Tuesday, December 18, 2007

STEROIDS AND THE BLAME GAME!!!!

Before we get going here, let's agree to agree on something.

Big Mac and Sammy saved baseball. Along with a little help from "The Chicks Love The Long Ball" ads.

When Big Mac and Sammy had their big home run battle going on, baseball was trying to recover from a strike that had a lot of baseball fans thinking seriously about not being baseball fans anymore. "America's Pastime"? Because of the strike (along with things that had been building up), many people were sarcastically referring to baseball as "America's Past It's Time"!

And along came Big Mac and Sammy. The big ol' Paul Bunyan guy and the other guy who had a smile that was big time infectious.

BANG, BOOM, POW!!! The chicks who were lovin' the long ball were dancin', baseball's turnstiles were whirrin' and....?

Here's what I remember from that magical season. Announcer Joe Buck hugging Big Mac after he hit one of his (then) history making home runs.

Major League baseball is a small fraternity, folks. The fact that two guys were becoming home run record breakers was not going unnoticed by the other players. This was more than unbelievable! And other players wanted to know how they could improve their "game".

WHERE WERE BASEBALL'S ANNOUNCERS, SPORTS TALK HOSTS AND BASEBALL'S BEAT WRITER'S WHILE (all of a sudden) A LOT OF PLAYERS BEGAN TO GET BIGGER?!?

Yeah, I remember the guy who found the Andro in Big Mac's locker, but other than that?!?

I live in Los Angeles and right here in our own back yard, writers and broadcasters couldn't see how big a lot of Angel and (especially) Dodger players were getting?

We have Hall of Fame writers and broadcasters covering these two teams and we're supposed to believe they're all blind?!?

Okay...without proof, these guys would be asking for trouble if they publicly made accusations against players, but did any of them do any investigating?!?

Yes they did. As soon as Barry Bonds got bigger! He wasn't friendly. In fact, he was surly. Writers (except for the ones in San Francisco) loved to comment about Bonds' expanding foot and head sizes along with other parts of his anatomy.

They couldn't see (just to name two) what had happened to Eric Gagne and Roger Clemens?!?

Look, getting to cover a major league baseball team and having the privilege of access to major league ballplayers and having them call you by your first name in front of your peers or on a broadcast you're hosting is a "rush". It's one of the reasons a lot of people get into that business.

"Rock the boat" and you might not have that access anymore.

I'm now going to tell you how they could have avoided possible legal problems or access problems and still (in a subtle way) made a point.

Example: Most of the sports columnists and broadcasters think they know how to be funny. And some of them actually do! Why didn't someone do a column or a radio or television riff on a player (say Eric Gagne) who had gotten bigger than big and then made comments about how he (the broadcaster or columnist) would sure like to know how (say Eric Gagne) had done what he did so he (the broadcaster or columnist) could include that in the diet of his (the broadcaster's or columnist's) son who wanted to be a major league baseball player one day.


ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

First of all, can we end this writer's strike, please?!? This has become a lousy Christmas season for a lot of people!!!

DEXTER'S SEASON FINALE:

If you haven't watched Showtime's "Dexter", you have missed some terrific television. Season two ended this past Sunday night, and it wrapped up things in the stylish way that has become this show's signature way of doing things. I loved season one, but I thought that season two got off to a slow start which made me believe we had a "one hit wonder" on our hands. Man, was I wrong about that!!! I can (now) hardly wait for season three!

"I AM LEGEND":

I saw "I Am Legend" yesterday. This is the new film starring (Mr. Box Office) Will Smith.

I wanted to like this move a lot! I didn't.

"I Am Legend" isn't a bad movie. It just isn't as good as I'd thought it would be. I'll tell you this. I certainly agree with the New York Times critic who said (something like) the dog in the film makes you understand why we have leash laws. And when you see the film you'll understand that observation as well. And I do recommend that you see "I Am Legend", but don't sit down expecting more than it is. Which is an entertaining film.

THE NEXT BLOG???

I don't think it'll be another twelve days before I write another one, but I am still working on projects that are taking more time than I thought they would. When I do write the next one, at least one of the subjects will be about something that makes me say, "Whaaaat?!?"

