals. Steve, good luck with your Newsweek pieces in 2009.
It's a New Day in Washington...and It's Not What You Think
The 111th Congress will feature a Senate Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and not by Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia. After serving on the Committee since 1989, Byrd succumbed to pressure from Democratic leaders this past November and gave up the Committee chairmanship. On the surface, this may not seem much. But, in many ways, it's comparable to taking a child out of a candy store.
Byrd's long record of bringing pork barrel projects to West Virginia has been documented dozens of times over. It seems you can't swing a dead cat or, more appropriately, a dead road kill deer anywhere in West Virginia without hitting something named after Senator Byrd. My favorite Byrd project I've read about is the Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center. If you search the internet for information on the Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, you'll find dozens of articles on Byrd's long history of pork projects, but very little on what the Center actually does.
Now, I have to admit to being somewhat of a hypocrite in criticizing Byrd's pet projects. My parents moved back to West Virginia twelve years ago and I use the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System every time I visit them. Byrd's road projects have brought transportation to and from West Virginia light years forward from the awful crooked two lane roads that never failed to make me car sick every time my parents dragged me to West Virginia back when I was a kid.
Although Senator Byrd is best known for his pork barrel projects, he is also known for his ego, his somewhat checkered past and his attempts at fiddle playing. Byrd has been known to refer to himself as "Big Daddy" and, as recently as last summer, was shown on a national news program bragging about the number of pork projects he has brought to West Virginia.
As to his past, prior to his election to the House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan and had been elected Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. (And all this time, I thought the only Exalted Cyclops in the Klan was John Goodman's character in Oh Brother Where Art Thou.)
Byrd and his fiddle have made numerous appearances throughout the years. He has sawed away on Hee Haw, at the Grand Ole Opry and even at the Kennedy Center, all the while playing up his image as a true West Virginian. My dad recently told me I saw the good senator sitting in with a distant cousin's bluegrass band back in the 70's. I don't remember it, but then again, how many nine year olds would pay attention to a fiddling senator?
Now 91, in poor health, and the longest serving Senator in the country's history, Robert C. Byrd doesn't play his fiddle much anymore. And beginning January 5, 2009, he won't have the country's purse strings to play much with either.