So what is this most momentous news?  Bryant Gumbel has been replaced on the NFL network football broadcasts this year.  I get heady just thinking about it.  There has never been a poorer broadcaster in the history of broadcasting, and I include the 'boom goes the dynamite guy' in this.  At least Brian Collins of Ball State knew that he was sucking.  Bryant Gumbel, on the other hand, brought the added irritant of being an arrogant ass to go with his ignorant and distracted commentating.

I had high hopes for a very professional channel that would provide the average NFL fan with tons of worthwhile information when this network was started, but Gumbel, alone, kept anyone from taking the venture too seriously.  By dropping this 'boat anchor', they have a good chance to rehabilitate their image.  I do not know a whole lot about his replacement, but his radio background should help.

I, personally, would like to see this network recreate my favorite NFL show, Inside the NFL with real hosts, not the spares that they populate much of the productions on this network with (excepting Collinsworth).  If they did, I would watch it every week.

Incredible. REALLY, REALLY incredible. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure this out - special thanks to the Athletic Women Blog for posting about this.

It seems IOC members had another agenda with their decision to eliminate softball, or so some claim. Apparently, IOC members may have voted to eliminate softball and baseball as a way to protest the United States' involvement in Iraq.

But, in a true testament of faithful dedication, girls have been writing letters, and the IOC has been receiving their thoughts. Check out this video of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, which aired on June 24. Jessica Mendoza is pissed.

If you would like to see softball re-instated in the Olympics, check out Save Women's Softball. Become involved. Let them hear your voice.

Today's clip comes from a news reporter filming a story. Where and when all of this took place? I haven't the slightest idea, but it's funny as all hell! 

Watch this video and peep how dude transforms from Bryant Gumbel to Trick Daddy in a matter of seconds when a bug flies in his mouth...lol

Absolutely hilarious!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

We're not the only ones blogging about this issue today. Alex Waldrop, the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) tackles it today in his blog, in which he recognizes the particular challenge of uniting all of the different stakeholders one finds in racing - fans, breeders, trainers, owners, backstretch help, jockeys, racetrack owners - many of whom are frequently at odds, but all of whom should be united in the interest of self-preservation. Without improved welfare for horses - on track and off, actively racing or retired from running (or breeding, for that matter) - the sport risks a public relations debacle that could negatively impact the sport. Don't believe us? Ask the greyhound racing folks, who suffered a collapse in their sport after the public became aware of what happens to greyhounds when their careers are over.

Interestingly, the NTRA could learn from the American Greyhound Track Operators, who incorporated language outlining the care and treatment of dogs on and off the into their guiding statements and principles.

******************************************************************************************************************

Liam

Last night the HBO show "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" aired a segment on the slaughter of Thoroughbred racehorses. The show didn't hold back - it showed horses that were no longer making it at the track being loaded onto the meat man's trailer, then going to auction. Viewers were also treated to a good look at the kill floor at now closed US slaughter plants, where the captive bolt is the preferred (but imperfect) means of dispatch. The show also had footage from a slaughter house in Mexico, where the methods make the captive bolt look like a blessing. It was tough viewing, all around.

Prince

But this writer is glad that it was shown, and hopes that it opens some eyes. Tonight at the barn, just hours before the show aired, a variety of racetrack rejects were going through their paces. Liam was giving Ramon, a friend of his owner Christy, his third riding lesson. The big chestnut was the very model of comportment, trotting smoothly on the longe line. His left ankle is the size of a softball - it's full of pins and some arthritis too - but once he warms up and the stiffness is gone, Liam is an athlete once again. (He's so busy, in fact, he has is own blog!)

Jag

As Liam was heading back to his stall, Jag was heading to the arena. Christy and Sarah stopped to talk for a moment. While they chatted, Sarah mindlessly scratched Jag's head. His eyes grew heavier, and he leaned his head on her shoulder. It took a little to rouse him, and the two went for a short ride. They're both green, but Jag has proven over and over again that he was blessed with a substantial amount of horse sense.

Liam, and Jag, and Knightley, and Blessing - and other faces that look out of stalls up and down the shedrow - have more in common than their breed and racing background. All were saved from slaughter. All are now in loving homes, leading productive lives. All are worth considerably more as riding horses and companions than they are were they to be sold by the pound.

