Kenny is going to training camp and other observations

Hi There. Well 2 more unofficial weeks of summer left and you can add another one to the list of things I didn't get to accomplish this summer. Go to the track. I won't have the chance by the time the meet ends Labor Day. O.K. you could say I could go on Sunday, but be honest. Do you want to deal with the spinners who's main interest is getting the giveaways? I didn't think so.
Well these next two weeks I'm heading to check out high school football practices and scrimmages to get ready for the season opener on Saturday September 5th. Remember folks its Niskayuna at Glens Falls on Talk 1450 WWSC. I'm really looking forward to working with John and Dan on games this season. I've got my scrimmage schedule plotted out for Saturday. Head to both Fort Edward and Hudson Falls in the morning. (I'm skipping Combat class.) Then go to Lake George for the scrimmage under the lights. Sunday afternoon its Section 2 football media day at UAlbany.
The NFL pre-season has started and Friday night I watched bits and pieces of the Cowboys/Titans game. The first one to be played at the new shrine to Jerry Jones. 1.2 billion dollars and the geniuses who designed the place should have put the enormo-mega-jumbo tron scoreboard which hangs over the field of play about 10 to 12 feet higher up so the punters won't hit the thing. Jerry Jones is saying the punter was purposely trying to hit it. Think about it. The higher you kick the ball, the longer the hang time and that means your coverage team has more time to get down field. Special teams 101. Jerry must be talking with Al Davis about crazy football conspiracy theories. The same people who designed Cowboys Stadium must have designed CitiField.
Well you gotta love the NFL. Anything to make an extra dollar. You can actually buy a Michael Vick Eagles jersey for your dog. Forty bucks flushed down the potty. The Michael Vick puppy trainer wee-wee pad is a better idea.
Plaxico Burress is going to jail for 2 years for possessing that unregistered hand gun that went off in the NYC night club. That will be more time served than Leonard Little or Donte Stallworth did for vehicular manslaughter under the influence of alcohol or what Michael Vick just got released for. I know he broke the law, but why do I have this uneasy feeling Michael Bloomberg and other big time officials are enjoying this victory and conviction. Must be feeling the same way those people who got O.J.Simpson locked up for the robbery charges felt when they got him convicted.
What is it about certain people who do stupid things, get caught and they often end up with better jobs. I see it everywhere. Do they have charm, are they charismatic? I don't get it. Look at John Calipari. This week the NCAA took away the Memphis Tigers' wins and struck their appearance in the 2008 final four from the record book for violations. This is not the first time it has happened to Coach Cal. Remember his stint at UMass? Road Marcus Camby to the final four in 1996. Had to give up their appearance because Camby accepted money from agents. So where is he? At one of the highest profile coaching jobs in the country. Between Pitino and Calipari, this is going to be one heck of a year for college hoops fans in the Bluegrass State.
They honored the 1969 Mets Saturday at you know where before the Mets/Phils game and seeing Nolan Ryan back in a Mets uniform gave me chills. It was even more classy to see Seaver, Ryan and Koosman throw out the ceremonial first pitches. I just have to ask, how did they determine who got to throw to Jerry Grote? I written this before, nothing against Mike Piazza or Gary Carter, but if Tom Seaver is throwing a ceremonial first pitch before a Mets home game, it better be Jerry Grote behind the plate to catch it. Listening to the players speak about that team, one theme always came out. Gil Hodges. Gil believed they were going to be good, and they always said that among his many managerial strengths was he was always thinking ahead.
Attended the Greg Gilbert meet and greet Tuesday and he's a stand up guy like I thought he'd be.
I'm discovering I'm not a young man anymore. I'll be 44 in February and seeing those grey hairs among the blonde ones while getting them cut last week did not sit well. The baseball stadium of my youth was torn down in February, and the football stadium of my youth in the Jersey swamp will be gone sometime in early 2010. I'm starting to think I'm going to turn into to one of those lonely, bitter, old men who hates kids and has lots of cats or dogs as companions. I might have to put in a call to Keith Hernandez or Walt Frazier and get some "Just for Men."
Thanks to everyone who supported and showed up for the go-cart race Tuesday. There's a part of me that wants to drive in it one year, but I can be more of a help behind the scenes. I've known Dan Miner for 21 years but seeing him wear that crocheted bikini top was the scariest thing I've known him to do. My eyes, oh my eyes! I had wear contacts that day. If I had been wearing glasses, I could have taken them off when I felt like it and the sight wouldn't have been so bad.
Welcome back to the family, Pezz...Leccese out.