Friday, February 24, 2006

Isn't it ironic....

I have been watching American Idol since season 3 because I enjoy music and watching the judges do their schtick. Mind you, I rarely watch it live. Without Tivo, I would have put a bullet in my brain long ago. The other reason to watch it is because my daughter Jamie loves the show and so it is quality bonding time for us. I get to see her introduced to music that she hasn't heard before and we both usually agree with each other about the performances. If the show is still on by the time she is 16 (that will be July, 2011) I have no doubt that she will seriously consider auditioning.

Watching last night's results show something struck me as ironic. The two boys and two girls that received the lowest number of viewer votes were kicked to the curb. When the judges were asked why they thought these four were cut loose the answer was invariably, "wrong song choice." Ok, makes sense. People chose songs that were too hard or above their capabilities or just didn't make them standout. Now here's the part that I love. After each of the four is given the boot, they say goodbye by singing the song that got them shitcanned in the first place. It's almost as if host Ryan Seacrest is saying "America, just in case they didn't suck loud enough for you the first time, here they are to do an encore of their failure."

Love it!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Footnote

Just in case you were worried about pretty boy A.C. Slater being unemployed by the end of ESPN Hollywood, fear not. Mario Lopez has landed a job where he probably should have always been.

Mario Lopez Added to the Cast of The Bold and the Beautiful

Whew!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

and that's that....

Bobby's drivin' through the city tonight
Through the lights in a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lovers in his heavy machine
It's a scene down on Sunset Boulevard
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye to my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye to my baby

Johnny's takin' care of things for a while
And his style is so right for troubadours
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won't be my fast gun anymore
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby

Chorus:
Movin' on is a chance that you take
Any time you try to stay together
Whoa
Say a word out of line
And you find that the friends you had
Are gone forever
Forever

So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last
Some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby

Chorus:
Movin' on is a chance that you take
Any time you try to stay together
Whoa
Say a word out of line
And you find that the friends you had
Are gone forever
Forever

So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last
Some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye, my baby


Yesterday I put all of the ESPN technology equipment on a slow truck back to Bristol. Thus ended my 8 months in Hollywood as a part of ESPN's ill fated attempt to bridge sports and entertainment. Tuesday I move back into my old building in Burbank, ironically on the 3rd floor where I first lived when I was hired by the Mouse 8 years ago. I am looking forward to the shorter commute into a better neighborhood and being closer to lots of friends. The Starbucks in the lobby is a nice plus, too.

I am torn about the end of ESPN Hollywood. I really felt like the show needed to die, much in the same way Joe Pesci deserved to be killed in Goodfellas. But once it happened ambivalence became pervasive for me. I am disappointed that my co-workers were not given a second chance in terms of retooling the show or that the show was shelved but the team kept together to produce something else. It was a great group of folks working in a tough format but with managment changes in Bristol the incoming chief of content did exactly what I would have done. The network had already spent the money for the first year of the show and we only made it six months which made the cancellation all the more surprising for many. But as I learned in college as a TV-Film major, its called the Entertainment Business. And that's all this was. A business decision. Not easy, not fair, maybe not even right, but one that someone else made and that everyone is compelled to live with. It still sucks to say goodbye to so many good people, but it was a fun experience back into TV production for this IT geek.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Home Stretch

We are almost done. The crews poured the patio, laid the tile and installed the equipment while I was gone. With this weather, we might be swimming sooner than I thought!

Almost There

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Super Time

It snowed all Saturday afternoon and evening before the game and we woke up to a nice winter dusting at the Residence Inn in Southfield. Southfield is about 20 minutes northwest of downtown Detroit and also the location on the local ESPN office. Apparently, no one lives or works in downtown Detroit and with good reason. The day after the game, downtown was barren of all life forms except for workers tearing down the Winter Blast street scene and the few straggling tourist like myself that were looking for heavily discounted souvenirs. Most stores had 50 percent off of everything so we made out pretty well for our wives and kids.

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And now the game report. Sunday morning we drove into Detroit and after some off roading and mud flying in the parking lot we went to the Centaur building to check in. Because we only had one car we had made a great contact with the head of ESPN Transportation. That morning our new best friend Trevor arranged a chauffeur driven Cadillac Escalade to pick us up and drive us over to the Rattlesnake Club for the ABC Sports/ESPN Tailgate party where I gorged myself on Merlot, Polish Sausage and lots of desert. I schmoozed with some Disney execs that I have know for years and thoroughly enjoyed an amazing gospel choir. I ran into Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas Chiefs, one of the best tight ends in the NFL, and said hi and told him he had incredible hands. Getting my coat I also said hi to Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers. Talk about a great guy, we talked about the Chargers for a good five minutes and he said that Drew Brees shoulder is doing much better and that Brees is getting ready to sign a long term contract with the club. Gates was truly a gracious and warm man and was engaging with ever fan that wanted an autograph or a picture. A true class act and I am as big a fan as ever.

Once we had our fill of the tailgate party our driver came back and dropped us off at the main security gate for the game. Most people at the party were being bussed in but here we were being limoed in. Talk about feeling like a VIP!

We walked into Ford Field at 4:00pm for a 6:25pm kickoff and the place was PACKED!

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What can I say other than we were all in awe of actually being at the game. We were all giddy as hell and Rob and I kept going back and forth with this inane conversation:

ME: "Rob, where we at?
ROB: "We're at the Super Bowl!"
ME: "How'd we get here?"
ROB: "In our chauffeur driven Cadillac Escalade!"


