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March 29 More of Colton's Story - March 29, 2007I guess my story was also on MSNBC.com (see below) and a local TV station ran a story a day after my story was released. A coincidence? I think not! Click here for the video. March 28 A bit of our own March Madness - March 28, 2007I had one of those weekends I may never forget. Not because Lis and I did our first real house shopping with a realtor, but because of the two basketball games that we played on Sunday. Games that were determined with last minute dramatics.
First a backdrop to the amazing story that I will tell but nobody – except the 10 guys that are on the team - will truly understand or think is that amazing.
I play in an adult men’s league on Sundays with Josh, Aaron, Mike, Graham, Chris and a couple other guys, who I haven’t mentioned before in my blog. We stumbled throughout the season posting one victory in six tries (yes, that’s a 1-5 record). We never seemed to get into a rhythm as a team. We had stretches where the people on the floor clicked but throw someone else in the rotation and the team was a disaster.
It was disappointing because we knew talent wise we were a good team. We had bulk and strength in rebounding (Jake, Lans and Josh). We had a strong shot-blocker in the middle (Chris), we had quickness and defensive pressure (Graham), players that could step in and play a guard or forward position (Aaron, Kevin – me – and Greg), and we had a guy who could score at will, and often had to (Mike).
Nothing seemed to work. Luckily for us the tournament is double-elimination, which means we to end our season we have to lose twice. And after our first playoff game it looked like we were right on track with that. The other team jumped out to a 21-1 lead. We failed to make a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. We sucked! Late in the first half though things began to come together and against their subs we climbed back into the game and cut their lead to 13. That’s as close as we’d get.
After the game we had a team pow-wow at Graham’s pad. We had hamburgers, drank some suds and just spent some QT (quality time) with the guys. That evening we played our second game of the night and won. Graham’s steal and a lay-in with about 20 seconds left turned a three-point lead into a five-point lead and just like that we had won a game.
That brings us to this past Sunday.
We got up quickly by nine points before we let the other team climb back into the game. After trading baskets a bit I threw a crappy pass that lead to two more points and with 30 seconds remaining we trailed 38-37. Earlier I told Mike that a rather large and hefty (aka fat) dude was guarding me and that even with my turtle-like speed, I could still lose him by cutting through the key and ending up on the other side of the court. Mike’s a good listener because with 17 seconds remaining I did just that, cutting through the defense and Mike found me in the corner for a wide-open 3-point attempt. I caught the ball, got the right feel of it and swished it in for a 40-38 lead. It was the greatest shot I ever made. Of course, I never played high school, college or professional and have been pretty much stuck playing in men’s leagues the past few years, but still I had never made a basket that had put us ahead so late in a game.
I kept cool for a bit but after looking at the score and realizing what just happened, I looked the other way and cracked a smile from ear to ear.
Chris would block a shot the next time the other team came down court and one of the dude’s would lose his cool and kick a chair resulting in a technical foul and an automatic two points for us. Just like that we had our first winning streak of the season and lived to play another game.
An hour later we started our second game.
The other team jumped ahead and at one point led by nine before we began to make our ascent.
Behind the amazing play by Graham and tough baskets by Josh, we were able to climb back into the game and tie the score at 50-50 with less than a minute remaining. Graham had to have scored about 10 or 12 points just from out-leaping the opposition and putting offensive rebounds back into the basket. The dude, who stands about 5-foot-9, was about equal with the rim half of those times and made the rest of us 6-footers look silly. The bench erupted every time the Canadian scored. Graham had been silent the entire season but had reached his comfort zone just in the right time. As Mike was being hounded by defenders, Graham was busy cleaning up the misses with offensive put backs.
The other team had two opportunities to take the lead. But with about 10 seconds remaining Chris once again put his hand in the way of a shot and Josh saved it and ended up kicking the ball back to Mike. With 5.5 seconds remaining Mike wisely called a timeout and we went to the bench trying to think of a play.
Being the 3-point specialist I am (I had made two earlier in the game but won’t mention how many I failed to make) I checked into the game and got myself prepared for a possible chance at another game-winning shot. I came up with a play where Josh and I would set a double screen for Mike at the top of the key. If the screens work Mike would turn away and take a shot. I would set a screen on the opposite side of Josh and then peel away for a possible shot attempt.
