Welcome to my little corner of the website where I can talk about things you might be talking about at work or school, riff about sports or even go off on some idiot that has it coming!

7/20 I know, I know...I've been falling down on the job of keeping this section updated...blame the guy to the left for part of it! In case you missed it, that's Jonny Lang on the satge at JazzFest Saturday night July 19th here in Sioux Falls. What a party it was once again this weekend. Despite the heavy rain storms that delayed things for an hour or so, we still had a real nice turnout this weekend and some incredible performances. On Friday, as good as Joyce Cooling and Taj Mahal were, Tab Benoit absolutely stole the show. He tore that stage up and set it on fire! And then he stuck around and had a good time during Taj's set too! After the rain delay of Saturday, Simone showed she has her momma's talent with a fantastic 60 minute set. Then Robben Ford came out and ripped it up with his band, proving he was well worth the wait. Next up was the band I've been telling you all about for the past few months after I saw them in March...Dumpstapunk! And yes, we definitely got funkier than we've ever gotten at JazzFest! A real highlight was Robben Ford joining them for a cover of the Rolling Stones Miss You. And then the Fargo native Lang came out and showed us once again why we've had him in Sioux Falls four times over the years. I've seen him close to a dozen times now and he keeps gettin better every time! For me personally, I had a great time this weekend. A lot of incredible music, I got a chance to talk to a lot of you during the festival and I got a chance to talk to a lot of our performers and I can tell you that not only are they fantastic musicians, they were all real nice people and had a great time while they were here. Kudos to all involved in making this festival happen and to all of you for helping it grow! as soon as I get the chance, I will be uploading a new photo album to the gallery of shots we got at JazzFest this weekend! Only 363 more days and we get to do it again...I can't wait!

6/8 I've been getting a lot of calls and e-mails at the station from our "younger" listeners. It's very cool to me to hear from listeners that are in the 12-21 range. It makes me realize that good music always wins out over what's considered new and hip. And I give credit where credit is due...Guitar Hero and Rock Band have definitely caused an explosion in the younger listeners seeking out even more of the music they're playing on the video games. So much so that a Guitar Hero Aerosmith and Guitar Hero Metallica are already in the works. But it's not all video games either. I've got a co-worker at the station who has two boys, and the 12-year old, I've been claiming as my "son", because he's turning into a music geek like me! lol He can't wait for JazzFest, he'll text me requesting Heart, he's taking guitar lessons and has started his own band, and he was very upset the day Bo Diddley passed. It's people like him and a newly discovered 9-year old (at least discovered by me) named Quinn Sullivan that give me hope that rap and that head-banging, no melodic quality crap I hear will not be the prevailing music of the next couple decades. For a look at, again NINE YEAR OLD Quinn Sullivan jamming on "Strange Brew" with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Buddy Guy, click here and crank up some Clapton, Guy, Diddley or whoever you want to listen to on a Sunday and smile like I am. 

6/7 It's an early Sunday morning and I decided to do a personal update before going on my morning walk (those of you that are long time listeners know I went on a diet and exercise kick last summer and dropped 100 pounds) well I got lazy over the winter and packed about 25 back on, so I started the craze again a month ago and have 15 off again and still never went back to cigarettes either I'm proud to say. It's now been 19 months since my last cigarette. Just hoping to be a little bit of an inspiration to those of you that have thought about trying to lose weight or tried to quit smoking...it can be done if you put your mind to it and focus on other things. Good luck to you and I'm off for another walk!

6/1 Well we made it through the first big festival of the season in RibFest. Thank you to everyone who turned out over the past four days for sun, beer and of course RIBS! Eight great rib vendors, tons of great musical acts...now if Mother Nature would've just cooperated on Thursday night! Steady and sometimes very heavy rains, tornado warnings to the south of town and a light show that was definitely not man-made ended up wiping out planned performances by Pete Good and Toby Kane Band early in the evening, and our headliners, Loverboy, finally hit the stage around 10:30 in front of 1000 or so VERY dedicated and slightly inebriated fans. A special thanks to those dedicated crazies that stuck it out and came back after we closed down RibFest to cheer for Loverboy. This year's RibFest has just closed and already we're heading back to the drawing board to start working on next year's festival! Next up? The biggest, baddest week of summer in the middle of July! July 11-13 we've got Hot Harley Nights, and the following weekend, July 18-19, it's JazzFest! Get ready for a lot of fun during 102 days of Summer!

4/27 The morning after a couple of hilarious shows at the Orpheum Theatre. Thank you again to everyone who snapped up tickets for the Bob & Tom All-Star Comedy Tour. We sold out two shows in literally HOURS and we're already talking about who's coming next and when, and with the way you grabbed tickets for this show, we'll likely go to the Washongton Pavilion next time to make sure everyone can get tickets. I got the chance to hang out backstage with everyone last night and I can honestly say, they're all very cool people. It was Chick's first trip to town in eight years and he genuinely seemed happy to be here. Tim Wilson said it was his first trip here although it almost seems like he did a show at a now-defunct comedy club here in Sioux Falls about ten years ago, but to use his words, "I Could Be Wrong". Either way, it was my first chance to see him live and meet him and he is a true southern gentleman. I love his songs and was impressed with his sand up as well! Greg Morton has been to Sioux Falls many times at Nitwits and we've been lucky enough to get to know him through his trips to town. He's a newbie on the Bob & Tom tour and was having a ball! He absolutely loved traveling with and talking with the other comics. Plus he has possibly the best show closer in the business, and you've got a great show. What can I say about Drew Hastings? One of my all-time favorites. Great hair, great stories, great person, great comic. Jimmy Pardo has also become one of my favorites. I'm a fan on improv, which Jimmy does so well, feeding off he audience at every turn. You may have seen that Conan O'Brien is going to replace Leno next year. Well Jimmy Fallon has been signed to replace Conan. In my humble opinion, they picked the wrong Jimmy. Pardo has late night talk show host written all over him! He would be amazing in that position and hopefully one of the networks will finally realize it. Last, but certainly not least is the very funny Patty Vasquez! A relative new girl on the Bob & Tom Show, she absolutely blew me away last night. Fresh looks at a lot of every day situations. Just a VERY funny, very attractive lady that I hope we can get back to town either with another tour or down at the comedy club for a weekend. All in all, a ton of fun last night and thatnk you to all of you who listen to the Bob & Tom Show and make night's like last night possible!

