Loving the ‘Lympics

Posted inColumns, Olympics

The world has come to Vancouver as the Winter Olympics are under way.

I usually just sit back and cheer for the Americans, but I have a different rooting interest this time around.

I traveled to Vancouver for work last November and shared a plane back with a bunch of athletes from around the world who will compete in bobsled, luge and skeleton over the next few weeks. In fact, I was one of the few people on the plane who did not voluntarily hurtle themselves down a sheet of ice for a living.

About five years ago, as we prepared for the last Winter Olympics, I wrote a column about how I thought I would fit in perfectly on the bobsled team. The only problem was that the guys who usually did that sort of thing were world-class athletes.

Missing the Shore

Posted inAmerica, Columns, Jersey Shore

We all lost a national treasure recently. Some of you may not have noticed, but you can trust me when I say many of us feel terrible about what happened.

“Jersey Shore” finished its short season on MTV.

I can’t believe we only got to know The Situation, Snookie and the gang a couple of months ago. They already seem like old friends. I don’t know how much fun I will have with them gone.

Good Luck Finding ‘Groundhog Day’ Today

Posted inAmerica, Columns, Movies

Pennsylvania has a very special celebration today. With Groundhog Day, we not only find out when spring is coming, we also get a chance to have a little party. Well, at least in places like Punxsutawney.

Not all of us can get up to Gobbler’s Knob and see the world’s most famous groundhog weatherman – you know, Phil – give us his prediction so we have to find other ways to mark the occasion.

We like to take some time today to watch “Groundhog Day,” one of our favorite movies. Sounds like a natural thing to do on this day, right?

Apparently someone has forgotten to tell that to the television networks.

I don’t think anyone will broadcast the Bill Murray comedy today. I have a couple of hundred channels. One network showed it last weekend. Another will show it next weekend. But no one will actually show it on Groundhog Day. That’s just plain wrong.

Delaware Gets It

Posted inGambling
Delaware may have dashed my sports betting dreams, but they are finally stepping up with table games. If all goes as planned, casino patrons in Delaware could be playing poker…

Serve It Up

Posted inAmerica, Tennis, TV
My wife pretty much only follows one sport - tennis. That means the current action at the Australian Open is one of the few times she gets truly engaged in…

So Goes Philly

Posted inBeer
I like to drink good beer. To further this quest, I like to try new beers from breweries I usually don't get to sample. That led me to a sampler…

All Hopped Up

Posted inColumns

The other weekend, I had to officiate a youth wrestling event. The action got started around noon, and I walked up to the high school kids working the table for my mat and asked them a very simple question.

“Are we ready to have some fun?”

They laughed or grunted as sleepy teenagers do (I used to communicate solely that way), letting me know that my enthusiasm would not be reciprocated. One told me he was almost out of his energy drink. Another said he had finished his. The third said nothing as he guarded a monster-size can of another brand.

I wondered how three cups of coffee that morning could get me so wound up while they had almost the same amount of these new-fangled drinks and just wanted to go back to sleep.

Stop! Hammer Time.

Posted inMusic
Twenty years ago today, the world changed. Food tasted better. The air smelled a little fresher. Life just improved overall. MC Hammer released his single U Can't Touch This on…