Of course we didn’t design a play to inbound the ball to Mike. Mike thought I was going to get the ball. Aaron thought I was supposed to get the ball. But I thought Mike should get the ball and make it work.
We were still able to get the ball into Mike. He stumbled near mid-court but didn’t stop his dribble. Josh and I moved into position but the play didn’t even come close to working. Mike was double-teamed and as I ran over to set a screen he let fly a shot with two defenders on him and one pursuing him. I watched as he released the ball over the defenders and watched as the ball swished through the basket as the buzzer went off.
At these times, no matter what level of play you’re playing in, NBA, NCAA whatever, you go to your top player in a situation like this. We went to Mike and he delivered.
I lifted my hands in the air and screamed like a girl. I then turned to Mike who had his hands up and was running my way. He leapt up and I grabbed him and hugged him. The other eight players on our team came running up to us. The next two minutes were an emotional blur. I had never been part of a game that ended on a buzzer-beater.
The other team congratulated us on a great game and said that though they weren’t happy that they lost, it made them feel better to lose on a play like that. We were the only game going on at that moment so people had congregated to our court. When the shot fell you heard a loud roar of the crowd. It was the greatest game I had ever been a part of. Later I would joke that Mike stole my thunder from my first game dramatics.
It was an amazing end to two thrilling games. Back-to-back last minute game-winners. A team that came in ranked 14 out of 16 teams had now won three straight and made it into the "Super Six". It was the top five teams in our division and us.
Three days later the shot and those games still bring a smile to my face. Nobody on this planet can fully understand the emotion that we felt after Mike hit that shot. But from that moment until the rest of our lives, those nine guys and me shared a special moment that just us can totally understand - a moment that we can look back on and smile.
Mike, Josh and I hung out after the game and talked about those two games. Three hours after the game ended Lis finally told Josh and I to shut up. Graham talked about how he laid in bed thinking of the game-winning basket. Our wives, girlfriends, friends, goats, anyone will never understand the emotion that we felt that Sunday evening, man it was awesome!
That evening Mike, Josh and I watched as the team that I picked to win the NCAA tournament, Georgetown, rallied against North Carolina and kept their season alive. It was icing on the cake.
The next morning I woke up and got the morning newspaper. As I opened the paper I noticed that the story I had worked hard on the last month and a half was on the front page. I had never had a story on A1. It just continued my streak of good fortune.
The story, which you can read here, is about a 16-year-old boy who is diagnosed with cancer and is granted a wish from the Make-A-Wish foundation. His wish is so selfless…he decides that he wants to redo the baseball field at his high school. It’s an amazing story about an amazing kid. It’s also a story that includes two very different things that I hold close to my heart for two entirely different reasons: cancer and baseball.
I received emails from people congratulating me on a job well done. Most importantly from the boy’s mom who said she was touched by the story and his coach who said he could tell I wrote it from my heart. I have included a photo of the front page on this entry.
So that’s my weekend in a nutshell. It was a great weekend with two different things that I will never forget. Our wild Sunday of basketball and my first big story reaching the cover of the newspaper. March 22 The Force: Episode III - March 22, 2007I can’t believe I’ve let you all slide for this long! It’s been two months since I signed up The Force for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and I’m just now getting around to hitting you all up for donations. What kind of team captain am I? A fairly busy one I’d say. For the third straight year I’ve gathered a few of our friends and formed a team for the ACS Relay for Life. We do fundraisers, raise money and get the awareness out about cancer and how it affects so many people. In the beginning of June we’ll set up a camp at a park in our town and participate in a 24-hour walk. While people continue to walk there are also activities in the park going on. Last year The Force finished second in the Team Spirit competition. This year we’re bringing back our ringer, Randy, in hopes of taking the plaque home with us! Last year we also raised $1500 in donations. This year we are off to a horrible start as we’ve raised nada and just two of our possible 12 team members have registered online (Lis and I). So now I begin my quest. My quest to help lead our team to more than $3000 in donations. Sure the walk is just months away but I feel we can still do it. Thanks to my fellow bloggers who will rack in the dough for me The Force will be able to get ourselves back into this fundraising game. We signed up for the ACS Relay for Life a month after Lis was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. The walk was an eye-opening experience for me as I saw first-hand how many people’s lives were affected by cancer. I had never dealt with cancer and now I was dealing with it up-front and personal. The walk was emotional, especially when they lit the walkway with the luminary bags and the bag-pipes played "Amazing Grace." Last year was a different experience as we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up for the Walk. We signed up early, had a bake sale, casino night and raised money online and by the time the walk had begun we had raised about $1500.