3/31 I'm back from Blues Fest 2008 at Jackpot Junction in Morton, MN and had a BLAST this weekend! First of all, when Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk comes to JazzFest this summer...do NOT miss this show! They were incredible! Great musicians and just a fun, upbeat, funky set! Keb' Mo' may have stolen the weekend though. Just a man and a guitar, but a fantastic picker, great voice. He was funny, and sounded awesome! The Taj Mahal Trio certainly didn't disappoint as Friday's headliner (and they'll headline JazzFest July 18 too!) We got moving a little late Saturday with both of us battling a cold/flu, but we made it for Indigenous. The sound guy had the vocals buried unfortunately, but Mato's strong voice came through just the same. They played a couple songs from their new CD!! due this summer. The guys looked like they were having a ball and it really came through in their playing! Koko Taylor's Blues Machine was next. Her band is very talented and I'm very happy I finally got a chance to see Koko. She spent some time in the hospital a few months back and being 76 years young, you just never know how many more chances you'll get to see her. She admitted to forgetting some of her band's names, but she didn't forget the words to her songs and seemed to really have fun being up in front of an appreciative crowd. Jonny Lang closed the show, as he will at JazzFest here in Sioux Falls this summer. I've seen Jonny at least eight times over the years, and after the first few songs, I was a little concerned that his set was going to rely to heavily for my tastes on his most recent gospel CD. I shouldn't have worried at all because he and the band cranked it up and included a couple of my favorites in "A Quitter Never Wins" and "Wander This World". Overall, a great set, he had a huge grin on his face and seemed to enjoy playing with the band he's put together and hearing the cheers. A real fun weekend despite feeling like crap during most of it, but with Neville, Taj and Lang all coming to Sioux Falls this summer plus Robben Ford, Tab Benoit and others, we're going to be in for another amazing couple days with JazzFest! And with all this snow today...July can't come soon enough!!

3/4 So Brett Favre has finally called it a career. The news this morning came as a shock, especially after leading his team to the NFC Championship Game. But after 17 years, he's decided to walk away saying he can't do it mentally anymore. I can't say that I blame him for retiring. He holds every passing record, he's won three MVP's and a Super Bowl ring and has to be considered in the top 5 or 10 quarterbacks of all time (For my money, I've still got to put Montana, Bradshaw and Elway ahead of him because of the jewelry they racked up) I was never a fan of Favre (big surprise from a Viking fan huh?) but I had to respect was he was able to accomplish on the field. I just wonder how it's going to change those two cold Sundays each season that I've spent since the early 90's yelling at my TV to "Get that SOB! Sack Him! Pick it off! Knock him on his ass!" etc. Viking fans everywhere know what I'm talking about, wile Packer nation will wear black for the rest of the week and wonder if Aaron Rodgers is going to be able to step into the very large cleats of #4.

2/20 Sometimes I need a reminder why I live in South Dakota. Quality of life, blah blah blah. Low crime and affordable housing, blah blah blah. Good job and good people to work with and for, blah blah blah. I woke up this morning and the temperature gauge read -19. -19! That's air temperature! The wind chill reading was -40! It's what I call "stupid weather". As in I lose IQ points just for leaving the house in this crap!! I talked to someone in our corporate office in Atlanta earlier this week and she was laughing about being able to take her dog to the dog park over the weekend because it was 69 there. I told her we were able to take our dogs to the park too...but they were pulling my sled to get there! On the bright side, think warm thoughts like pitchers and catchers have started to report to spring training in Florida and Arizona and in a month (or so) this arctic freeze should be done for the season (I hope, I hope, I hope!)

2/3 Do you believe in miracles? Unbelievable finish in Super Bowl 42. No one gave the Giants a chance against the mighty, and undefeated Patriots (including me!) but the Manning boys make it back-to-back championships as Eli wins 17-14 giving the Pats possibly the biggest choke in sports history. Miami fans are dancing in the streets tonight led by Coach Shula and Mercury Morris (and my boss!) Congrats to the Giants who won 11 straight road games to take the title. Well done. And well done on the commercials this year too! The last couple years had been lackluster at best, but Bud Light came up big with their "flying" and "breathing fire" spots; Cars.com were fun with Gondor and the ring of fire and the Witch Doctor; e-Trade's baby spots were funny as well; and other stand outs included Bridgestone's screaming animals, Fed Ex and the giant pigeons, Planters Cashews with the unibrow woman, and Ben Roethlisberger's American idol spot. Tom Petty did us classic rockers proud at the half as well with American Girl, I won't Back Down, Free Fallin'  and Runnin' Down A Dream. All in all, one of the best Super Bowl's from start to finish in recent memory and my hat's off again to Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and the world champion New York Giants. Unbelievable.

1/20 OK, I admit it. I like watching TV. I don't want radio people to turn against me and say they can't believe I'm saying that in the open, but it's true. It's an escape from the day to day work stuff, so since I listen to (or am on) the radio all day, I like a diversion. But unless Hollywood settles this writers strike soon, I may have to stop watching tv because there is only so much I can take of reality and/or game shows. American Idol, Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader, The Amazing Race, Big Brother...the list goes on and on and on. It's gotten so bad, I sat down and watched a couple episodes of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew! A radio psychologist has a rehab center in California filled with ex's: an ex-wrestler, an ex-porn star, a couple of ex-actors and actresses, even an ex-American Idol contestant! They're cross-pollenating and showing up on other reality shows! Stop the freakin' madness and give me a new episode of CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Medium before I go completely nuts and wind up on the biggest reality show of them all...the evening news!

1/11 Happy belated New Year all! Been a busy start to 2008, but it's going to be a GREAT year! I can announce that we are the offical radio sponsor of Hot Harley Nights this Summer downtown Sioux Falls! It's set for July 11-13 with our friends at J&L Harley Davidson and is going to be a blast! We'll have all the details and some cool new stuff coming soon! Plus we're working on getting musical lineups together with the organizers of RibFest (May 29-June 1) and JazzFest (July 18-19) and the Sioux Empire Fair (August 5-10)! It's going to be a full Spring, Summer and Fall and we're going to keep you plenty busy with a ton of great shows and giveaways! Plus as we've been pounding it into your heads and ears, you can now listen live to us anywhere in the world through our website! Thanks for listening and for spreading the word about your Classic Rock Station, B102.7!

12/26 I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas this year. It's always good for me to go home and spend a few days with family, but the drive is getting tougher and tougher every year it seems thanks to Mother Nature. We left town last Friday night and drove in fog and freezing drizzle for 350 miles...not fun! Then we were called home on Christmas Day to come back to work early, and ended up driving through snow from Fairmont, MN back to Sioux Falls! I see there have been a TON of accidents all over the Midwest because of the weather, so I feel lucky that we weren't involved in any of them. I hope you and your loved one's came out of the holidays unscathed and look forward to a fun and SAFE New Years!

11/26 Back to work from the long holiday weekend and what a weekend it was! I got a chance to stay at Spearfish Canyon Lodge and Resort in the Black Hills! What an absolutely perfect weekend! Amazing scenery and one of the most idyllic lodge's anywhere! Do yourself a favor, if you can afford to get away, do yourself a favor and upgrade to Spearfish Canyon Lodge. A fantastic weekend at a great location! 

11/18 I hope I can still do it when I'm 60. Basically I'm talking about being able to do the things that I love to do, sort of like Sammy Hagar. I'm not going to be on a stage entertaining crowds like he still is, but you get the idea. It was a small crowd in Sioux City last night (maybe 3000) but that didn't stop Sammy, Michael Anthony, the Waboritas or those of us in the crowd from having a great time! Tons of hits from all eras of Hagar's career (and a little beer and tequila didn't hurt either!) made it a great night. But after three big rock shows over three consecutive weekends (Ozzy was the 4th and Mellencamp the 10th) maybe it showed promoters that you can't keep going back to the same well week after week in a relatively small, working class town. Think we could've topped the crowds at either the Mellencamp or Hagar shows had we gotten one of them here in Sioux Falls? I know we would've. So how is the planning going for that new venue anyway?