And therein lies the opportunity that Wood End is working so hard to exploit. Horses coming off the track have real value, and if we can unlock that value, we can provide racetrack owners and trainers with an attractive economic incentive not send their horses to slaughter.

Want to help? Volunteer, or donate, to Wood End, or another horse rescue of your choice. Thank you!

Y'know, when someone mentions the NFL Network they usually talk about how bad Bryant Gumbel is. While I completely agree, because they who trash him are completely right, where's the positive talk? Everything's about how terrible of a commentator Gumbel is or how awful it is that NFL Network keeps Thursday and Saturday night games ensconced late in the year.

Where's the credit given to Rich Eisen? Most people I know who are avid watchers of the NFL Network agree with me when I say this: Eisen's the man! The former SportsCenter anchor, now-NFL Network Total Access host has some of the funniest and wittiest things to say. Not to mention he keeps it cool, under pressure, y'know, and is collective with his thoughts and doesn't screw up like Gumbel.

I know Rich wrote a book and put it out on the market last October, but I never had the time to check it out. I plan to pick it up this weekend and finish it in a few days. The book is called Total Access: A Journey to the Center of the NFL Universe. From the reviews I've read, Eisen's wit and humor is back again in the book and is nothing short of his comical excellence that he exemplifies on Total Access. Not to mention some inside scoop on the NFL itself, the scouting combine and, of course, the nonchalantness of the Pro Bowl.

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Bryant Gumbel has announced that he is leaving the NFL Network after 2 years being a play by play announcer for the show. Bryant Gumbel is still currently hosting "HBO's Real Sports" on HBO.

Those who don't know who Bryant Gumbel is, he is the former head news anchor for the "Today Show", he retired from the "Today Show" way back in 1997, that's when Matt Lauer took his place.

The Hollywood Reporter reports:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i46134a1126b9535090433c143df3cde4

Just thought I'd let you know for those who watch sports out there.

Kev

Gumbel No Longer Doing Play-By-Play At NFL Network - You and I have been waiting for 2 years for this to come to an end. This was a terrible decision to let the soft spoken, enigmatic Gumbel be your A-Team PBP announcer. He's much better on HBO. 

KOBE Should Win The MVP - He should win this is a tight race with Chris Paul. I think Kobe's YouTube commercial (jumping over the car) will give him the extra votes and juice he needs to win.

Paterno And PSU Don't Extend Contract - As the whisper campaign to remove the legend gets louder, the PSU Administration cannot come to terms as to how to move on. Believe this, Rutgers University knows that when JoePa steps down, Greg Schiano (HC) will head to Happy Valley. Take that to the bank! Tom Bradley (PSU DC) will get strong consideration and support, but will lose out to the younger coach from New Jersey.

Uban Meyer Offers Scholarship To Fastest Student - Some may call it a cheap publicity stunt or self-serving move... I think it is brilliant and one of the reasons why programs like Florida Gators offer will continue to be Top Ten each year. I salute Meyer's crafty thinking and how it energizes the student body while keeping the Gators in the national spotlight during the offseason.

Stacey Dash Is 42 And Doesn't Need Jenny Graig Or NutriSystem - Nuff Said... 'til Next Week

It's official. Bryant Gumbel will no longer be the play-by-play announcer for the NFL Network.

The NFL Network officially announced it is looking for a new broadcaster and Gumbel made the following statement,

"I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to call NFL Network games the past two years, which was a new experience for me,” Gumbel said in a statement. “But we’ve agreed that we’d all be better served going in different directions."

The NFL Network has been a financial and ratings failure for the league and Gumbel was the network's most high profile and criticized announcer. Not only was Gumbel TERRIBLE on his play-by-play announcing but he was also critical of the NFL on his HBO show Real Sports.

In the end it was a combination he couldn't overcome.

Sorry, I've been watching too much Scrubs lately.

Hey, Ben here. My long-awaited National League preview is coming real soon, but right now I have something more important to relay to you, the reader:

As some of you may know, I'm married. It's just one of those things that happened, but far be it for me to bore you with cutesy tales about "the wife". That's not my style, but this particular anecdote needs to be told.

So, the other night, I was lying in bed next to the wife, who was asleep. I was not. I heard some vocal rumblings from the wife's area of the marital bed, which is not unusual. She talks in her sleep on a regular basis, but usually its just semi-coherent ramblings related to her job as a science teacher. In fact, the majority of her dreams seem to have something to do with either a). setting up a lab, or b) getting observed in class by an administrator.