It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year as our friends and family get together and hang out and walk all for a cause that we feel strongly about.
You can read my blog entry on the past Relays we have participated in by clicking on the year. 2005 or 2006. You can also see Randy’s Mr. Relay 2006 video here.
You can donate to the ACS and our Relay for Life team by clicking here.
Thanks for your support! March 21 American Idol Recap Top 11 Recap - March 21, 2007Post-Results show recap:
Again a little disappointed by American Idol last night. One of the top singers of the group, Stephanie, was eliminated last night. I was told by a fellow blogger (see comments) that there is a Web site that encourages people to vote for the worst. Unfortunately, people care enough to make a poor difference in the voting and thus we have Sanjaya surviving another day. I was also disappointed in seeing that this 13-year-old girl (oops, thought she was pre-teen) was all over the Today show and Inside Edition. Good for her, but c’mon, this only encourages a million other emotionally-messed up little girls to try and cry their way onto TV. And don’t get me started on that girl that burps all the time. Phony! Don’t you hate when you write a lengthy blog entry in a Word document and accidentally delete it? Yep, guilty today! Wrote a good size, lame-humored, American Idol recap and some how deleted it before I could copy and paste it to put into my blog. Argh!
Pre-Results show: So now I don’t feel like writing about the show since I used all my energy to write earlier! Argh!
It was an entertaining show, the best one this year, as all performances were solid. Melinda once again rocked. Lakisha was good but not great. Blake and Chris Richardson continue to lead the boys and Jordin Sparks sparkled for the second week in a row. Sanjaya was better but not good. Phil still scared me and Haley looked good and sang well too. Man, the other entry was better as I referenced Haley’s "cutesy" mole with Sanjaya’s "cutesy" smile. Argh!
Then there was the little girl that cried the entire show. The pig-tailed, brace-faced pre-teen clinched her fists and held them over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. The emotional performance got her a hug from Sanjaya, Ryan to ask her to come onto the stage for a round of hugs from the Idol-wannabes, and Lis to ask, "What’s wrong with her? Did her dog just die?"
With that said, here are my Power Rankings going into tonight’s Results Show.
Rank Prev Contestants Comment
March 18 Man in the Box - March 17, 2007Lukas, Lis and I filmed our newest home video movie called "Man in the Box". Check it out here. Or see below...
March 16 March Madness - March 16, 2007Man I’ve been a bad blogger. I apologize homies!
I wanted to write about one of my favorite times of the year. March Madness! The month long name for the 64-team NCAA basketball tournament. Every March I organized a $5 bracket pool with friends, co-workers and whoever else wants to throw in some cash. This year I was able to get 42 people to participate, which is the most I’ve ever recruited since I started doing this seven years ago.
I break out my spreadsheet, dust off my 3-ring folder and wait for the faxes to arrive. Then I write down everyone’s name, who they picked as the winner of the tourney and grab my red pen. No sporting event in the world brings so much excitement in the first four days. Sixty-four teams begin with a fresh start and by the end of the first weekend just 16 teams remain. The futility is fast and furious but it’s a ton of fun. Me, I sit and keep track of the scores and the minute a final score is posted I break out the red ink pen and begin making little stars by the teams that were victorious and crossing out the teams that lost.
Though it’s a lot of work and time-consuming I love it. And the people that participate do too, which makes me keep on doing it, year-after-year. Though I love baseball and the World Series, and enjoy watching the Super Bowl, and I know how huge around the world the World Cup is, this is - in my opinion - the best sporting event in the world.
And who will win it this year? My pick is Georgetown. The method to my madness is seeing which teams are peaking towards the end of the season and how well they played in their conference tournaments. This doesn’t always work but I’m usually in the running up until the final weekend. In six years I’ve picked the champion correctly twice, that’s not too shabby - me thinks.