Thursday, December 06, 2007

YOU'RE AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT!!! AFTER YOU GET HERE, YOU DECIDE TO HAVE CHILDREN!!! WHY?!?

One of my very favorite writers is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Timothy Rutten. He writes a page one Calendar section column that appears every Saturday. It is must reading for me.

In Rutten's column Saturday, December 1st, he chided CNN for asking Republican presidential candidates so many questions about illegal immigration, because (according to Rutten and some polls he cited) most folks don't care about illegal immigration.

Say, WHAT?!?

I've written letters to Rutten before about columns I liked and he's been kind enough to write back. I thought about writing him a letter about the CNN column, but instead, I've decided to write a new blog item about this subject on what is now, close to 2 o'clock in the morning on December 6th.

A lot of people will tell you about how valuable illegal immigrants are to our economy and anyone who takes shots at children being born to parents of illegal immigrants is, among other things, "A hard hearted meanie!!"

Seeing as how the issue of a law being broken doesn't matter to people who defend illegal immigrants and who find nothing wrong with illegal immigrants giving birth to children which automatically gives legal citizenship to these children, I'm going to tell you what I think is wrong with the labor and children arguments.

First of all, when you're an illegal immigrant, you're a lawbreaker. Unless the immigration laws are changed, illegal immigrants are criminals.

With all due respect to Timothy Rutten, a man I have a lot of respect for, I don't believe the polls he's reading that indicate most folks don't care about illegal immigration. People who say that are the same kind of people who say they support the war in Iraq because they don't want the person who's taking the poll to think they're "Unpatriotic!" or in the case of illegal immigrants, "A hard hearted meanie!"

Let's talk about how beneficial illegal immigrants are to our economy. They're supposedly doing work that American citizens won't do. Do you think that a big reason a lot of American citizens won't do these jobs might be because illegal immigrants will do these jobs for very low wages and then offset those wages by gaming the school systems for free education for children they gave birth to and by gaming hospitals for themselves and their children because the way our laws are set up, no one can be turned down, legal or illegal?

If we didn't have all these illegal immigrants, needed work would still have to be done, but at wages that would be much higher meaning that legal citizens still wouldn't do this work?

Give me a bleepin' break!!!

Businesses benefit by paying on the cheap. The rest of us get screwed because of the lower wages, crowded schools, crowded hospitals and something else no one talks about.

Crowded streets and freeways! Meaning that streets and freeways need to be repaired more often.

And here's something else no one talks about.

Our population is growing too fast! All these illegals are jamming us up, folks!

Now let's talk about this children of illegal immigrants business in plain English.

After crossing the border illegally, the person doing the crossing has become an illegal immigrant. After they get here, many (if not most) decide to have children!!!

Why?!?

Because of a stupid law, children born to illegal immigrants are automatically American citizens. When an illegal immigrant is discovered and deportment procedures are underway, supporters of illegal immigrants come out of the woodwork and claim we're being heartless because by deporting the illegal immigrants, we're breaking up families!!!

Short Commentary: What a load of CRAP!!! You're here illegally and you get caught. You have children that were born here after you arrived. You're about to be deported. Your children aren't required to stay here! If you want to maintain your family, go back to where you came from and take your children with you!!!

I mean, am I the only one who understands this?!?

No I'm not. And that's why polls indicating that most Americans don't care about illegal immigration are just as accurate as those bogus intelligence reports telling us there were "Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq"! Or how about, "Iraq had something to do with 9/11!" and that "Iran is building nuclear weapons that might result in the beginning of World War III!".

On a radio station in 2005, I stated the feeling that illegal immigration would be the number one subject in the 2008 elections. I didn't consider the amount of money our soon (but not soon enough) to be retired President Bush was spending on a stupid war and on other things that have enriched (mostly) the privileged. When people go to do their voting in less than a year from now, don't be surprised if the primary issues are the economy, illegal immigration and the war in Iraq. What makes that prediction particularly pathetic is that I didn't include health care as one of the top three issues. For you see, if we weren't in Iraq and we were serious about illegal immigration, the economy would be much better and that would mean we'd have enough money to attack the health care problem in a way it should be attacked.