11/8 Just got home from Nutty's after seeing Indigenous again! What an incredible perfomer Mato has become! His playing, stage presence, singing...everything has come so far since they burst on the scene with their '98 release Things We Do. If you haven't seen the Marty, SD native in awhile, his brothers and sister who were with him from the beginning, went their own ways a couple years ago and in the past year, he's recruited the Kris Lager Band from Lincoln, NE to become the rest of Indigenous, and it's paid off HUGE! Lager is a fantastic guitar player in his own right, Jeremiah the keyboard player, brings a whole new element to the band as well. You can see Mato is enjoying himself and they are putting on incredible shows night in and night out. He told me during our interview Thursday that the band will be heading into the studio this winter with an eye towards releasing a new CD by next summer. Do yourself a favor...see Indigenous the next time they come through the area. Mato is probably one of the three or four best Blues/Rock guitarists playing the circuit and it's only a matter of time before EVERYONE knows it and you won't be able to catch them at Nutty's on a Thursday night. What an incredible performer and just a genuinely nice person.

11/2 Wow! Fall already. Deep into the football season and the man I've seen called "Purple Jesus" on a number of fantasy football websites proved this weekend that he's already earned that nickname! Eight games into his career and Adrian Peterson already owns the single game rushing record for the NFL. 296 yards against a good Chargers defense. Unbelievable. The kid has a chance to be very special. Now if we Vikings fans can get a Quarterback, a pass-rushing defensive end and a really good cover cornerback to help shut down the opponents passing game, and who knows? Maybe the Vikings could actually make a run for the play offs again! But let's face it, unless Tom Brady gets hurt...NOBODY is going to beat the Patriots this year. They were down by ten with 7 minutes and change left, on the road at the defending Super Bowl Champions and also undefeated (til yesterday) Colts, and STILL came back to win 24-20. Think Randy Moss is happy to be wearing the red, white & blue? Great day of football! 

9/22 I got to be a part of a Blues Show at the Orpheum Theatre downtown this past Thursday night that was good and bad at the same time. The good? The musicians and the music! Corey Stevens and Ana Popovic are two very kind, gracious and extremely talented people! The bad? There were only about 250 of us there! Was it because it was a Thursday night? Are people "afraid" of downtown Sioux Falls? What's the deal?!?! We'd been telling you for weeks what a great show we had coming to town yet very few showed up. At the same time, a lot of fans that I talked to between sets and after the show were as upset as I was that more people didn't make it out to see an amazing night of music! I'm doing my part, now I need you to do yours...everyone that was there, tell three people that didn't come what a great show it was. It's that simple. We'll lay a guilt trip on everyone that blew off a chance to see two amazing performances so next time when we tell them we've got a great show coming to town, they won't be having to hear about it the next day from us! And by the way...Bernard Allison is going to be at Nutty's North on October 5 and Indigenous will be there November 8th. Tell a couple friends and I'll see you there! 

9/15 Holy cow! Where did the summer go?!?! As you can see from my lack of updating this bnlog, it's been a VERY busy summer, but a fun one! We had one of the best JazzFest's ever; had a ball at the Sioux Empire Fair and State Fair; I got a chance to finally see the Allman Brothers at the Minnesota State Fair and now we've got a knight coming to the Arena next month in Elton John! Yes, my life revolves around music of course, but it's been a "get healthy" kind of summer for me too. Regular listeners and viewers of this blog have seen that I decided to quit smoking after 27 years. Well I've made it ten months so far. Hard to beat it every single day, believe me. I'm craving one now while sitting in front of my computer, but instead, I'll have a glass of water or a diet pop. Yes I said diet pop. Because the other half of my "get healthy" quest this year was to try to drop a LOT of weight. I didn't go the surgery route and I didn't do any of the plans or businesses that can help you like Weight Watchers, I just started eating less, eating better, and then started going for walks Memorial Day Weekend. I'm still doing the walks and exercise and you may have seen me walking along 41st Street again this morning when it was all of 32 degrees out there! But it seems to be working as I've lost about 110 pounds in seven months. So has 2007 been a good year so far? The answer is definitely YES and we've still got about 3 1/2 more months of great music, football (even with a bad team like my Vikes this year) and a lot of fun here and on the air. Hope you stay tuned! 

6/10 I admit it, I've been worried about the future of "our" music with the kids today. With the disposable hip-hop and rap crap, and lyrically-lacking, paint peeling hard new rock that so many of the kids listen to, I've thought that there would be no one to carry on the words of Jimi, SRV, Zeppelin and others. I was wrong! A couple weeks ago, you may have heard some graduating seniors from area high schools on with me expounding the virtues of the Allman Brothers, The Beatles and Elvis Costello, which was very cool for me! Yesterday I went to a bake sale to help raise money to stamp out world hunger in children and heard a three year old humming the unmistakable opening riffs to "Smoke On The Water"! And then this morning, I came across this amazing video: http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=513360&cache=1 I always say "You're never too old to rock and roll" and now, thankfully, you're never too young either!

6/3 The first big festival of the season wraps up today in Sioux Falls with the 10th anniversary of RibFest. It's been a lot of work, but a lot of fun so far. Just wish the weather would've been a little better. BBQ and outdoor music calls for 80 degrees, not 59 and rain. But Starship put on a great show Thursday night; Johnny Holm entertained crowds Friday night although it was surprising to see just how much singing he's turned over to his band. Not that it's a bad thing as they're real good, just an observation. Yesterday was B102.7 day at RibFest with Kansas and of course the rain just didn't want to stop. Cold, wet, windy all afternoon kept the crowds way down until things started to lighten up around 7pm or so and there you all came! I saw a TON of familiar faces and talked to many of you that came out. And it's been years since I've seen Kansas in concert and I thought they sounded great, although I would have like to hear them sprinkle in a few more hits in the first hour. Between the relative unfamiliarity of their early songs and the rain drops that didn't want to quit, I watched a lot of people leave early, although from my vantage point on stage when the show opened, I've got to guess the crowd at 15-thousand.  Thanks for coming to RibFest and let's get ready for Summer Jam in three weeks!

4/1 No April Fool's entry here! Just a HUGE rave for Eric Clapton! What an amazing artist! We went to see his birthday show at the Fargodome Friday night. He may be eligible for social security, but I don't hink he's going to need it any time soon. He is an absolute master. I admit I'm a bit biased, with this being the sixth time I've seen him in concert, but he's unbelievable. I was disappointed that the venue didn't sell out though! LOTS of empty seats!?! Those that didn't go, missed a great concert. I especially loved it because it was a lot of Blues, tons of Derek & The Dominoes stuff (including his cover of Little Wing!) He also included Further On Up The Road which I'd never seen him do before Friday either. While the crowd was appreciative of the whole show, you could tell they were there for "the hits" by the ovation he received when he did Wonderful Tonight and Layla. Thank you Eric, for giving US the present on your birthday.