Guess that’s it for now. Everyone have a good weekend. Fortunately, I don’t have to work this weekend so here’s hoping it’s sunny so we can have some playtime at the park.
In other news...this is the 30th anniversary of the movie "Star Wars". As most of you already know I’m a small fan of the movie (yes my son’s name is Lukas) so I hope to celebrate the anniversary by throwing another Geekfest. Also, it was cool to see the United States Postal Service collaborating with Lucasfilm to produce mailboxes painted to look like R2-D2, the coolest protocal droid in the galaxy. Check them out here. And check out the photos courtesy of theforce.net.
March 14 American Idol: The Top 12 - March 14, 2007Post-Results Show update:
I apologize. It’s been a couple of days since America voted off my beloved Brandon, leaving everyone’s favorite, Sanjaya, on the show. Poor kid, I actually feel sorry for Sanjaya. I think he’s done with the show. He knows he’s not good enough and knows that every week is on the show is another week of him being made fun of by the judges in front of millions of people. He still stinks though!
Poor Brandon. He seems like a nice guy. Great smile, good personaility, and a great voice. But man, he just couldn’t step up his game when it counted. He is the exact opposite of the other background singer, Melinda Doolittle, who continues to shine week after week. Brandon meanwhile struggled to outsing the background singers, and struggled to find songs that proved that he was the best voice of the men. Though he was my favorite to win (a couple of us actually invented our own AI Fantasy Game) I wasn’t surprised by America’s decision. Though he had a voice that resembled one of the singers in my all-time favorite group Boyz II Men, he continued to disappoint me. I was also disappointed that the show ended before I could hear his final song. I’m also disappointed that I had to work late, causing me to not cast the 20 votes I cast for Brandon the previous week. Guess those votes will go to my man Sanjaya now! Represent! Pre-Results show post: I don’t know if it was because we watched American Idol at midnight (I had to work late last night) but last night’s performances were just not good.
Last night’s episode featured Diana Ross songs. Ms. Supreme gave the Idol hopefuls some advice and a hug and sent them on their way to the biggest audience they’ve ever played in front of. Yeah, they were nervous and unfortunately most didn’t do anything for me.
And unfortunately, it all began with my pick to win it all, Brandon Rogers.
I’m not going to be biased this week by ranking Brandon higher in my Power Rankings. He flat out disappointed me. He sang Ross’ "You Can’t Hurry Love" and forgot some of the lyrics. A former background singer, he sang like a background singer often getting drowned out by the music. His voice is the strongest of the boys but he just doesn’t shine on the big stage. I’m disappointed with him and his performance and won’t be surprised if he goes home tonight.
Also forgetting some words was Haley Scarnato. I think Haley gets ousted tonight. Though she looked good in her blue dress, she forgot the words (which I didn’t catch) and also seemed drowned out by the music. She tried to save herself by finishing with some big notes but I think its goodnight Haley. Of course, Haley survived last week and may have some voters to help her through this first night.
Stephanie Edwards was the third singer to miss the lyrics. Her voice though is enough to make her get past this first week. She’s safe but had a disappointing performance.
Oh and for all you Sanjaya lovers out there. His performance was dull once again. Like the judges I just don’t have anything to say about it anymore. I don’t expect him to be eliminated. I know better.
On a positive note (is there ever a negative with these two), LaKisha and Melinda once again proved that they are the one’s to beat and even Simon stole a line from my blog by saying that the two of them are in a league of their own. In my first Idol blog entry I wrote that Melinda and LaKisha were in a league of their own. I’m so cool!
Also performing well was Jordin Sparks. Jordin, the good 17-year-old on the show (sorry Sanjaya) shined while singing "If We Hold On Together." She moved up to No. 3 on my overall Power Rankings which I present to you now.
Quick note: I had been grouping them into sexes but now that they are all singing together on one night I’m ranking them as one group. The Previous Ranking is what I thought they should be ranked going into Tuesday's performances.
March 12 Return of the Goonies – March 12, 2007How did your weekend go? Good! We had a fun and busy weekend too!