But this particular night in question was not like other nights. As my wife tossed and turned, two word uttered forth from her lips, and two words only. These two words were, in fact, a proper name. And here is the name she uttered:

Bryant Gumbel.

I think this anecdote works as it is, without further analysis on my part. This is what its like to be married, dudes. Just one baffling event after another, with no let-up.

Bryant Gumbel is the man my wife dreams about.

NFL, union on course for work stoppage in 2011

For the first time in 15 years, NFL Players Association officials have uttered the "C" word -- collusion. It asserts league owners are trying to frustrate free-agency rights granted by the landmark collective bargaining agreement of 1993 and threatens to disrupt a decade and a half of labor peace in the NFL.

Here's the broader question: Is this a fundamental change in the league's labor-management relationship?

For years, media members and fans suspected things were a bit too cozy between the NFL's top officials and leaders of the players' union. In 2006, broadcaster Bryant Gumbel gave the following advice to Roger Goodell, who was about to become commissioner:

"By making the docile head of the players' union his personal pet, (former commissioner Paul Tagliabue) has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

The comment, made during HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, spelled trouble for Gumbel, who was about to become lead announcer on NFL Network games.

In hindsight, it can be concluded that union president Gene Upshaw fleeced Tagliabue during the 2006 negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement. Upshaw secured for the players nearly 60 percent of the league's "total football revenue." He also won a long list of player-friendly changes to the non-economic portion of the rules as part of a take-it-or-leave-it proposal.

"Total football revenue" includes the NFL's primary cash sources -- television money and ticket sales, plus local radio and television income, stadium revenue and lesser revenue streams. The union got that cash pool in place of one called designated gross revenue, which was based on TV and ticket money.

The accord won big; owners ratified the CBA 30-2.

Read the rest of Mike Florio's article here.

To read about Major League Baseball players' salaries, click here.

Spring training "officially" begins this Thursday, but it's largely ceremonial - a made-for-TV moment, if you will. The fact is most of the ballplayers have been working out since November and shifted their regimes to Florida or Arizona earlier this month. This Thursday teams like the Phillies will stretch and run formal drills with the wags from the press in attendance. But really, nothing changes for another few weeks when they kick-off the exhibition season.

Still, who doesn't like the first days of spring training? Watching ballplayers stretch and go through old-timey calisthenics under sun-soaked skies from snowed-in northeastern cities is a way to mark the seasons. TV folks trot out the standard clichés while the newspapermen get to work on the issues facing the club, such as when will the team add another arm to the pitching staff and when will they come to terms on a contract with the top slugger.

New year, same themes.

So while the ballplayers go through their stretches and cover-first drills, I'm going to hang out up here in the snow and cold until Feb. 25. That's when I'll go to Clearwater for all the color and pageantry of spring training. Besides, spring training is the best part about baseball.

Until then, it's back to the ol' grind.

Here are a few sports-related stories that actually turned my attention away from the stuff I normally read about for a spell:

***
Bryant Gumbel's Real Sports on HBO is easily the best sports show out there. The reasons for that are myriad and too long to get into now, but it's always enjoyable to watch and listen to topics that get into issues.

One of the issues tackled by Gumbel in the latest episode of the show was the ethics of Roger Clemens' lobbying of Congressmen ahead of tomorrow's hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Gumbel questioned whether Clemens' overt wooing of specific Congressmen would affect the legitimacy of the hearings and closed the show with this:

"Finally tonight, a few words about flattery. Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state and notorious self-promoter, once observed that ‘Those who say flattery doesn't work have never had it practiced on them.'

"That quote would seem to have registered with Roger Clemens, who, facing congressional hearings this week into his alleged steroid use, suddenly became civic minded last week, and made a number of personal house calls on Capitol Hill. Given Clemens' well-earned reputation for surliness, his transparent charm offensive was to many--- exactly that. Aside from the obvious question about why elected officials would consent to meet with a freshly deposed witness in advance of his testimony, you've also got to wonder just how much Roger's shameless slurping may have compromised the objectivity of those slated to question him.