3/26 Wow! I'm getting lazy when it comes to updating my blog! It's been another whirlwind month putting some great shows together and concert tours! We've got some great Classic Rock & Blues shows coming to the area and we've got even more to be announced over the next month! It's going to be a great summer! And for those of you that have been wondering if I've been able to keep up the no smoking AND dieting, the answer is yes! I'm coming up on five months without a cigarette and getting easier and easier every day. And I'm eight weeks into my diet (I told you I've got a long ways to go! lol) but I'm down 48 pounds and counting! Yes I would have been a candidate for the surgery that four people I know have done to great results, but number one, I don't want to have surgery, number two: I couldn't afford the surgery, and number three...see number 1! No Surgery!! Hopefully I'll keep this up and you'll see less and less of me this summer! And thank you for all your well wishes and "way to go's!" It's really appreciated!

2/16 So it's been a month since my last entry? Time flies when you're "dealing" with issues doesn't it? About a month ago I got bronchitis and an ear infection (I hate winter!) and as stubborn as I am, I finally went to the doctor to get some antibiotics. I got those AND marching orders to get on a blood pressure medication and start losing weight! (It sucks getting old!) I had planned on trying to lose weight once I got the quitting smoking down (14 weeks without a cigarette and counting!) but the doc just sort of forced my hand a bit. Maybe I needed it because I've now gone three weeks without pop (I was a 3-4 can a day Mountain Dew drinker!) and I've lost 22 pounds in three weeks (with a hell of a lot more to go, but it's a start!) between losing the pop and dieting, my blood pressure has come down over 20 points too. I'm not writing this to brag, but to let you know that if you want to quit smoking, or quit drinking (like I did about 20 years ago) or lose weight...you can. You're never too old. Sometimes you can do it with will power like I did. Maybe you need help (my girlfriend is four weeks smoke-free thanks to Chantix) or you need to be able to vent to a friend (believe me, my friends have heard a LOT in the past three months!) Whatever way you choose, if you want to make a change, so far, I'm living proof that you can.

1/11 What? Two postings in less than a week? Something must've pissed Crash off! And yes it did! I was leafing through the Link in this morning's newspaper when I came across an ad for a local sub shop that I've frequented and will continue to go to. Today's ad caught my eye because it was an apology for their ad that had run the previous week that used a family picture from the owner's family with a caption "Oh My God" explaining how much his one year old niece had enjoyed her sandwich. Apparantly someone, or a group of people, I don't know who or how many made this business owner feel so uncomfortable that he felt he needed to issue a public apology. OH MY GOD! Lighten up people! What happened to free speech? Yes it's one of the Ten Commandments, but if that's offensive, where has the Catholic Church been on priests screwing altar boys all these years?!? Like it or not, that phrase is used very loosely these days. You hear and see even worse during prime time television compared to the times we grew up in during the 60's and 70's. It's a sign of the times. Deal with it. And take comfort in the fact that he didn't caption his niece saying that "that's a great f^*#ing sandwich"!

1/6 Sportswriters are soon going to be deciding this year's inductees to the Hall of Fame. While Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken are no-brainers, everyone wonders about Mark McGwire. He hit 583 homers in his career and along with Sammy Sosa, basically "saved" baseball and brought fans back after a painful strike cancelled the '94 World Series. The home run race they waged in '98 was the stuff of legend. But Big Mac is suspected of using steroids. We know he used andro. But do we really think he was the only one? A columnist said she won't vote for McGwire because she wouldn't be able to explain it to her kids. A vote for McGwire is hardly an endorsement of drug use. The way people are "protecting" the kids is a little ridiculous. Janet Jackson's nipple was so traumatic that live sporting events are now taped delayed and Howard Stern jumped to satellite radio to escape the facist FCC. At the same time, any kid can get a look at Britney Spears' crotch if he or she is even remotely familiar with Google, and anyone can be slandered on a message board or a blog like this one. And McGwire's "drug use" has never been proven, only rumored. I mean, "rumor is", JFK cheated on his wife...should we change the name of the airport and remove his memorabilia from the Smithsonian? I hate to break the news to the baseball purists who want to pretend that baseball is some perfect world, but people have been cheating in baseball for decades. They've fixed games, stolen signs, corked bats, slimed baseballs, popped greenies, and yes, injected steroids and rubbed hGH cream. Baseball players, like all of us, are imperfect. Babe Ruth proved it in the 20's and Pete Rose & Mark McGwire proved it for this generation. Let's do the right thing...vote in Mark McGwire and Pete Rose and then inscribe on their plaques that one bet on his own team and the other is suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs. If you want to continue "protecting the kids", then don't take them to Cooperstown...let them surf the internet and watch movies...there's nothing objectionable there!***On 1/9, the voting was revealed. Tony Gwynn & Cal Ripken Jr. were rightfully voted in...Mark McGwire needed 75% of the votes to be enshrined...he received 23.

12/20 No Rants...No Raves...but I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I'm not going to get into all the non-demoninational BS and having to watch what you say in the days of political correctness...I was raised with Christmas, so that's what I'm wishing you...a Merry Christmas. Celebrate any way you want, believe in what you want, just do it safe, enjoy your time with friends and family and we'll get together again on the 27th!

12/9 Today makes four weeks since I quit smoking! I gotta tell you, it's by far the hardest thing I've ever done and if I had to do it over, I would've gone on the patch, nicorette, welbutrin, zyban and anything else the docs would've given me! But I've made it a month cold turkey and the cravings are starting to go away, and that damn oral fixation is starting to dissipate too...maybe I can actually try to lose weight after the New Year (one demon at a time o.k.? lol) For those of you that have quit, or are in the process of doing so (like my girlfriend) I feel your pain and maybe we should start a support group like A.A. or N.A. or something to get us through. And with that lovely $1 a pack tax that got passed last month (and part of the reason I'm putting myself through this) it looks like the proponents got their wish and a lot of us will quit smoking. I'd offer to be their poster boy, but unfortunately I was born with a face made for radio! Good luck to everyone who's trying to quit!! I feel your pain and I'm with you all the way!

9/14 HUGE raves for Jackpot Junction in Morton, MN! They threw their first Barbecue & Blues Festival last weekend with a great lineup! I admit that we were a little slow getting moving, so unfortunately we missed Bobby Blue Bland and Maria Muldaur. But we arrived in time for a great set from the Blind Boys of Alabama who did awesome covers of Spirit In The Sky and People Get Ready! The epitome of cool, Dr. John came swaggering out in a blood red suit and did a short, but killer set including his hit Right Place, Wrong Time. Next was one of my all-time favorites, Buddy Guy. Buddy put on maybe the best set I've ever heard him give...71 years old and you woulda thought he was half that! The night ended with another great set from a guitarist who has literally gotten better every one of the seven times I've seen him...Jonny Lang just keeps getting better and better. Kudos to Jackpot Junction and already looking forward to their second annual event...hopefully with a little warmer weather!

