"A little bit of this...a little bit of that" (from "Game of Love" by Santana and Michelle Branch)...
The spin-doctors went to work after the overnights for the Grammy Awards were released and now it turns out that the show "was the best turnout since 2004", according to Nielsen Media Research. The Grammy-cast was easily the night's most watched show. In head-to-head competition, the Grammy's outpaced "Desperate Housewives" by more than 3 million viewers and CBS swept the night on Sunday starting with "60 Minutes" which opened with their enlightening interview of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama. I mention all this because I hate to get anything wrong and that original AP release on the Grammy overnights had them getting beat by everything including police radio - not so much, but you get the point. Enough about the Grammy's...
Should a coach whose team goes 14-2 get fired? The answer is yes and it happened yesterday. San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer was sent packing after his team lost in the opening round of the NFL playoffs. But that was not the reason team president Dean Spanos gave for Schottenheimer's dismissal: "We have a dysfunctional situation here. Today I am resolving that situation once and for all". It was no secret that the coach and GM A.J. Smith were the dysfunctional situation. Schottenheimer's record as coach of San Diego was 47-33, including 35 wins and 2 AFC West titles in the last 3 seasons but he failed 4 times to capitalize on the home-field advantage that comes with owning the AFC's No. 1 seed. His overall coaching record with 4 teams is 200-126-1. In the playoffs, his team's were 5-13. He's the most successful coach never to have reached the Super Bowl...
The Major League Baseball Players Association filed a last-ditch request last night to keep the names of 104 steroid cheats away from a grand jury which would no doubt leak all 104 names to every newspaper and magazine in the free world, Oprah, Larry King and your local public access cable show. In December a federal appeals court in San Francisco (home of Balco and every illegal substance ever manufactured) issued a decision allowing investigators to use the names of the players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. There is no timeline for the court to decide whether to rehear the case. Right now baseball commissioner Bud Selig is praying that it's not overturned and that Barry Bonds name is at the top of the list...
Jim Farber of the New York Daily News has published "The Top 100 Greatest Love Songs" in today's edition of the newspaper. It's a diverse list which contains lots of surprises. For those interested: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/v-pfriendly/story/496891p-418804c.html
Tomorrow we'll have our own Best of Valentine's Day list...
Today's video link contains 2 songs and can be found in our "Released on this date" timeline...
Timeline Memories...
"Happy Trails": 2002] Country outlaw singer Waylon Jennings dies in his sleep, a victim of diabetes. Jennings was 64...
Gold Standard: 1976] Dorothy Hamill wins a gold medal at the Winter Olympics and captures the hearts of Americans with her youthful innocence, good looks and flawless style...
Putting the Sunshine State on the map: 1566] St. Augustine, Florida - the oldest city in the U.S. is founded (the sale of Mahjong tiles explode and shuffle board courts can be seen on every block)...
"School bells ring and children sing": 1635] Boston Public Latin opens as the 1st public school in the U.S...
Hello royalties: 1914] ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is formed in New York City...
"Guilty as Charged": 1935] A Flemington (NJ) jury finds Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of kidnapping and killing the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh (Hauptmann was later executed for the crime)...
Comic strip royalty: 1937] Prince Valiant appears in the comics for the first time...
Musical chairs: 1937] The NFL's Boston Redskins move to Washington, D.C...
The century mark: 1954] 8 years before Wilt Chamberlain drops 100 points on the Knicks, Frank Selvy of Furman scores 100 against Newberry College (both schools are in South Carolina) in a 149-95 victory (if you gave 53 points you win)...
Par for the course: 1971] VP Spiro Agnew hits 3 spectators with his 1st 2 shots in the Bob Hope Desert Classic (one woman is hospitalized)...
C.O.D. bill: 1997] Discovery astronauts bring the Hubble Space Telescope aboard their space shuttle, repair it and send it back into space. Then they bill NASA for their repair work...
"What's Goin' On?": 1983] Marvin Gaye sings the national anthem before the NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles. In the game Julius "Dr.J" Erving is named MVP in leading the East to a 9-point win...
Grammy Gold: 2005] Ray Charles' final album, "Genius Loves Company" wins 8 Grammy Awards...
Released on this date: 1967] "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever" - Beatles (our video links of the day. "Penny Lane": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHBKAyn17vw "Strawberry Fields Forever": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywg-PdeGVL0&mode=related&search=
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
Time Warner announces the sale of the Atlanta Braves to Liberty Media Corporation. The Wall Street Journal says TW will transfer the Braves, a group of craft magazines and $1 billion in cash to Liberty in exchange for about 60 million shares of Time Warner, Monday's market value of those shares would equal $1.27 billion. The transaction has been submitted to Major League Baseball for its approval process. Time Warner acquired the team when it bought Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting Systems from Ted Turner in the mid-90's. Manager Bobby Cox and GM John Schuerholz are expected to remain with the Braves...
Here's an update on the Reid's: Coach Andy Reid will leave the Philadelphia Eagles for one month to deal with developments in his family over the past 2 weeks - one son tested positive for heroin, another was arraigned on drug and weapon charges. The leave will last until mid-March. Reid will miss the NFL scouting combine and the start of free agency but plans to attend the NLF owners' meetings in Arizona in late March and will be back for the NFL draft April 28-29...
Many thanks to WOR's Joey Reynolds for his kind e-mail comments about this blog...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Peter Gabriel (57), "Coach K" Mike Krzysewski (60), Jerry Springer (63), Stockard Channing (63), Peter Tork (65), Carol Lynley (65), George Segal (73), Kim Novak (74), Dorothy (McGuire Sisters) McGuire (79) and Chuck Yeager (84)...
Timeline Countdown: 2 days until 'pitchers and catchers' and 36 days until spring...
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