Spend it like Beckham...
The hope is that 31-year old David Beckham becomes the savior of soccer in the U.S. - the Pele of his generation. The Los Angeles Galaxy people are betting $250 million on it. Much of the money from Beckham's 5-year contract will be absorbed from sponsorship dollars. If you're wondering what soccer means here, well look no further than the $350 million Major League Soccer has lost in its 1st decade of operation...
Is Beckham as good as Pele was? No, but who can be? Can he have a major influence in developing the next Mia Hamm or Freddy Adu? Maybe. Having a Spice Girl wife like Victoria can't hurt. Britain's god-like Beckham has arrived and the paparazzi have a new pinup couple. "Lights, camera, action"!!!
Today's gratuitous video link is The Spice Girls singing "Wannabe": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19RqR9YEuCA
How big were last weekend's NFL network ratings? Read my commentary...
Timeline Memories for January 12th...
"Happy Trails": 1976] Mystery writer Agatha Christie dies of natural causes at 85...2003] Following emergency abdominal surgery, Maurice Gibb dies of cardiac arrest at 53...
"Guilty as Charged": 2005] Britain's Prince Harry apologizes after a newspaper publishes a photograph of the young royal wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party (you can only hope he got a royal spanking for that)...
"The Jets will win on Sunday, I guarantee it": 1969] Joe Namath's quote holds up as the Jets shock the NFL by upsetting the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III in the Orange Bowl...
Not so "Super": 1986] The Patriots are headed for their 1st Super Bowl after beating Miami and winning the AFC championship only to get crushed in Super Bowl XX by Chicago... 1997] The Patriots win the AFC championship by beating Jacksonville but lose to Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXI (but victory is on the way)...
Debuted on this date: 1949] "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" debuts on CBS-TV. The show will stay on the network for 10 years...1965] "Hullabaloo" premieres on NBC-TV and will run for one season...1966] "Batman" debuts on ABC-TV...1971] The Archie Bunker era begins as "All in the Family" debuts on CBS-TV. It will morph into "Archie's Place" in 1979 but will spawn "The Jeffersons" also)...1981] "Dynasty" inspired by "Dallas" premieres on ABC-TV and runs for 8 seasons...
Recorded on this date: 1957] Elvis Presley records "All Shook Up" at a Hollywood recording studio...
#1 on this date: 1963] "Go Away Little Girl" - Steve Lawrence...1974] "The Joker" - Steve Miller Band...1985] "Born in the U.S.A." LP - Bruce Springsteen (replacing "Purple Rain" - Prince which was #1 for 24 weeks)...
Deuces are Wild: 1958] The NCAA adopts the 2-point conversion option after touchdowns (the AFL starting using this when it started in 1960 but the NFL won't follow until 1994)...
Seed Money: 1959] Berry Gordy Jr. borrows $800 to start Motown Records...
Going to Hall: 1995] The Allman Brothers, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha & Vandellas, Neil Young and Frank Zappa are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
On tap: 1998] Linda Tripp provides Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations between herself and Monica Lewinsky (about you know who)...
"SOLD to the highest bidder": 1999] Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball is sold at auction for $3 million to an anonymous bidder...
"Bye Bye Farewell So Long": 2003] AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case announces his resignation...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
With round 2 of the NFL playoffs being played this weekend, if you're wondering how last week's ratings were...well they were phenomenal. The 4 playoff games were 4 of the six most-watched TV shows of the week with Fox's Giants-Eagles game ranking #1 (29.7 million viewers). The Cowboys-Seahawks were #2 (26.8), Pats-Jets pulled an 18.2 and the lowest rated (Chiefs-Colts) of the 4 games had a 12.6 rating - good enough for #6, beating out "Desperate Housewives" which finished #7. Get ready for more of the same this weekend...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Jeff (Amazon.com) Bezos.com (43), Christiane Amanpour (49), Howard ($83 million stock bonus) Stern (53), Rush Limbaugh (56), Kirstie Alley (56), Joe Frazier (63), The Amazing Kreskin (72), Ray Price (81) and Luise Rainer (97)...
Saturday, January 13, 2007...
Timeline Memories...
"Happy Trails": 1962] Brilliant TV comic Ernie Kovacs dies in a car crash at 43...1978] Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey dies from terminal cancer at 66...
Future Frisbee: 1957] Wham-O begins producing "Pluto Platters", the beginning of production of the flying disc a.k.a. "The Frisbee"...
Stork sighting: 1966] Elizabeth Montgomery's character Samantha on "Bewitched" gives birth to Tabitha...
