Thursday, September 21, 2006

Is it Monday yet ??? I'm sure you've seen the signs asking that very question. Unless you're Mr. Magoo, those signs can be seen by Atlantis, the space shuttle cleared for a return to earth after dodging signs asking the question, "is it Monday yet ?". These signs are sooooo big, they're almost the size of of A-Rod's ego. What a great spin of the old "is it Friday" question that starts as early in the week as Monday. The question, of course would be the very effective "sell" line for Monday Night Football, now on ESPN. The play-by-play team is a far cry from Howard, Keith and Dandy Don. I mean Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser do a credible job but don't come close to the original trio for pure entertainment along with your Monday Night Football game... The original MNF debuted on ABC-TV on September 21st, 1970 with 3 men in the booth, a first at the time. The headline making and enigmatic Howard Cosell was joined by veteran play-by-play man Keith Jackson with former Dallas quarterback Dandy Don Meredith along as a down-home counterbalance to Cosell's big city bluster. Frank Gifford would eventually be added as a replacement for Jackson. The broadcast cracked the top 25 in the 1971 season and was consistently top 20 into the 90's, even reaching the top 10 on several occasions... The first game played on Monday Night Football featured the New York Jets against the Cleveland Browns with the Browns winning 31-21. A video of MNF highlights through the years is available by clicking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvQJv57eUmk Enjoy the memories... Ten Timeline Memories... [1938] A surprise and unnamed category 3 hurricane slams into Long Island and southern New England claiming as many as 600 lives... [1948] Milton Berle becomes the permanent host of "The Texaco Star Theater" on NBC-TV... [1966] Jimmy Hendrix changes the spelling of his first name to "Jimi"... [1973] Henry Kissinger is confirmed as Secretary of State by the Senate... [1981] Elton John signs a long term deal with Geffen Records... [1981] The Senate confirms Sandra Day O'Connor as the 1st female justice of the Supreme Court... [1982] The 1st hockey game is played in the Meadowlands with the Devils beating the Rangers 3-2 in an exhibition game... [1986] Winners at the 38th Emmy Awards: "Golden Girls", "Cagney and Lacey" and Michael J. Fox... [1998] "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" - yes Bill Clinton did say this as we see the video tape of his testimony about his relationship ("with that woman, Miss Lewinsky")... [2001] "America: A Tribute To Heroes" is broadcast with the telethon raising $150 million to benefit the families of those lost in the 911 terrorist attacks... "Happy Trails": 1998] Olympic gold medal track star Florence Griffith Joyner dies in her sleep after suffering an epileptic seizure. "Flojo" was just 38... Published on this date: 1937] "The Hobbit" - J.R.R. Tolkien... Premiered on this date: 1957] "Perry Mason" starring Raymond Burr (the detective series will run in original form and as reruns for 17 years and as movie specials after that)... #1 on this date: 1961] "Take Good Care of My Baby" - Bobby Vee...1972] "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me" - Mac Davis...1983] "Tell Her About It" - Billy Joel... Released on this date: 1974] "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" - BTO... Wedding Bells: 1996] JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette get married in a secret ceremony on Cumberland Island (GA)... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline}... Welcome Back... The best baseball analyst in the business, Peter Gammons is back following a near-fatal aneurysm on June 27th. Peter was back on camera from Fenway for ESPN last night. It's good to see that Peter hasn't lost his wry New England sense of humor as he was quoted as saying: "Hey, I'm not DiMaggio coming back in '49 or Ted Williams coming back from Korea. I'm still an ink-stained wretch and proud of it". Peter Gammons began his sportswriting career as a Boston Globe intern in the summer of 1969. Welcome back Peter. We missed you... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday"... Nicole Richie (25), Ricki Lake (38), Faith Hill (39), Rob ("Numb3rs") Morrow (44), Bill Murray (56), Stephen King (59), The Eagles' Don Felder (59), Henry Gibson (71), Leonard Cohen (72) and Larry Hagman (75)... A belated birthday wish to David Gahr, one of the greatest of all music biz photographers. David had a blowout party yesterday for his 84th birthday. Sorry I couldn't be there David. I still have the photo of John Lennon in front on the Improv you took and gave me some years back. A not too, belated Happy Birthday and many more to you... Timeline Countdown: 12 days until the major league baseball playoffs, 30 days until the 1st game of the World Series and 101 days left until 2007. ...