9/11 I was planning on writing a review of the great Blues concert at Jackpot Junction over the weekend, but have decided to wait until tomorrow in deference to the five year anniversary of one of those moments in history that you'll always remember where you were...I was just walking into the radio station at our old location on Spring Avenue and the KSOO studio was the first thing I'd see on my way to my office. I looked in the window and saw about a dozen people in the studio huddled around the TV watching what looked to me at first glance, a scene from a Bruce Willis or Arnold movie. Instead it was the World Trade Center on fire. I remember the days following the tragedy wondering how to handle the news coming in...do we stay with continuous coverage? do we just do updates and continue playing music? I know we did the right thing in carrying ABC News Coverage continually, and suspending regular programming. And I also think back on this, the anniversary of 9/11, about all the incredible acts of heroism in the days and weeks directly following the tragedy by Fire & Police and Port Authority and just regular citizens like you and I...and I want to take a moment to thank all the brave men and women who have fought for our way of life in the years since 9/11 and remember those who have given their lives for us...

9/1 I've been meaning to write about this since last weekend's Loverboy/Eddie Money concert in Mitchell last weekend, but haven't had the time until now. Many of you heard me talk about it on the air how Loverboy has never failed to put on a great show (this being my 4th time seing them!) but Eddie seemed "out of sorts"...I don't want to start rumors that he was on something since I have no proof other than his disjointed performance. But it made me a little sad to see these bands at the same time I was having so much fun. I started thinking that 20 years ago, these bands were selling out stadiums and now they can't sell out a glorified high school gym. I guess if they still enjoy what they're doing, more power to them! But if it's something that they "have" to do because of bad investments, bad relationships, bad drug habits, whatever, it does get a little sad because what else are they trained for? Can you imagine walking into a Walmart and seeing Eddie Money as the guy getting your cart for you? Or Mike Reno asking if you want fries with that? It's not going to stop me from going to classics concerts but I might be watching them with a slightly different perspective from now on.

8/2 Well at least I'm consistent about getting an entry in here every month or so! Sorry! But summer is the busy time in radio trying to get some cool stuff for you all to win but after spending the last few days around the Twin Cities, it was time to write again. Last week before I left on vacation, I was talking to my co-worker Chad McKenzie and we were extolling the virtues of living in Sioux Falls. We both love it here and know how good we have it and again, after spending several days around the Twin Cities, that fact is even more true. The reasons are many, but here are a few of them: Watching the news in Minnesota for four days, they ran through murders number 33-39 for the year. I don't know if there's been that many in South Dakota in the decade I've lived here, much less six months! Housing. We know there's an apartment "crunch" here, but after having friends from the Twin Cities in to visit and hearing about $1500 rent for what costs half that here, well you get the idea. Traffic. Yes I admit I avoid 41st & Louise on the weekends because it adds an extra 5-10 minutes to my travel, but driving through Minneapolis at 11:30 on a Tuesday morning took 68 minutes to travel eight miles. Can you imagine trying to commute each day? Leave at 5:00 in the morning to make it to work by 7:30? Not getting home until 7 or 8 at night for an eight hour workday? No thanks! While it's true there may be more "choices" or more entertainment, I'll take the low crime, relatively low rent, low traffic of Sioux Falls and drive the three and a half hours up to a concert when I want to go any day of the week!

7/2 I know it's been over a month since my last entry, and I apologize! Just been a little crazy lately with getting Angie and I out in the public, planning for some great events like Hot Summer Nights, JazzFest & The Sioux Empire Fair, and of course, trying to spend a little time with my family. I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish all of you a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. You know me...I'd never tell you NOT to party...I just want you to do it right. If you have too much to drink, or too much, ummmm, anything...just stay where you're at or have someone SOBER drive you home. I don't want to lose any of you and I KNOW your family doesn't want to lose you! And when you light up your fireworks Tuesday, just remember the kids, because we don't wan them to get hurt either. This Public Service Message has been brought to you by Crash's conscience...which did entirely too many stupid things in it's youth, but grew up enough now to realize it was stupid, and doesn't want you making the same mistakes. I got lucky...I've known way too many people whose luck ran out. Have a great holiday...and I promise to rip someone's ass the next time! lol

5/26: I got a chance to see The DaVinci Code the other night. I'm still at a bit of a loss why this has become such a hot-button topic. The Catholic Church is urging their congregation to boycott the film, based on the book by Dan Brown which claims that the Catholic Church basically made up the story of Christ being a deity and it also claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child named Sarah. If the book and movie were based on facts that had been hidden all these years (as is the claim in the book), then yes, the Church would want to defend itself, but can't we just view it as I did when I read it, and then watched the movie...as entertainment? If Dan Brown or Tom Hanks were to produce these ancient manuscripts that show everything that Brown has written, then it should bring about all these talk shows, and specials on the History Channel, and the Church "banning" the film, just as they did with Passion Of The Christ. Seems like that banning didn't hurt Mel Gibson too much, and I'm sure this one won't hurt Hanks. I'm just saying, go see the movie, read the book, open dialogue about Theology, but keep in mind, bottom line...it's HOLLYWOOD PEOPLE! Do you think they're the one's that are going to be breaking the "True" story of the Bible???

5/22 OK, I was very excited when the new season of The Sopranos finally came back to HBO a couple months ago and until last night, I couldn't have been more disappointed. I've spent the season watchin Vito utter the words "I Love You JohnnyCakes" instead of whacking some schlub for non-payment. I have no problem with homosexuality, I just don't want it thrown in my face during the Sopranos! I want to see them at the Bing, figuring out angles, what to do about Johnny Sak, dealing with Chris' addiction and what to do if Adriana's body turns up. Finally last night we got an episode that is more what we've come to expect rather than Brokeback Mountain comes to Jersey! It's time to let Silvio and Paulie Walnuts loose on the New York Family and wind up what has been one of the most anti-climactic comebacks by a storied television series.

5/17 It's funny how things change as you get older. Of course there's the obvious things like the way we look but I started thinking about it since I'm "baching" it this week. My girlfriend went to Colorado for 10 days to see the kids and I was thinking that if this had happened in my 20's or even early 30's, it'd be time to have the "gang" over for a poker game with cigars and plenty of beer and then the next night it'd be off to Scarlett's. Running around town, flirting, just being the "single guy". But when you get into your early 40's, things change. You may think about doing those things, but reality sets in with trying to get up for work the next morning and knowing what a night of poker, cigars and beer would do to you. My good time while I'm being single guy? Complete control of the TV remote in the evening and cooking whatever the hell I want for dinner! Either the food that she doesn't like and won't cook, or doing things like having a plate of Eggo's and a half pound of bacon for dinner...three straight nights! Funny how things change huh?

