Why I think Dan Patrick left ESPN.

It’s been about a year now that DP has left the world wide leader to go off on his own. The move was dubbed by Rick Reily (one of DP’s friends) one of the worst moves in broadcasting history up there with Katie Couric leaving NBC Today show for CBS Evening News. And in that time he was replaced in the 12-3 time slot by Mike Tirico and Scot Van Pelt. Now they aren’t DP, but they’ve brought something fresh to that slot that DP was lacking his last few years.
Thinking bout it and looking at it where he was when he left, and now where he is. I think he made a mistake, but I think he was losing ground at ESPN, and now losing where he is at anyway. So there are a few reasons I think he left.

1-The time slot
2-The rise of Mike & Mike and Colin Cowherd
3-The loss of Rob Dibble
4-The failure of the Big Show Hour

The Time Slot.
Look where he is now. 9-11 cst. Where was he at ESPN, 12-3. He’s 3 hours earlier. He’s not in the afternoon when more work in the offices is usually being done. He’s not on the #3 tier on ESPN where what he says is being repeated for the 3rd time now. He was becoming old stale news we already heard about. This is combined with #2, but we hear a lot from Mike & Mike, Colin or local people, hearing a 4th take on something gets old. Do we need to hear another persons take on Manny, Brett Favre or Tom Brady? No. Where’s he’s now, he is usually after someone local. He’s the 1st national guy now and is more relevant but not since he’s not on ESPN.

The rise of Mike & Mike and the Herd.
Mike and Mike were big but they are bigger now. They are becoming Giants of sports radio. But they are usually over when some people get into the office. The big hurt came when Colin Cowherd came to ESPN radio replacing Tony Kornheiser. The Herd brought a new approach to the 9-12 slot and something completely opposite of Tony. Tony wasn’t all about sports, he was about life. So going Tony to DP was something fresh and not recycled. Now the Herd is there, he’s the new kid, the lil brother rising up and taking the head of the pack. When you got to DP, you heard Colin’s more definitive take and usually a take that is what the normal sports fan is thinking. I think when DP left and still now, Colin was on top of Dan.

The loss of Rob Dibble
Batman can survive with out Robin, but DP took a bit hit when he lost his sidekick. Dibble was that awkward, dumb funny guy who still knew his stuff. Dibble was one of the reasons to listen. When he was gone, the show was missing something. Phil the Showkiller couldn’t fill it himself. Dibble was as much of the show as DP was. With him gone, it was almost boring to listen to just Dan. And that brings us to….

The failure of the Big Show Hour
DP and ESPN Radio tried to recreate the sidekick part with ole buddy Keith Olberman, but Keith was no DP. Granted it was still good and for nostalgia fun to get the 2 back together. But Keith wasn’t the Keith from his ESPN Days. He’s moved on. Kinda like how Craig Kilborn has moved on. It was “cute” but it’s nothing that could have built the show back to what it was.

I think that SVP and Tirico are good replacements and SVP is just hilarious. It’s something new, and fresh, and fun. They are giving us something that the other 2 shows aren’t which makes listening to ESPN Radio fun now. You never know what is going to go on. Like SVP, Tofoya and Timmy Kurtjen talking about the Bear on the golf course at the senior open or talking about video games.

2008 NFL Predictions

NFL Predictions

AFC East
1. New England Patriots
2. Buffalo Bills
3. New York Jets
4. Miami Dolphins

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Baltimore Ravens

AFC South
1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Houston Texans
4. Tennessee Titans

AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers
2. Denver Broncos
3. Oakland Raiders
4. Kansas City Chiefs

NFC East
1. Dallas Cowboys
2. New York Giants
3. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Washington Redskins

NFC North
1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Chicago Bears
4. Detroit Lions

NFC South
1. New Orleans Saints
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Atlanta Falcons

NFC West
1. Arizona Cardinals
2. Seattle Seahawks
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. St. Louis Rams

AFC Playoffs
1. New England Patriots
2. Indianapolis Colts
3. San Diego Chargers
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Buffalo Bills

NFC Playoffs
1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Green Bay Packers
6. Seattle Seahawks

AFC Championship
Indianapolis Colts over Jacksonville Jaguars

NFC Championship
New Orleans Saints over Dallas Cowboys

Super Bowl XLIII
Indianapolis Colts over New Orleans Saints

What's going on?

Ok, so its been a few days, and a lot has happened. In my life and in what I like and follow.

First off, me. Had the month end, it sucked, had a few things that caused problems, but then again, we weren’t here till 10 pm, only 8pm. Not bad, it was longer than it really seemed. Also got an interview for a job I think that I would do good at and would advance me.

Then this week is the start of the Iowa State Fair. If you haven’t been there, put it on your list of things to do. Along with the Texas State Fair, it’s the top 2 fairs in the nation. Last night was the State Fair Parade, and Addy, Brady & Shawnna went to it with Patrick & Melissa. The all had fun and were pooped out when I got there and when we got home. It’s cool as Addy is getting older to see how she reacts to everything and as her budding personality builds more. Had Ryan & Tisha’s wedding, congrats you too. It was humid as hell but it was a lot of fun. Addy is calling Tisha and Ryan the Prince and Princess and just wants to see the Princess. That pretty much covers most of what’s going on. I’ve missed working out with Jason because of our schedules and then he only having 1 car. Hopefully we can get back on our schedule of T-Th-Sat again soon. I see it prob being at 5am rather than later though.