Mysterious Death: 1979] Donny Hathaway dies after either jumping of falling from the 15th floor of a Manhattan hotel. Hathaway was just 34...
| #1 on this date: 1959] "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" - The Platters... "So sue me": 1979] The Y.M.C.A. files a lawsuit against the Village People over their song "Y.M.C.A" but decides to drop the suit when they figure out that they're getting free publicity... "The Eve of Destruction": 1982] An Air Florida 737 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge after taking off in a blinding snowstorm. The plane goes down in the Potomac killing 78. Howard Stern gets fired when asking (on the air) when the next flight was scheduled to arrive at the 14th Street Bridge... "Guilty as Charged": 1989] Subway vigilante Bernhard H. Goetz is sentenced to one year in prison for gun possession but is freed the following September... Going to Hall: 1982] Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame... Sworn In: 1990] L. Douglas Wilder takes office as the nation's 1st elected black governor (Virginia)... Musical Chairs: 2000] Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes president Steve Ballmer to the position... "I Started To Choke": 2002] President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel (given to him by Ted Kennedy)... Too slow with the esc. button: 2003] Pete Townshend of The Who is arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children (which he denies and he's later cleared)... Chapter 11: 2003] FAO Schwarz files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Orlando Bloom (30), Patrick Dempsey (41), Richard (Night Court's "Bull") Moll (64), Billy ("Father Knows Best's "Bud") Gray (69), Rip Taylor (73), Charles Nelson Reilly (76) and Frances Sternhagen (77)... Sunday, January 14, 2007... Timeline Memories... "War is over if you want it": 1784] The U.S. ratifies a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War... Par-tay": 1882] The Myopia Hunt Club in Winchester (MA) becomes the 1st country club in the U.S. (but you must wear glasses to get in)... Debuted on this date: 1952] "The Today Show" premieres on NBC-TV with Dave Garroway and Jack Lescoulie...1955] Alan Freed produces his 1st Rock 'n Roll show in New York at the St. Nicholas Arena (now part of ABC). The show starred the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner and others...1972] "Sanford and Son" starring Redd Foxx debuts on NBC-TV and runs until September 2, 1977 before going into syndication... Wedding Bells: 1954] Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe marry at San Francisco City Hall. Marilyn will charge "mental cruelty" in October and the couple get divorced...2004] J.P. Morgan Chase strikes a deal to buy Bank One for $58 billion... "Salute Me": 1960] Elvis Presley is promoted to Sergeant in the U.S. Army... "Black & White": 1963] George C. Wallace vows "segregation forever" as he's sworn in as governor of Alabama... "The Name Game": 1966] David Jones changes his last name to "Bowie" to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees... "Someday We'll Be Together": 1970] Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their last concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas... Far out man: 1970] The 1st "Human Be-in" is held in Golden Gate Park... Released on this date: 1989] "Back in The U.S.S.R." LP - Paul McCartney... Musical Networks...1993] David Letterman announces that he's moving from NBC to CBS-TV... Circular File: 1998] Whitewater prosecutors begin questioning Hillary Rodham Clinton about the gathering of FBI files on past Republican political appointees... Super: 2001] The Giants gain their 3rd trip to a Super Bowl by beating Minnesota for the NFC crown but they will lose to Baltimore in Super Bowl XXXV... "Fly Me To The Moon": 2004] President Bush unveils a plan to send astronauts (and Ted Kennedy) to the moon, Mars and beyond... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Jason Bateman (38), LL Cool J (39), Faye Dunaway (66), Julian Bond (67), Jack Jones (69), Allen Toussaint (69), Clarence Carter (71) and Andy Rooney (88)... Monday, Martin Luther King Day, January 15, 2007... Timeline Memories... "Happy Trails": 1987] Ray Bolger dies from cancer at 83... "Guilty as Charged": 1976] Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Ford in San Francisco (CA)... 2005] A military court in Fort Hood (TX) sentences Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr. to 10 years behind bars for physically and sexually mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib... "The Name Game": 1777] The people of New Connecticut declare their independence from Great Britain. The tiny republic will become known at the state of Vermont... "The Fighting Irish" are born: 1844] The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana... "Pin the tail on the donkey": 1870] The Democratic Party is represented as a donkey for the 1st time in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in "Harper's Weekly"... Get the peach basket out: 1892] The rules of basketball are published for the 1st time in Springfield (MA) where the game was invented... "If you build it, they will come": 1943] Work is completed on The Pentagon... "Black Dahlia": 1947] The mutilated remains of 22-year old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short a.k.a. The Black Dahlia for her dark outfits, are found in a vacant L.A. lot (the case was never solved)... "Bye Bye So Long Farewell": 1953] Harry S. Truman becomes the 1st President to give his farewell speech on both radio and TV... "Signed, Sealed, Delivered": 1961] Motown signs The Supremes...1973] Gene Shalit brings his bushy mustache and doctor's bag to "The Today Show" as movie reviewer... "So sue me": 1964] Vee Jay Records files suit against Capitol and Swan over recording rights to the Beatles... Lyric content: 1967] On "The Ed Sullivan Show" the Rolling Stones change the lyrics to "Let's Spend The Night Together" to "let's spend some time together" for network censors... Super: 1967] The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in what will eventually be called "Super Bowl I"... Released on this date: 1971] "My Sweet Lord" - George Harrison... Debuted on this date: 1974] "Happy Days" premieres on ABC-TV. It will run until July of 1984 and spawn the spin off, "Laverne and Shirley" in January, 1976... Serial Murders: 1978] Two students are killed in their Florida State sorority house. Ted Bundy will be convicted of the crime and executed... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Chad Lowe (39), Lisa Lisa (Velez) (40), Mario Van Peebles (50), Andrea Martin (60), Captain Beefheart a.k.a. Don Van Vliet (66) and Margaret O'Brien (70)... Timeline Countdown (as of January 15): 6 days until the NFL Conference playoffs, 20 days until Super Bowl XLI and 31 days until 'pitchers & catchers'... ... |