5/10 I couldn't sleep last night so I was watching Letterman for the first time in about a year. First of all, it really seems like he's mailing it in and the end is near, which is sad to say since he was such an innovator for the Late Night format. But the thing that pissed me off is having to see Britney Spears pop in to announce that she's pregnant again. Who cares?!?!?! Why is this news or entertaining to anyone outside her family? And I think about these poor kids! True, Momma's rich, but she's dumber than a box of hair! There's been several incidents "in the news" that paint her as an unfit mother from driving down the street in L.A. with the kid in her lap, to the kid taking a dive out of the high chair and now she's going to have another one?!?! And let's not forget the kids getting to go to school down the road and introduce daddy, who prefers to be called "K-Fed"! What grown man calls himself K-Fed? Can all the celebrities just go back into hiding unless they're out promoting a new movie, TV Show, album, etc.? I ranted about Tom Cruise a few days ago and now this. I know some people love this kind of stuff otherwise shows like Entertainment Tonight wouldn't have lasted this long, but when I do internet searches for "News" and this is what comes up? Come on! I KNOW there's more news than that out there!

5/8 The new Mission Impossible opened this weekend and even though the previews make it look action packed and there's a great supporting cast, I have absolutely no desire to see it, even when it comes out on video. The reason? Tom Cruise. He's become such a freak! The whole jumping on Oprah's couch and domination of Katie, oops I mean "Kate" Holmes (Cruise made her change it because he says "Katie" is a little girl's name, not a mother) he's just become too strange in his real life for me to want to see any of his movies. While "bizarre" and "strange" works for someone like Crispin Glover, a "mega-star" like Cruise just doesn't seem believable in these star turns anymore. Whatever happened to stars wanting their privacy? Please Tom, go back in the closet!

5/1 The NFL Draft has come and gone but the talk continues and yes, it's one of my favorite times of the year! I thought our Vikings did fine with new Coach Childress at the helm, grabbing Mount Vernon, SD native Chad Greenway in the first round to hopefully ring up 100+ tackles a year for the next decade or so. The rest of the draft was definitely for "need" getting a QB to groom under Johnson, some seconday help and offensive line depth, although there were several "reaches". We'll see how thing turn out this fall. The rest of the teams, definite hits and misses. A few of them? Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush??? Williams better be Reggie White and Alan Page in one big fast package! Who the hell did the Bills take at #8? Instead of trading it for more picks (and yes they had many offers!) they took a DB who was expected to go late first round, early second! lol I hate to say it, but the Packers did great, getting a couple of great linebackers in Hawk and Hodge. Denver also had a great draft, trading up to get Cutler at QB and trading for Javon Walker. And Denny Green is STILL smiling in the desert today after getting QB Matt Leinert at #10! Only time will tell if there are future hall of famers in the draft, but for geeks like me, the speculation is the best part!

4/28 I love it when Neil Young gets pissed off! It feels like the late 60's/early 70's with political unrest, citizens questioning the war, gas prices skyrocketing, and political singers coming back to the forefront. Something has set Neil Young off and he has written and recorded his new CD titled Living With War. He was so wound up that he wrote AND recorded it in just three days! I spent the morning listening to the full CD on a web stream on the front page of our website and it's fantastic! While you may not agree with Neil's politics, to hear him ripping into his electric guitar and singing with anger again is worth the price of admission! Read the story and hear the album for free here!

4/23 Is Hollywood out of fresh ideas? We went to see The Hills Have Eyes last night. I saw the original years ago and we're fans of spooky movies, so we thought we'd give it a try. "Bleh" is the word that came to mind when it was over. Maybe I'm just tired of things like Mission Impossible 3, or Scary Movie 4. I understand when something is successful, you try to duplicate it's success. Hell, they made SIX Star Wars movies over 30 years! But maybe it's time for some of the big studios to think outside the box and give some younger screenwriters and filmmakers a chance to try something new instead of formulaic. Quentin Tarantino is maybe the last "newbie" that was given a chance and you can definitely say that he doesn't follow a pattern, and tries new things with his writing. If I see his name attached to a film, at least I know we're going to get a show! Or maybe I'm just getting cranky.

4/19 Did I really see a letter to the editor in the Argus Leader this morning from someone who was "shocked" by what she saw at the Motley Crue concert? She apparantly was so offended that she left before the show even started? Did she really not know who Motley Crue are? Did she miss the posters for the show that had the band posing with the strippers and the fire-breathing midget? Was she assuming that songs like Girls, Girls, Girls; Shout At The Devil and all the rest were going to be sung by a band with flowers in their hair and carrying teddy bears? Please tell me that someone was just playing a joke on the newspaper to see if they'd actually print it! Or maybe she thought she was buying tickets for the Gaither Homecoming and ended up at the Crue show...I can't imagine that the other show starts with claymation figures talking sex and drugs and them coming out with "How the F*** you doing Sioux Falls? We're the F***ing Gaithers! lol

4/14 This is getting ridiculous! I was watching some TV last night when I caught a local promo for an upcoming special from one of our local TV stations. I won't name them, but what station over-reacts every time a few storm clouds get in the area? You know which one I'm talking about! Next week, they're doing a half-hour special on all their new toys for "storm-tracking". Do we really need a half hour special when the staff can't use it to predict storms? Is it going to be a half hour of spreading fear and panic? Hell, I was at the laundromat this morning and the TV was tuned to this particular station. There is a chance of some storms in the area tomorrow and they're spreading fear of huge hail, damaging winds, and "tornadic activity". I'm not heading for shelter with canned goods, candles and a portable radio quite yet since their track record has been less than stellar over the past, oh, I don't know, five years or so, but IF things turn bad, tune in to our station, we'll have the real story, not millions of dollars worth of equipment that no one knows how to use, but looks fancy with all the pretty colors!

4/10 I wanted to take a minute to remember a friend and colleague that passed away this weekend. Dan Kieley is a name many of you may remember from his days at KKRC here in Sioux Falls. I first met Dan when we worked together at Hit 100 in Rapid City in the early 90's. He was one of the best Program Directors in radio and proved it by going on to Sweet 98 in Omaha, KDWB in Minneapolis and KIIS in L.A. Dan passed away from a heart attack over the weekend at 51. There are plenty of rumors circulating about substance abuse, but I can honestly say that in the year or so that I was close friends with him, I never saw him use anything stronger than beer to boil his bratwurst. I was fortunate enough to land out there for my first gig fresh out of Brown and got a chance to be friends with and learn from the people that have shaped me into the PD that I am today: Dan Kieley, Michael Steele (aka Adam Thunder), Bob Lewis and Scott Maguire. Dan may have had his personal problems, but who among us hasn't? Those of us who were fortunate enough to work with him know how passionate he was about this industry, and how good he was at it. He will be missed.

4/9 So I went off on missing the "big city" when I last posted...I had my taste of it again this weekend while visiting frineds and family in the Twin Cities. And as much as I enjoy going back there, I don't think there's any chancew I could live there again. First, it took us nearly a half hour to go two miles where 35W and 62 come together for a stretch. Now I've heard that the state is going to blow up that area and start from scratch to make it easier for commuters, but damn! It doesn't take you a half hour to get anywhere in this town, ever. Then since I'm an admitted sports geek, I was in town for my annual fantasy baeball draft and was listening to sports talk radio. The topic? The murder on Block E downtown last weekend near the Target Center and the fact that downtown Minneapolis was essentially a ghost town all this weekend. They weren't talking about Kevin Garnett possibly getting traded away from the Wolves, the Twins getting off to a horrible start to the season, or the Vikings holding a mini-camp in Eden Prairie. Let's just take a couple seconds to remember how lucky we are to be living in a clean, relatively traffic-free and violent crime-free area.