"Following some face time with the accused, one California Republican came away gushing about how much Clemens was the kind of guy you'd want as a neighbor. Since neither party has a monopoly on bad judgment, a Democratic congressman from Brooklyn named Edolphus Towns, all but fell at Clemens' feet. Parroting the pitcher's defense after their meeting, Towns claimed his half hour personal visit had made him a believer in Clemens' character.

"Now I obviously have no idea if Roger Clemens is guilty of that which he is accused. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't. But you do have to wonder why someone who'll be under oath and claims he's innocent would engage in what looks like the political equivalent of jury tampering to try to influence his reception before a House committee. You could argue it's good insurance. Or you could conclude that on the heels of an interview, a press conference, a taped phone call and a deposition...he doth protest too much."

It makes one wonder not only about the relevancy of Congress tackling the issue of steroids in baseball, but also if the hearings are nothing more than the typical political dog-and-pony show. The New York Times examined the issue, noting Congressmen in charge of questioning the pitcher posed for pictures and got autographs during Clemens' lobbying jaunt.

***
According to published reports, The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was released this week. Hey, who doesn't like swimsuits? But really, does the SI swimsuit issue really matter anymore? With all the stuff out there on the Internet - swimsuit or not - is the issue just another media anachronism from another tired magazine?

Hey, I'm not telling them to stop...

***
One of my favorite sporting events takes place this weekend in San Diego where some of the best runners in the country will battle it out over the hills and dales in the U.S. Cross Country Championships. This being an Olympic year with the Trials in Eugene quickly approaching, some runners decided to sit out, like defending champ Alan Culpepper. But the top two finishers in last November's Marathon Olympic Trials will be there.

Undoubtedly, the 12-kilometer championship race will be hyped as the match-up between tough Dathan Ritzenhein and the American distance running's great hope, Ryan Hall. Runners Dan Browne, Andrew Carlson, James Carney, Anthony Famiglietti, Jason Lehmkuhle and Jorge Torres will also be in San Diego fighting for both a national championship and a spot on the national team for the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.

So who's going to win? Certainly it's hard to bet against Ritzenhein and Hall, who clearly are the class of the field. Dan Browne is another Olympian and a veteran of some big-time races, while Torres is an excellent cross runner and Famiglietti has the pedigree, too. But my dark horse is James Carney, a graduate of Millersville University, who won the U.S. championship in the half-marathon last month in Houston.

With the way he has been racing, Carney could make the Olympic team in the 10,000-meters if he isn't careful.

***
Speaking of the Olympics, there was an interesting story in The New York Times on how the USOC will supply athletes with American food and chefs while in Beijing for the games. Now we all know that holding the Olympics in China is wrong for thousands of reasons, with pollution, environmental and human-rights concerns right at the top.

But according to the story in The Times, an American delegation traveled to Beijing and tested out the food sold in Chinese supermarkets… let’s just say it didn’t go well.

While in China, USOC caterer Frank Puleo picked up a 14-inch chicken breast and had it tested – the results:

“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”

That’s really saying something considering how full of hormones and steroids (and other things) meat sold in the U.S. is loaded up with. That is, of course, if author Eric Schlosser is wrong… which he is not.

***
Finally, it's interesting to note that the Twins signed Livan Hernandez for $5 million for one year. An innings-eating right-hander, Hernandez hasn't missed a start in years and routinely piles up 200-plus innings every season. Even last season when his Ks-per nine innings were way, way down, Hernandez still threw close to 220 innings (counting the playoffs).

Knowing that it only took $5 million to get Hernandez, 32, to sign with the depleted Twins, would it have been wise for the Phillies to take a shot at the righty? I say yes because I like sure things. Hernandez is almost guaranteed to turn in another 200-innings season in '08.

1. Another 24-7 NFL network already exists, ESPN. America does not need more NFL coverage on television. On a given day during football season, ESPN devotes nearly the entirety of Sportscenter to the NFL. They have NFL specific programs such as NFL Live throughout the day. Their general sports programming such as PTI and Mike and Mike in the Morning slants heavily toward the NFL. ESPNews televises press conferences live. It has reached its saturation point.

2. I can already see all of the games. For MLB, the NHL or the NBA a network is a wonderful innovation. If there is a baseball game of national interest, an MLB network could broadcast it nationally and provide an alternative to the local markett (Fans in Pittsburgh would be forever grateful).