Saturday, we took a drive up to Whidbey Island to visit with a coach up there for an article I’m writing. We rode the ferry, had lunch in the nice little town of Langley, and then watched some high school baseball. The weather was cold and windy but it was still a nice little getaway for the three of us.
After the game I interviewed the coach while Lukas played ball boy in the dugout. It was a nice trip and we had a good time – for the most part. The only negative part of the trip is Lisy’s battle with allergies (no I will not be changing the name of my blog). Her left eye got hot red and really puffy and swollen. Yeah, she wasn’t that happy Saturday.
Lukas had fallen asleep on the drive home and when we got home Lis and I decided to take a nap ourselves. It felt nice getting a little late-afternoon sleep.
We capped our day together by watching "Brother Bear." It was a nice ending to a day spent with just the three of us.
Sunday we skipped church because Lis was still having problems with her eye. At 1pm we had our first playoff game and since the team we were playing also had white jerseys we decided to break out the ol’ jerseys and sport the navy blue of the Goonies.
It didn’t help us at all in the first game as we fell behind big and fast. After the first 10 minutes the score was 21-1. We couldn’t make a shot. I had three good looks at the basket but couldn’t hit anything. We did mount a comeback and early in the second half we had cut the lead to 13. That’s as close as we’d get. I finished with five points and Mike scored about 29 of our 41 points, we figured.
After the game we went to Graham and Sarah’s house for some hamburgers. The entire team, minus Chris, who had to go aid his sick wife, came over. We ate burgers, talked, some drank suds, watched the NCAA tournament selection show, and just basically hung out. It was the highlight of my weekend hanging out with the boys. Lis and Lukas came also to hang out with Sarah and Hudson. Thanks a ton Graham and Sarah for letting us take over your house. I think everyone had a good time.
Since we lost our first game we had to play again later that day. Our second game was at 6pm and luckily for us we were playing a team that had played at 5pm and with just five guys. Of course, being the Goonies that we are we struggled for most of the game playing lazy and disorganized.
Midway through the second half we were trailing by seven or so and our 2-3 zone was getting beaten badly. I got frustrated and told everyone to switch to man. The switch paid off as we were able to stop them on defense and mount a comeback. Mike, Aaron, Graham, Josh and Jake played most of the second half, mostly because they were clicking and Greg, Lance and I didn’t want to disturb their chemistry. Aaron hit a 3-pointer to put us ahead by one, Mike continued to hit shots, Jake was a rebounding-maniac along with making a couple of lay-ins, Josh played strong defense on their big man and finally Graham had a breakout performance with eight points (his first points of the season) including a game-clinching steal and lay-in with about 20 seconds remaining.
After the other team had cut our lead to three, Graham poked the ball loose at half-court and drove in for the lay-in despite all of us telling him to hold onto the ball. The lay-in gave us a five point lead and the final margin of victory.
Afterwards I gave Graham a bear hug not just for his breakout performance but because I was relieved that we finally won a game and survived to play another weekend.
That evening Josh and I filled out our brackets and Lis and I watched Apprentice. I got 105 points on our online Apprentice Intern Contest on Yahoo! That’s good! March 08 Baby Idol - March 8, 2007So I entered Lukas in this Baby Idol contest where you pick the cutest baby and blah blah. I though I would try it out so I sent a few photos, including this silly one (see below) which isn’t his best photo but whatever. Anyway, now they’re running the contest and Lukas needs your vote.
You all have seen plenty of photos of Lukas and know that he’s darn cute, right? If you think so please go to http://www.movin925.fm/default.asp and sign up for Movin’ 92.5 then vote on Lukas.
He’s on the Thursday vote from 6pm PST until 5:59pm PST on Friday.
American Idol - Week 3 - March 8, 2007How much better are the girls than the boys? Yowsers! My Power Rankings are still split by gender since that’s the phase of the game we’re in but next week when they are all grouped into one don’t be surprised if the five or six top spots are filled by the not-so-weaker sex.
I don’t really have much to write about in regards to the show. Nothing has changed. Melinda and LaKisha are still far more superior than the rest of the group and after Melinda’s performance last night I’d say she even put herself into a different group than LaKisha. It’s as if she is too good for this show. I’m also afraid, going into tonight’s results show, that people that deserve to be there are going to get ousted by people that don’t deserve to be there. I won’t name any names…Antonella and Sanjaya.