4/6 I love living here in Sioux Falls. Yes the city continues to grow by leaps and bounds, but we still have that small town "feel". Spending the first 20+ years of my life living in Minneapolis, yes, I know the difference between a big city and a small town. But when it comes to getting information and putting together concert promotions for our loyal listeners, I wish we could take a clue from the big boys. A perfect example: I got a leak that Tom Petty was going to do two shows in St. Paul in June the day before he announced the tour plans. Then I got a call this morning from the Xcel Energy Center and the production company asking if I'd be interested in giving away some tickets. Well of course I said "hell yes!" On the other hand, I got word from the band Poison earlier this week when they released their schedule that they, along with support act Cinderella, would be at the Sioux Falls Arena June 18th. Here's a show actually coming to our city, and yet not a word from the production company or the Arena, yet before there's even an official word from a venue 250 miles away, I've already been contacted twice about doing some promotion and giving away tickets. Sometimes I miss the pace of the big city.

4/2 Of course I went to the Motley Crue concert at the Arena last night! And it's worthy of both rants and raves! Raves for SMG and the Arena for taking a "risk" and booking Motley Crue to play Sioux Falls! If you were at the show, you know it paid off with what had to be well over 5000 in attendance. Raves for the band! That was one hell of a rock show! Over two hours of head-bangin', fist-pumpin' rock! Thank you to the band for coming and to the fans for turning out! The rant side...well those of us who stood in lines down the hallway to just get into the show I'm sure all had a problem with it. It took until 7:45 for them to finally man (and woman) the security check points with enough staff to get us into the Arena on time (having the band delay the start 20 minutes helped that along!) But my biggest problem was with the security (or lack thereof). Near the front of the stage on our side, security was made up of a man in his 20's that had that "deer in the headlights" look for the entire show, and a woman of about 50, standing all of five foot nothing and weighing about 100 pounds dripping wet. They were "armed" with their trusty flashlights. My point is if the Arena knew that it was going to be a large, and likely inebriated crowd, why didn't they hire a security company or off-duty police officers to help? A few rows back from where we were sitting, one such drunken kid picked up his first warning ten minutes before the curtain and after twenty some-odd warnings he still had not been tossed despite numerous complaints and in fact he started a fight (which he lost with one punch) and still, no security there until it was to carry his carcass out the door. They seemed more concerned with waving their lights at fans to try to get them to stop standing on their chairs. Here's a clue...Sioux Falls and the surrounding area LOVES their rock, and they LOVE their beer. The next time you decide to mix the two, PLEASE hire security guards who know how to take out the trash.

3/30 Has it really been nine days since I had anything to say? I've had plenty to say, just not the time, you know how that goes. This is usually one of my favorite times of the year...baseball opening day just days away and I get home to watch ESPN in the evening and instead of Grapefruit League and Cactus League action, it's steroids, steroids, steroids. Why is this suddenly such a huge topic? And it all focuses squarely on Barry Bonds. Is it because Bonds hasn't been the most likable character in his career and now that he's suddenly on the brink of breaking the all-time home run record? Or is it because Major League Baseball is losing sponsors of any celebration that would come from the record breaking home run? This is the same league that heralded Sosa and McGwire for "saving" baseball when they BOTH broke Roger Maris' single season home run record and c'mon! It was obvious the guys were on the juice! I remember watching an Atlanta pre-season game in the mid-90's when a little middle infielder named Ron Gant came back after the winter looking like Popeye! Chicks dig the long ball, remember that slogan? The league, and the commissioner especially, looked the other way while these players did anything they could or wanted, to stay in the public eye and cash the big checks. And who can blame them? It wasn't technically illegal. Now with BALCO and all the rest, Commisioner Selig decides it's time to crack down on steroids. Gee Bud, weren't you an owner when the rage started? Haven't you been commish while it's burned out of control? Maybe the investigation should start in Selig's office.

3/21 How hard is it to predict the weather? Really. I'd like to know! No snow in the forecast for Sioux Falls, yet I spent ten minutes brushing off something white and cold from my truck this morning! I think we're all starting to not believe what the weather guys are telling us. Perfect example, the storm predicted west river this past weekend and a no travel advisory issued. This one they got right, however so many people didn't believe it that they were stranded in Wall, or worse, in a ditch! But I can understand trying to make it...all last week the weather guys were predicting a snow storm for Sioux Falls starting on Sunday and lasting until today. I didn't see any snow on Sunday; yesterday I had a few flakes on my windshield, and today...again, when there was NO SNOW in the forecast, we end up with 28 school announcements! Here's to hoping they get a hell of a lot better before the summer storm season hits!

3/17 Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! I love the way Sioux Falls embraces the holiday and goes all out to celebrate! We went out to lunch at Nutty's today and saw people streaming in the door decked out from head to toe in green, with the green beer flowing early! Party your ass off on the day where we're all honorary Irish men and women, just do me a favor and get a McDesignated Driver, would ya? I want to make sure you're here to celebrate all the rest of the holidays with us and get ready for a great summer at RibFest, Hot Summer Nights, JazzFest, the Sioux Empire Fair and all the rest...there's plenty more days and nights for beer drinking ahead!

3/14 My beloved Minnesota Vikings will have a very different look next season and I can't say that's a bad thing. News today has the Vikings trading "franchise" quarterback Daunte Culpepper to the Miami Dolphins for a second round pick in 2007. Was it just a couple years ago that the Vikings tri-leaders were Culpepper, Randy Moss and Coach Mike Tice? Was it really just a few seasons ago that they were the fashionable pick to go to the Super Bowl? Then the crap started. Tice busted for scalping Super Bowl tickets before being fired and catching on in Jacksonville with the Jags staff; Moss' tactics included running over a traffic cop, fake-dropping his pants at Lambeau and leaving his teammates on the sidelines before the end of the game among the "highlights" before being shipped to Oakland. And Culpepper, the captain of the "Love Boat", the guy who threw Moss under the bus instigating the trade, the QB who blew out his knee mercifully ending a horrible season--then throwing additional teammates under the bus, demanding a trade by e-mailing local media and ESPN, and demanding a raise after all of that! Hard to walk with balls that big! So now he's Miami's problem and good riddance. I was a HUGE fan of all three of them, but for a team to succeed, you need leaders, and with "leaders" like that, the Vikings were going to be awful for a long time. So now it's Coach Childress; Brad Johnson gets a crack at the starting position and a wide receiver battle will ensue. Chester Taylor takes over at running back for the Whizzinator and hopefully the franchise will regain the glory (yes and four Super Bowl losses you Packer fans!) of the days of Bud Grant and maybe start a new tradition of making headlines in the Sports Section rather than the police blotter.