I rest my case.

Comments are always welcome by sending them to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net


THE TELEVISION SHOW KNOWN AS "GOSSIP GIRL"!!!

I call your attention to the December 10 issue of TV Guide. Page 38. "5 Things We Love About GOSSIP GIRL".

I agree with all five of the things they love, but I'm only going to mention the essence of what is number 1, "It's the smartest ensemble this side of Fashion Week". They list the main characters and so will I.

Women first. Blake Lively as Serena, Leighton Meester as Blair, Taylor Momsen as Eve and Kelly Rutherford as Serena's hot mom.

The men are played by Chace Crawford as Nate, Ed Westwick as Chuck, Penn Badgley as Dan and Matthew Settle plays Dan's hot dad.

Serena and Dan are dating and they are adorable. Serena's mom used to date Dan's dad and it looks like they're getting hot for each other again. The other cast members mix and match based on whatever moods they're in.

This is a continuing story about very rich young people, some "outsiders" who'd like to hang with the rich kids and one particular "outsider", Dan, who'd rather not. But he relents because with Serena he's found his "dream girl". A beautiful rich girl who's also comfortable on Dan's side of the tracks.

Gossip Girl was created by Josh Schwartz. Josh Schwartz is the same guy who created The O.C.

The most recent episode of Gossip Girl was aired on the CW last night (December 5), but it won't show it's next episode until December 19.

Gossip Girl is a show that has been slow to catch on, but it's catching on now and has already been renewed for another season. I've been watching Gossip Girl since it's first episode and I love it!

TWO OTHER SHOWS I LOVE!!!

My favorite favorite television show is still Brothers & Sisters, Sunday nights on ABC. It's on a short hiatus right now, but when it returns, if you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and don't be surprised if you become as hooked as I am.

I thought the Sunday night Showtime show, Dexter got off to a slow start this season, but it was a slow start that picked up speed quickly. I thought that the first season of Dexter (last season) was off the charts good, but I think this second season of Dexter has become off the charts good-er and in case you didn't know, episodes that will air this Sunday (the 9th) and next Sunday (the 16th) will be the final two episodes of this season.


A LOS ANGELES RADIO OBSERVATION!!!

I tend to leave commentary about local radio to my good friend Don Barrett, publisher of LARadio.com.

The only radio I'm doing now is a Tuesday night thing with Joe McDonnell on KLAC, but I have more than 25 years of radio and television experience here in Los Angeles.

Because I know how tough it is to get hired at a radio or television station (especially one in Los Angeles) and because I can usually figure out why certain things are done or said by hosts or anchors, I tend to simply smile in agreement or smile while thinking, "You'll learn!"

I have also been fortunate to have worked with some of the biggest names in modern radio history. At the risk of sounding like a (to be pitied) name dropper, here are a few. Robert W. Morgan, Rick Dees, Jack Buck, Bob Costas and yeah, there are more.

I also have a little hands on knowledge regarding sports broadcasting in this city.

The (relatively) new morning host on KSPN here is someone who has recently developed an out loud attitude regarding how good he is. I mean, if you want to know how good Colin Cowherd thinks he is, all you have to do is ask him. On second thought, you don't have to ask. He'll just tell you.

I never heard Robert W. Morgan, Rick Dees, Jack Buck or Bob Costas do that. Privately? Of course they thought they were (Morgan and Buck) or are (Dees and Costas) good. Thinking that you're good (if you have the talent) helps you become that good. But I learned a long time ago that if you are lucky enough to ever be considered good in this business, it always sounds better when someone ELSE says it!

Colin Cowherd?!? Here's a news flash hoss. You might become good, but right now you're just a guy who's damn lucky to have a job that allows you to have an "OJT" privilege.

"OJT"?!? That stands for "On the job training".

THE NEXT BLOG???

I don't know. The last one was ten days ago. I'm still working on some projects, but you will always know this; When I do write the next one, at least one of the subjects will be about something that makes me say, "Whaaaat?!?"