I was disappointed in the boy’s performances and once again by my man Brandon. Listen to his voice, he clearly has the best voice of all the boys but his song selection bites. He hasn’t done anything to prove that he’s the one to beat and now he is clearly on the bubble and may be eliminated. I won’t be surprised if he is. Disappointed because he didn’t prove himself, but he has no one but himself to blame. Darn you Brandon!
My guess to get "fired" this week is Sanjaya Malakar and Phil Stacey though Brandon could easily go, and Antonella and Haley. It would be a disappointment if Antonella survives and Gina is hacked.
Well, work is busy and people are driving me nuts so I guess I’ll cut this short and do my Power Rankings after the Week 3 performances.
March 02 My Second Interview with Koby - March 2, 2007It is just two days before Koby makes his small screen debut on Animal Planet so I thought it would be a perfect time to sit down and once again have a talk with my parent’s youngest flat-coated retriever.
This time around I thought I would touch on subjects like his television debut, his consistent high performance in the ring, and his on-going feud with older brother Micky.
Kevin: Hello Koby. Can you believe it’s been since March 2006 since we last had a face-to-face conversation?
Koby (licking himself): Uh…yah. You’ve been too busy messing with that little hairless puppy of your own, Lukas. What type of dog is he anyway?
Kevin: He’s actually a human. What do you think of Lukas?
Koby: He seems cool. He likes to give me snacks before he leaves the house and he seems to like me. Oh and I like to lick his face so that it messes up his hair, it drives Lis crazy. I just don’t understand his babble and why he continues to call me Micky even though he knows I’m Koby.
Kevin: Well he’s just two, so he’s beginning to learn his vocab more and more.
Koby: So that makes him 14 right? He should be doing math equations by now.
Kevin: That’s different, anyway, let’s talk about this upcoming weekend. Are you excited to see yourself on the small screen?
Koby: Yah…pumped! I get to sit in my kennel, next to Micky, listening to him moan and complain about how nobody loves him, while Mom, Dad and the rest of the gang hang out at the Grandparent’s house watching me prance around the ring. Oh yah, I’m excited.
Kevin: But seriously, you’ve got to be excited. I mean, you’re on TV showing off your talent. Plus, Mom says she’s going to tape it and then let you watch it with them again.
Koby: I’m excited. I just wish I could be there for the debut because I know Mom’s going to come home and say, "Koby you were so awesome. You looked so great in the ring. You made Mom so proud…" you get the point. I don’t want to hear it second-hand I want to watch it first.
Kevin: How did it feel knowing that they were filming you?
Koby: It felt great though I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s a camera. I mean heck, everytime Randy does a 5-second walk across the screen as an extra he calls the house and we all sit around the television looking for a speck of a Santa hat or whatever in the background of a TV show. Maybe I should’ve called Randy up and asked him how I should act when I’m walking in the background while they film the Golden Retrievers show.
Kevin: I hear Mom has taken a break from showing you and has gotten a handler, how do you feel about that?
Koby: At first I was sad because Mom and I are a team, but Larry’s cool. I led him to four straight Best in Breed titles in Portland so we must click some way. But yah, he’s cool, though the light will sometimes reflect off his bald head and hit me in the eye.
Kevin: That’s not very nice.
Koby: Nobody said I was. I’m just teasing, I love bald people! Erik is bald and he’s cool, when he lets me roll in his Jeep with him during the summer. Anything to help him pick up chicks.
Kevin: So you’re closing in on 4-years (March 31) and have already won over 35 Best in Breeds, ranked in the Top 25 of your breed in the nation (No. 16 in 2005, No. 13 in ’06), became an American champion at the young age of 14 months and two months later became the Canadian champion. Are you surprised with the early success?
Koby: Look at me. Am I not sexy or what? Come on, my body is lean and strong. I’ve got a nice snout, my coat is shiny…is it in your contract to ask stupid questions?
Kevin: Okay, let’s talk about your relationship with your brother Micky. You two had a falling out around the 4th of July 2006. He was attacked by two dogs at a lake and instead of you rescuing him, you decided to jump in. And now the two of you haven’t been on speaking terms since. What is up with that?