We would then bump chests or slap hands. Talk about two very happy campers. You couldn't wipe the shit eating grins off our faces with a cruise missile. Our seats were 21 rows from the field in the Steelers endzone between the T and the E. Directly above was the largest and clearest stadium display that I have ever seen. Anything 40 yards or closer I watched with the naked eye and the rest of the action I used the monitor. All I had to do was look up a bit. No craning my neck or anything. We were sitting in a sea of yellow Terrible Towels and since we were all rooting for Pittsburgh the experience was incredible. I was so inspired that at half time I plunked down 10 bucks for my own towel that got lots of use in the second half.

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In person the Rolling Stones were great. I heard from others that on TV the performance was not as enjoyable. Their performance really exceeded my expectations and it was as good as the other two times that I saw them live. The national anthem on the other hand was pretty bad. So was Stevie Wonder and Friends and the melody of songs that they performed. The NFL can really screw things up.

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The game itself was a fun experience. We did not have much awareness of the questionable calls until after the game when we watched the news and read the papers. I am sure it is because the calls helped the Steelers. The crowd was 90 percent Pittsburgh fans and the energy and emotion that surrounded us added to the fun. There were definitely some nervous times as well as lots of highs and lows. It may not have been a great football game, but it was exciting and we all felt very fortunate to experience a Super Bowl in person.

After the game we went to the ESPN VIP after party at the Westin Hotel in Southfield where we ate and drank more free food and desert. I hob-nobbed with more executives and told Terry Porter of ESPN that when he was with the Portland Trailblazers he used to make me crazy with his dead on shooting against the Lakers. Porter was a great guard with such a smooth shot and in person he was another genuine and appreciative man.

In all it was a long, fun and magical day. Had someone said plan the ultimate Super Bowl day, there is no way we would have come up with anything as great as what we experienced. Here is a photo of me with Rob, Cynthia and Rick at the game.

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Contrary to popular belief, we did not break Cynthia's arm for walking in front of us during the game. She actually broke her collar bone a week earlier skiing.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Rumors No More

Houston, the tickets have landed! Ever seen me so happy?

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Yesterday I mentioned that I was eating a brat while posting. Well, Johnsonville Brats are being served today on all the floors so of course I have partaked in another. I also scored one of their shirts which we used as a background to take a closeup photo of our tickets. Don't you just love the double meaning of this photo?

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The fights last night were a lot of fun. This fight is T-Rex vs. Cobra (they have real names but I couldn't tell you what they are). Cobra in the white trunks won on a 12 round majority decision. It was a fun party at the Antetheum Hotel. The fight was held in the 8th floor ballroom. There was an upstairs area above the ring where we watched the fights. We had a great birds-eye-view of the action and we were probably only 20 feet from the edge of the ring. Lots of good food and free drinks. Four time heavy weight champ Evander Holyfield was there.

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After the fight we walked back to the Centaur building and checked out the Motown Winter Blast. One of the cool (literally) parts were the ice statues of all the NFL teams' logos.

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The Minnesota Vikings' was the best one.

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It started snowing today around 1:00pm. It's colder today but the snow is not sticking. It is suppose to come down all afternoon but stop by tomorrow. It sure is beautiful.

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Shook hands with Matt Leinart of USC today and congratulated him on a great college career and wished him the best in the pros. He is almost as tall as me. Good lucking son-of-a-gun too. He will definitely be a star in the NFL.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Super Post

I have been in downtown Detroit since Monday night working in this building which used to be the Iodent Toothpaste factory.

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The downtown Detroit area is the equivalent of Los Angeles' own Coliseum area but with lots of rundown buildings or vacant lots that were buildings three months ago. Apparently the city has torn down about 75 buildings recently as part of a redevelopment effort and to prepare for the Super Bowl. I am working with 3 other ESPN employees from Bristol, CT. supporting this site for ESPN the Magazine. We are about 4 blocks from Ford Field where the game will be played. Our group has installed a wireless network, laptops and printers for ESPN staff and other vendors to use. We are supporting anyone that needs our help plus this scrolling ticker on the front of the building. On the ground floor of this building is the Centaur Bar which has been serving free drinks the last few nights. The only catch is that it must be a Miller or Absolut product. Life is rough.

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ESPN the Magazine has turned the building into a big party scene for its big NEXT issue. Several companies have taken over each 1000 square foot floor. Mobile ESPN is on 4, Gillete is on 5, Cadillac is on 6, Miller Brewing is on 7 and the Magazine is on 8. Each floor has various events happening to push their wares. Today I went to the Gillette floor and had my beard trimmed and my face shaved with the new Gillette Fusion razor by a very pretty young lady. Then I walked over to the massage area and had a great 10 minute massage. Last night we watched people get tattoos in Mobile ESPN's floor and got some good swag!

This morning when we got in Joe Montana was doing live TV interviews from the studio setup on street level. I tried to meet him but only got this picture through the glass. He did walk past me when he finished but he looked like he did not want to be bothered so I tried to respect his space.

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This morning we went over to the Renaissance Center, which is headquarters to everything Super Bowl, to get our ESPN SB credentials and one of my buddies from Bristol snapped this shot just as my daughter Kylie called me. We all agreed that I had to wear it. We saw Joe Theisman walking in with his posse and said hi to him. Cold Pizza was on live from the big atrium area. It feels really cool to be carrying ESPN credentials for this huge event. Our presence here is amazing.

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This is a photo from Comerica Park where the Tigers play. Gargoyles...we don't need no stinking Gargoyles! We have tigers eating baseballs. The facade of Comerica Park is beautiful.

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Tonight we are supposed to be going to Friday Night Fights in nearby Greektown. We have also been invited to the ESPN tailgate party on Sunday morning. And finally rumors abound that tickets have been secured for the big game. Believe it or not we are working ten to twelve hour days and climbing the stairs more than not so its not just fun and games. When we are busy we are on the run. I am eating a tasty brat as I finish this post. Scott told that I had to have brats when I got here so this one is for him. Cheers!