For the NFL, the games are on National Television at a specific time. The prominent games are nearly always thrust onto Sunday and Monday Night. The NFL blacks out games that would compete against the home team, so they aren't going to run a competing game on the NFL network. The only games that appear on the network are placed their intentionally to drum up otherwise non-existent interest for the NFL network and inject even more bulbous fat into the backside of the League's cash cow.

The viewer gains nothing he or she did not already have by the presence of the network.

3. There is no compelling viewing. What marquee event is the NFL network using to arouse interest for itself, the Draft. First of all, the Draft is simultaneously the most hyped and most meaningless draft in Major Sports. The best quarterback in the NFL was a 6th round pick. There are #1 overall quarterbacks who are out of the league now. It is utterly meaningless drivel with no purpose besides providing a forum for Mel Kiper Jr. to masturbate over large black mens' "upside potential" and "freakish athleticism."

Second, the Draft is not until MID-APRIL. That is four months from now. What exactly is going to fill four months of programming? Live coverage from Pro Bowl practice? The QB challenge? How many reruns of "NFL Cheerleaders" can you show?

4. Bryant Gumbel is the worst play by play man ever. I have a lot of respect for Bryant Gumbel. His TV show and interviewing skills are excellent. Keep him where his talents are most useful, the studio.

He is terrible doing play-by-play commentary. A play-by-play man should describe what occurs on the field succinctly, set up the color commentator to explain things in detail, and perhaps (only if said announcer is funny) crack an occasional joke if its a boring game.

Gumbel keeps a running monologue throughout the entire game, not interrupting his sentence even if a play is occurring. He needlessly hammers home every minute detail which should be patently obvious to anyone even casually watching the game. The lack of chemistry with Chris Collinsworth was astounding, as Collinsworth struggled to create and interject his own points.

He also speaks in such a dreary monotone that I nearly fell asleep watching my favorite team go 16-0. I kept expecting/hoping for professional wrestling style fireworks with Chris Collinsworth exclaiming "That's Gus Johnson's music!" and having Johnson bash Gumbel on the head with a metal chair, steal his microphone and call the rest of the game.

The NFL network is a fundamental miscalculation. The league appeals to the populace not because it is brilliant or exciting, but because it is easily accessible. You know what time it is going to be on, and you know what channel.

The NFL has fooled the American populace into thinking that sitting through a four hour commercial extravaganza to watch 11 minutes of actual action is a worthwhile experience. Because of this, it has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. If the league continues to screw around, make people buy an extra cable package, and hunt around to find the network, they risk upsetting the delicate balance that keeps the league afloat.

Bottom Line: You've got a gravy train. Don't fuck with it!

The NFL has arranged with broadcast television partners CBS and NBC for an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night’s New England Patriots at New York Giants game when the Patriots will try to become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in a regular season, NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL announced today.

“We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans,” Commissioner Goodell said. “What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever.”

I think they're going overboard with 3 channels carrying the same game....but there is a writer's strike, so that helps. Unfortunately, the 16-0 record plus Brady's quest for 50 TD's as well as Moss' quest for 23 TD's will have to be announced by Bryant Gumbel, who already had Tony Romo's name wrong. Good for the NFL, and a nice way to get around the cable companies.

RICK ROMO!! Ahh Gumby, what the heck would we do without you? Tune in this Saturday, when Rick Romo and the Cowboys take on Dan Foster and the Carolina Panthers!

NFL Network play-by-play announcer Bryant Gumbel is suffering from a sore throat and will be replaced by Tom Hammond for Thursday's Broncos-Texans broadcast at Reliant Stadium, a network spokesman said Tuesday.

Though I'm unlikely to actually see this game, my first instinct was to rejoice at this news. I'm sure I'm not the only one, either. But you've gotta look at it from Gumbel's standpoint. The guy's had a pretty solid career in television, and you have to respect that he would take a risk like this in front of such a large audience. True, it hasn't exactly worked out well to this point, but it'd be wrong to be inconsiderate of the Kermit the Frog-sounding bastard's feelings. If he's anything like his vocal doppelganger, Gumbel likely has a disturbing dark side:

The article goes on to detail Gumbel's likely return to the airwaves on Saturday night, when the NFL Network deprives most the country of Ocho Cinco-produced mirth.