Ok, other stuff. Brett Favre isn’t a Packer any more. He’s a J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS. I heard Chris Mortensen and he thinks because of this move that he thinks the Jets are a playoff team now, I don’t see it. In the AFC you have the Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Steelers, Jaguars, Browns, Bengals, Bills, Texas, and Titans who are all going to be fighting for the spots, and I think all of those teams are better than the Jets. I love the OL they have and Thomas Jones, but Favre is a year older, new team and new system.

Mediacom still has no Big Ten Network. Iowa plays in 23 days; I hope and pray that a deal will be struck soon! Please!!!

2 fantasy drafts coming up in the next month, can’t wait, can you smell the tailgating!

Can I get traded to Microsoft or Google?

Today is a big day in the world of the MLB, trade deadline. Actually its not really, its MLB’s 2nd Hallmark Holiday (1st being the All-Star Game) because some how from now to the end of the season, players will still get traded, pass waivers or end up on different teams. So like most MLB news, it’s over blown. But this year there are a couple big names that could be or already are traded.

2 players with 400+ homers could be traded. 1st Ken Griffey Jr. #6 All-Time on the HR list, 1 behind Sammy Sosa, has been traded from Cincinnati to the Chicago White Sox ( if he agrees ) in a trade that has been mentioned for what seems likes 10 years now. The White Sox probably get better but will it be enough to hold off the Twins and Tigers?

The next is Manny Rameriz. Mr Red Sox. Has Manny being Manny caused him to piss off the Red Sox brass to get rid of him and then get Jason Bay in return? I don’t think so. Manny is Manny, and that is an RBI and hitting machine! The Sox are 3 behind the Rays in the AL East, and I think if they get rid of him I don’t see them wining that division, and with the Yankees getting hot, could the Yanks surpass them for the Wild Card? Red Sox need to keep him. Or trade him to the Cubs.

How would you like 20 million to NOT show up for work? That’s what the Packers are offering Brett Favre. Can I get that deal? Where was that when talking to the counselor at high school? I want that gig! The Pack are in a position that they are looking bad, really bad. It’s Brett Favre. He is Green Bay as much as Lombardi and Lambeau. If he wants to play, you let him play. You don’t let him go to Minnesota or Chicago and you don’t trade him. Do you want to be known as the GM that trades the Legend?

Manny for Farve? Sounds good!

Going to the I-Cubs game tonight, Addy is excited like no other. She thinks she is going to play there and not watch the guys play. She’s wanted to go all summer long, and I’ve gone a few times, but Addy and Brady are going to get to go a couple times this month. This weekend then heading to the Twin Cities for Ryan & Tisha’s wedding. Should be a fun…and long weekend.

Can you smell football season around the corner? It’s on Sunday Night!

Parents, open your eyes and wake up

This is good, and great at parents not taking responsibility for their kids and actually rasing them instead of being their friend. Parents need to realize that sometimes, yes your kid is a F-Up and you need to step in and not blame everything on everyone else.

This is hilarious - no wonder some people were offended! This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School California staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine.

This is the actual answering machine message for the school. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children's absences and missing homework.

The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children's failing grades changed to passing grades - even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes.

The outgoing message:Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:

To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

To make excuses for why your child did not do his work -Press 2

To complain about what we do - Press 3

To swear at staff members - Press 4

To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

If you want us to raise your child - Press 6

If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone - Press 7

To request another teacher, for the third time this year - Press 8

To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

To complain about school lunches - Press 0

If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!

If you want this in Spanish, move to a country that speaks it!

DirecTv will never see any more of my money

So I used to blog on myspace but I’m going to be slowly phasing that out and getting to facebook and this site for blogging. But anyways that’s just I guess a hello to blogger.com.

So last night I was hoping would be a good night would grill out, work out, kids would sleep good and I could actually sleep too. It went well right up to in between grill out and works out. Noticed that DIRECTV in all the wonder and majesty that is their company thought that 1 day after sending a bill for disconnecting their service, they would take out roughly 400 bucks from my checking account with out any authorization. Apparently it is in the legal jargon, as is if you open a box means you “SIGN”, yes “SIGN” a contract extension. WTF? Does that mean that if I open a can of Pepsi I’m signed to a 2 year contract with Pepsi and can’t get out of having anything but Pepsi? No!

And who reads a box. If you’re like me, when you get something new, its like kid on Christmas day, rip the sucker open. Who reads the box? It’s a terrible way to do business. And I’m already dropping big bucks to get a DVR or HD-DVR receiver. Talk about bending your customers over and giving them the business.

So for about 2 hours my wife and I argued with DIRECTV, contacted our bank, and will be contacting Tom Miller, the Iowa Attorney General. I really like the DIRECTV product, the NFL Network and Big Ten Network are great, and hopefully (fingers crossed) gets the Big Ten Network by August 30th. But their customer service, along with Qwest and the bundle, and what they do to their customers is a totally joke and a shitty way to do business.

Ok, done venting on that.

How bout the Cubs? 2 wins on the road at Milwaukee over CC & Sheets! Big statement made by the North Siders.

Is anyone else tired of Brett Favre?