A sports weekend worth watching (by me at least)

By now you may surmise I live in the Chicago area. This past weekend and upcoming week, ahead of the winter Olympics, was and is important to my "boys" the Chicago Blackhawks. They beat the hottest team in the world on Friday, the Anaheim Ducks and in a rematch of last spring's Stanley Cup Finals, beat the Boston Bruins yesterday in double overtime, sometimes referred to as the "shootout." This week, two road games, one in "Hockeytown" against the Red Wings and then on to Minnesota to face the Wild. It's the mid season doldrums and the Hawks had been less than their usual. This week will give the boys a good perspective as they enter the second half of the season. I may be mistaken, but Hockey is still the least tainted of the major sports. ANd I think that's why I appreciate the ethos of it.

Football was also very much worth watching. Peyton Manning and the Broncos beat the Pats in a game where Manning was really good. I'm not crazy about the Mannings, but for football enthusiasts, his performance was one more step in getting the icing on the cake and tying his brother Eli for Super Bowl championships. Rumors are that he will retire at the end of this season. I think that's a good idea for someone who may be one of the best quarterbacks they game has seen, but more important than that, so that he can turn his head ninety degrees when he's driving Buicks and wants to change lanes 10 years from now, when he's no longer famous. He has undergone and continues to have neck problems and while the glow of fame burns bright, we need to remember that football is a violent game that exacts a great toll upon the human body.

And in Seattle, last minute end zone breakup ( and tipped interception) of a Colin Kaepernick pass to Michael Crabtree gave Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman an opportunity to vent on national TV. I'm really tired of players who get stupid, go off on national TV and blame it on adrenaline. Sherman is a great player and reportedly a good guy in the community, as well as a good team mate. But his rant is symbolic of a society that reacts and doesn't think before speaking (only one of many behavioral choices that are made) and then figures he'll come back when he's calmed down to lower the boiling water a little. I enjoyed his play yesterday, but didn't feel the same about his mouth.

And I'm glad a judge deemed the settlement reached between the NFL and the Players Association too small a payout. It's just another case of the owners letting their lawyers do their bidding against an aggrieved but important party, the players. Shirts vs Skins, 1% vs the 99% (even though they make a lot of money), oligarchs vs the worker bees. This whole economic "justice" notion really pisses the haves off. But until the have nots are treated better, don't expect the conversation to end.

So shortly we'll watch the whole money go round thing with SB48. The less things change, the more they stay the same. And you can print that.

I Predict

In Chicago today, 78 trillion dollars was spent by people who had terrible bad cabin fever all week. They didn't need anything, they just went crazy- everywhere I went. Because I did too. At one point, I said to my wife, "you gotta take me home now." We're cooking curried chicken tonight. Not forgetting the Fenugreek.

Seahawks 38- Saints- 33

Colts 29- Patriots 27

I don't care about the points or the over/under.

First night of Banshee:  A little slow in order to clean up all the mess of last year. Great backward driving scene with Ivana Milicevic at the wheel. Zeljko Ivanek, quirky and superb as always. Remember him in Damages and a hundred other things? And as for Odette Annable? Your table is soooooo ready. I hope you won't mind to find me sitting at it when you arrive. NOLA doesn't only stand for New Orleans, LA.

I put on Out of Town by the Yellowjackets this morning and cranked it way up.

Rare Saturday post. See how my football predictions go.

Have fun. We will.

How about----

No politics today. Hooray!

I have a friend who sent me a disc with 12 versions of Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine. 
Might I suggest a couple of listens? Even though everybody knows the Marvin Gaye version of What's Goin' On,  try Quincy Jones' version from Smackwater Jack. A great record- lots of interesting things on it, including the Theme song from Ironside, 

Two Allman Brothers Band news items. First, is that tickets are on sale for the annual March Madness shows at the Beacon, in NYC. Second, is that both Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks have announced that 2014 is their last year to tour with ABB. I'm not surprised but they have brought a tremendous energy to the whole Allmans legacy for quite a long time. Tour details are sketchy at the moment but I suspect they'll fill in. Lot of great guitar players who can step right in. The farm system has been well developed. Hell, they're all major leaguers.

Let me roll you a --- a what? A playlist out of my mind if I were driving around today. I'd roll you something else but you don't need my help.

Bob Wills- Twin Guitar Special
Miles Davis- Freddie Freeloader
Big Joe Turner- Big Legs
Bob Dylan- Black Diamond Bay
Danny O'Keefe- Portrait in Black Velvet
Herbie Mann- Push Push (w/Duane Allman) {Whoa Nelly!}
Frank Sinatra- Luck Be A Lady Tonight
The Nice- Country Pie
Counting Crows- Mr Jones
Billy Paul- Me and MRS. Jones
Temptations- Ball Of Confusion
Stuff - My Sweetness
Steely Dan- Bad Sneakers
Julie London- Dark

Hum, Whistle or do both.
Caution. You are now leaving the No Chris Christie zone.

Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy football because it really HAS been entertaining.