Koby: I should say ‘no comment’ but I’m not one to keep my mouth shut. He just needed to realize that there’s a new sheriff in town. It was my way of saying that ‘you’re old, you’re no longer the one they want to show, I’m the man in charge now’. Micky’s just too mellow. He needed to be put in his place. We’re alright now.
Kevin: But I hear you two still have problems playing together.
Koby: No comment.
Kevin: What’s new for you guys, what’s coming up for you?
Koby: I get to perform in front of the home crowd at a show in Seattle. Always a big show with lots of bitches to perform in front of. Then there are talks of us going to Arizona and Las Vegas for a show, which doesn’t bode well for me and my fur. Koby no like extreme heat. Should be fun though, I may ask Dad to put a $50 on black for me. Always bet on black, ya know?
Kevin: Is that because you’re black?
Koby: No…just cause…ah, who am I kidding, it is.
Kevin: So one of the friends of the breeder, Moira, has been battling a long fight with cancer. She actually brought some of the first Flat-Coated Retrievers from England and your Dad was through her breed. Is there anything you want to say about her?
Koby: Cancer sucks. Just send my thoughts and prayers out to her. She’s a cool lady with a cool accent and she loves her dogs. Everyone pray for her okay?
Kevin: Is there anything else you want to share with us?
Koby: Watch the Animal Planet Saturday, March 3, for me, Blacklace Magic Mocha Sapphire (Koby) at 8pm. Check your local listings for channel and showtime. Thank you, you’ve been great, don’t forget to tip your waitresses. March 01 American Idol – Round Two - March 1, 2007Post-Results Show Update It was a tear-filled Results Show Thursday night as four more contestants went home on American Idol. I don’t know if everyone was bawling their eyes out because people were headed home or because of the people they all know that the right people weren’t going home. I almost cried too after learning that I will have to listen to another week of Antonella and Sanjaya. Yep, the both survived another week. I believe Ryan Seacrest actually said, "America you have voted and … you’re all idiots!"
As I mentioned yesterday I believed Sanjaya and Nicholas Pedro should be eliminated. I was partially correct in that Nicholas was eliminated. I also said, "don’t be surprised if it’s any combination of Nicholas, AJ or Brandon," and was right there when AJ was the second of the boys to be eliminated.
The same thing happened on the girl’s side when I thought Antonella and Leslie should go. Leslie was gone but Antonella got to stick around since America did not vote for Alaina. As I said yesterday, "again don’t be surprised if it’s a combination of Leslie, Alaina or Haley." I’m getting the hang of this show, ain’t I?
America once again proved that we’re a country built on popularity contests. From the minute we hit junior high school we’re put in a position to vote for the most popular people for ASB, Prom, Homecoming, and so on and so forth. Anybody that watched the shows on Tuesday and Wednesday - and listens to music - know that Antonella and Sanjaya were by far the poorest performers – and for the second week in a row! But people continued to vote for them and they remained on the show, to most of our disappointment. Even Paula Abdul was disappointed in the voting stating that this is a singing contest and the best singers did not survive.
Heck even Sanjaya was surprised he was left standing.
Great, can’t wait to see who gets ousted next week. Pre-Results Show Last week I correctly picked one out of the four people that were eliminated. Looks like America jumped on the Antonella and Sanjaya bandwagon and allowed them to remain in the game another week. Hopefully after this week’s performances we’ve learned our lessons and the two of them will ride off in the sunset far away from Idol-hood. I have my doubts though. They both have nice smiles and unfortunately, America often enjoy looks over talent, which means that these two could remain on the show and give us all another week to cringe for two straight minutes while watching American Idol.
Of course I cringe every time I hear Paula Abdul talk. Does she ever say anything valuable? I’m tired of hearing about how everyone is cute or beautiful, or how she loves them no matter how awful they sang.
And seriously, what is up with the word "pitchy". I should honestly count how many times Randy Jackson says "but dawg, listen yo, you were a little bit pitchy, but it was good." Argh!