3/13 Have kids gotten soft? I went out for driving in the snow last night and didn't see any kids out sledding! Growing up, we couldn't wait for great snowfalls like we had yesterday so we could get bundled up, head for the nearest hill and go zipping down it at top speeds, even building our own moguls to go flying! Most school systems had at least a two hour late start this morning, and again, driving to work early this morning near places you'd expect to see filled with little Michelin boys and girls, it was empty! Too busy with the X-Box? Sitting on the couch watching cartoons? Maybe it was because we didn't have those luxuries when we were kids, or grew up on the poor side like I did, but we made our own fun, playing in the snow until we were almost frostbitten! Ah, the good old days! Maybe it's time we toss the kiddies (and grandkids!) out into a snowbank until they learn what old-fashioned fun is all about!

3/10 I can't believe I'm going to rave about a TV show, but after nearly a two year wait, my "family" returns this weekend! The exploits of Anthony & Carmella, Dr. Melfi, nephew Christopher, Uncle Junior, Johnny Sack, crazy sister Janice, Paulie Walnuts, and let's not forget Silvio down at the Bing! Yes, your favorite gangsters and mine the Sopranos are back on HBO this Sunday night! I really hope that the hype doesn't outdo the show. We've waited too long to see the angst of being a Mob boss dealing with family, "family", and a therapist you want to jump, not to mention looking over your shoulder afraid of being whacked! Fuggedabouit, I'm just happy to pull up a chair at Nuovo Vesuvio Restaurant, with a big plate of ricotta pie, talk about our goomars and just enjoy being with our favorite dysfunctional La Familia! For more on the Sopranos, click here!

3/8 Just as the World Baseball Classic got underway, the spotlight instead is shining on the dirty little secret known as steroids. Commissioner Bud Selig thought he had made it all go away with his new "get tough on drugs" tactics, but a new book that will be highlighted in Sports Illustrated says that the games biggest star, Barry Bonds, has been ingesting everything, including female hormones since 1998, started by his jealousy of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Did you really think Barry would go from the slender, base stealing machine he was to the monster squeezed into a Giants uniform and smashing 73 home runs in one season without help? If so, I've got some nice swamp land I'd like to show you, and I'll throw in the Brooklyn Bridge! His head looks like an orange on a juiced up toothpick! If Selig really wants to clean up baseball, he'd increase the drug tests and talk to the same dealers that got the players started on how to defeat the drug-masking agents. I understand it's a competitive business playing on that level, but the passing this week of Kirby Puckett shows that you don't have to have the body chiseled out of stone (and non-existent testicles!) like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, etc., to succeed and have a Hall of Fame career.

3/6 Back to the rant I promised from yesterday...I went out to grab my girlfriend and I a bite to eat at an unnamed fast food restaurant here in Sioux Falls yesterday morning and found the line in the drive thru around the building. So I went in and while no one was waiting to order, there were about a dozen disgruntled looking cutomers standing in the lobby, half-filled trays of food on the counter and a half-dozen workers literally satnding around! I no more than stepped up to order when one of the other customers asked to speak to a manager, who by the way was nowhere to be seen before this. When she appeared, he demanded a refund and said he had watched half his order sit on the counter for over ten minutes and had been waiting a total of twenty minutes! (And they call it fast food? At the same time an elderly woman came from the women's rest room and informed the one person actually working the counter that there was no paper in the washroom. Her response was to put her hands on the side of her head and look scared...scared enough to not bother taking any of the orders of the now six or seven people waiting to place one! The manager gave attitude to the customer wanting a refund, and all I could think was "is there no pride in having a job in the public anymore"? Like a lot of you, one of my first jobs was in fast food. I worked my way to manager at 16 while going to school, getting on the Honor Society and playing football and basketball. Yet a lot of these kids today think they deserve better, will only work when they want to, not when they're scheduled. I finally walked away (15 minutes later by the way) with half my order under cooked and the other half over cooked and vowed to never go back again. Being in the position I'm in with the media, I cannot and will not reveal the name of the restaurant, but if you've been in the same position lately, believe me, you're not the only person disgusted by the lack of work ethic being displayed not only here in the Sioux Falls area, but across the country, and not only by the teenagers, but "older" workers as well. It's time to take a little pride in what you do!

3/5 I was all set for a good rant early this afternoon and decided to take a mental break before posting it to watch a little spring training baseball as the Twins were taking on the World Champion Red Sox. I turned on the TV to the news of Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett undergoing emergency surgery following a stroke this morning. For Twins fans everywhere, we've had our share of stars: Killebrew, Oliva, Carew, Blyleven, etc. but the indelible image that the square little body of Kirby Puckett cast will be the image that most likely pops into mind first. He came to the majors in 1984 with a smile that would light up any stadium and his hustle helped make the Twins World Champions twice during his career, in 1987 and 1991, a career that was cut short by glaucoma after only 12 seasons. Whether the memory you have of him was the leaping grab against the wall in the '91 Series, raising his arm while circling the bases after a big home run, signing an autograph for you when you were a kid waiting outside the Dome,  wearing sunglasses to protect his damaged eye at his Hall of Fame induction, or just the infectious smile and laugh of the giant teddy bear,   or watching on TV and hearing late public address announcer Bob Casey bring him to the plate with Kirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrby Puckett! ***3/12 Of course we all know now that Kirby didn't recover and was laid to rest today. I watched the tribute from the Metrodome, and like a lot of his former teammates, and the fans in attendance, I admit, I got a little misty-eyed watching and listening as they paid tribute to one of my all-time favorite players. Rest In Peace Kirby, and as John Gordon always said "Touch 'Em All!" We'll miss your smile and exuberance.***

3/4 Sure it's the weekend, but do you really think I take any time off? I went to work to get a few things done this morning and got an e-mail from the Pavilion about adding a second show for Ron White! This town may not sell out too many music concerts (doesn't matter what type of music it is) but we love to laugh! From Ron White, to the Friends of the Bob & Tom Show, to Larry The Cable Guy, to Rodney Carrington and many others, here's a "rave" for the comedy fans in and around the Sioux Empire and to Ron White for adding a second show to May 10th! You can learn more about the Ron White show coming to the Pavilion here. 

3/3/06  Baseball is in the air with Spring Training games getting underway and fantasy drafts warming up, but the new World Baseball Classic is throwing a wrench into everything. While I wouldn't mind seeing the world's best baseball players compete for their countries, I'd much rather see it in say, November when we have no baseball rather than seeing the biggest stars competing at a time they're just trying to get ready to help their teams get to the World Series. Think of the Twins chances should something happen to Santana while he's pitching in the WBC, think they'd have a prayer of catching the White Sox? I know it could happen in a spring training game just as easy, but the thought of your favorite player or team being crushed by something that could easily be held after the season would really take the joy out of getting ready for a summer of box scores. I'm not to go "Bryant Gumbel" on the WBC and say I'm not watching because there isn't enough white guys or anything like that, I'm not watching because it's taking away from my enjoyment of spring training baseball and getting ready for the fantasy draft with the rest of us geeks!