I have no beefs with Simon, though he was a bit rude with my boy Brandon, after Brandon wished his Dad a happy birthday. That was nice, but what wasn’t nice was Simon mentioning that his Mom has a birthday in November, mocking Brandon. Not cool!
Okay, now to the actual performances…
Males Again, there weren’t many performances that stood out for me. Blake and Chris Richardson definitely stood out. Blake’s performance of Jamiroquai’s "Virtual Insansity" was very entertaining and you can just tell that he belongs on the stage entertaining. I feel the same way when I see my brother Randy on stage, unfortunately, Randy doesn’t have a great singing voice, but like Blake, he’s one of those guys that just belongs on the stage and entertaining us. It’s what they do best. Blake’s voice is great, he has a unique talent with the beat-boxing, and the way he incorporates it into his music is awesome. Once again he earned my Male No. 1 ranking of the week.
Richardson, Chris Sligh and Jared Cotter also standout with me. Cotter did a good job of Marvin Gaye’s "Let’s Get it On" and Sligh made a nice, mellow tribute to his wife.
Sundance Head jumped back into the competition leaping from No. 12 to No. 5 in my Idol Power Rankings (see below). I’m still not that impressed with Phil Stacey and his shiny head, but everyone seems to love him.
My pick to win it all, Brandon Rogers, disappointed me for the second straight week. I love his voice and I believe that he’s easily the most talented – vocally – of the guys but he hasn’t done anything to prove that. His "Time After Time" performance was nice but it didn’t show what he’s got. If – a big IF – if survives this week he needs to come out and prove that he should be the one to beat. He does have a nice smile and charm to hopefully get him through this week.
Then you’ve got AJ and Nicholas who are kinda forgettable. One of them will probably go home tonight with hopefully Sanjaya, who wasn’t good at all performing "Steppin Out with my Baby." I felt bad for him. His outfit looked like something from the Michael Jackson collection, and you couldn’t even hear his voice. Here’s hoping the kid’s going home tonight. He’s just not ready for this competition.
Females Again Melinda and Lakisha proved that this is a two-woman battle for the title. Everyone else is just a stepping stone along the way to stardom. Last night Melinda was outstanding putting her own spin on "My Funny Valentine". With that she took over my Female No. 1 ranking, a spot that LaKisha held last week.
LaKisha didn’t fall far (No. 2) after her "Midnight Train to Georgia". I thought her outfit was more of a distraction too but still that’s the only complaint anyone had, which has nothing to do with her voice and stage presence.
After Melinda and LaKisha are 17-year-old Jordin Sparks, Sabrina Sloan and Stephanie Edwards. If I were to fill out my top 20 they would be 1-through-5, with Blake possibly slipping into the top five.
On the bubble is Gina Glocksen, who I still don’t see what the big fuss is about.
After that is the forgotten's – Haley Scarnato, Alaina Alexander and Leslie Hunt. The day after the show I can’t remember anything about them (other than Haley’s cute mole above her lip and Alaina’s cute dress). As we were watching Leslie perform Lis said she reminded her of that dog-walker from last week. I told her that was the dog-walker, thus proving the point that she’s not memorable.
I think Leslie is gone along with Antonella, who butchered Celine Dion’s, "Because You Loved Me". I won’t talk about how she’s good-looking since everyone else is doing that. And I won’t talk about the racy photos circulating around the Internet of Ms. Barba. What I will mention is how not so bright she seems to be. Why pick a Celine Dion song when last week they told you that Aerosmith’s, "I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing" was too much for you? Why try to poke fun at Simon by saying he was wrong about Jennifer Hudson when he helped put Hudson on the show and America is the one that voted her off? Plus, her in her interview before her dedication I believe she repeated herself three times.
My guess though is that, like Sanjaya, she prevails through this week because of the strength of her smile. I hope not, I can’t stand listening to them anymore and they’re both just way out of the league of these other singers.
So eliminated this week will be on the guy’s side: Sanjaya Malakar and Nicholas Pedro. Though don’t be surprised if it’s any combination of Nicholas, AJ or Brandon. On the female side I think it will be Antonella and Leslie though again don’t be surprised if it’s a combination of Leslie, Alaina or Haley. Check back tomorrow to see how I did on my picks. Also, check out my pal Susan's review here.
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