Here we see a fan make his way onto the field, spicing up an otherwise subpar Thursday Night Football matchup on the NFL Network.  I know that it's been discussed at length in multiple forums, but with the quality of production for these last two weeks, I do not understand how the NFL Network expects people to pay extra to hear Bryant Gumbel and Chris Collinsworth painfully suck at their jobs.  And why are we denied the right to see some real action happen on the field?  This guy had a chance to be a real legend, but when he got face to face with NFL linemen it seemed that he thought better of whatever harebrained idea he originally came up with. Enjoy.

This is from Dallascowboys.com:

Every Thursday is confidential “Keep It Real Thursday” at Valley Ranch, where the receivers spend five or 10 minutes airing anything that’s on their minds. “You can’t forget we’re people, too,” rookie Isaiah Stanback said.

So here's what is on my mind today. As I was driving around Iowa last night, I tuned in to Sirius NFL Radio's "Late Hits" with Bryan McGovern and Jerry Rice. Now, it is surely the case that Jerry Rice is one of the greatest players in the history of professional sports. He is not, however, one of the greatest commentators in the history of broadcasting. ESPN's Emmitt Smith has gotten lots of grief for his mangling of the English language this year and he deserves it. Same with Bryant Gumbel with the NFLN. (I won't be able to hear the game tonight, so please email with any good Gumbelism's.) And we've been very critical of the moron that is Brian Baldinger.

Nobody keeps track of all of this stuff than the guys at Awful Announcing. (From whom I learned that Packer fans will not have to put up with Baldinger again this Sunday. Thank God.)

Anyway, Jerry Rice is special. He repeatedly referred last night to the "linemens" who protect the quarterback and made several similar verbal gaffes. But what really got me was his inexplicable animus toward the most benign entertainers in the world: Jugglers. I mean, these are guys who generally just throw balls in the air in a rotating fashion with a dopey look on their faces. If they're really good, they use knives, or torches. I saw one guy juggle chainsaws. Cool.

Check this out. These guys drink Pabst.

Do you see these guys hurting anyone? No. And yet all night long Jerry Rice kept telling the NFL players he was interviewing -- in some cases 300-pound linemens -- to "go for the juggler."

Why Jerry? What did the jugglers ever do to you? Don't be hatin.

Seems there was some football game that a lot of people wanted to watch, but couldn't. The Asian Badger tells the whiners (one Chief Whiner in particular) to quit whining and get a dish. Dad29 noted a price rise in his basic cable package; no NFL Network, no Big10 (actually 11, don't judge their math programs by it) and wonders how that works. Jeff at Five Points questions if its worth the extra to listen to Bryant Gumbel. So did Pete. Fox Head speculated while waiting for the game to begin,

Let the finger pointing begin, who’s to blame here? The NFL for being greedy? The cable companies for also being greedy? Or the fans who choose to whine and moan and cajole their legislators into doing something. I say all three.

James Wigderson, who seemed to be extremely interested in the above game, took time to post about a blogger (well, actually a blogger who agreed with the blogger, are you confused yet?) who objected to the Tom McMahon's parody of some bumper sticker. Evidently, this was a big deal, too. James also managed to take a shot at public television, in between trash-talking Packer fans.

silent e live-blogged the snow storm :) . Great job.

Art was a subject for a few Waukesha bloggers this week. Curt Otto informed us of a new sculpture going up at Barstow and Main. It looks like a guitar. Or a woman. Or whatever, I guess. All I can say is I've never seen a guitar with breasts. Spring City Chronicle gets excited about it and proposes more guitar art. Jeff at Five Points makes his second appearance of this weeks carnival by saying if the "asterisk" is art, then the Fonzie statue should be, too.

David from Carrick Bend Thoughts has a quote for those who believe Global Warming is man-made. The Asian Badger says blame everything on global warming (Well, not really). I think that includes the aforementioned football game being unavailable to many the Packers loss.

Jessica McBride noted the arrest of an Appleton man being arrested for murder because he gave his girlfriend birth control pills that caused an abortion. Tim Rock disagrees (what else is new?).

Speaking of Jessica, she has a broadcast over the Internet. She includes the phone number to call and time of her next broadcast. Her husband, Paul Bucher, joined her for the first one. There was interesting back and forth between the two. They obviously don't agree perfectly on every issue. That's news, right?

Yorick's Persiflage joins the Christmas debate.

Shawn Matson at Balancing Brookfield has a modest proposal for the school board. Kyle Prast at Practically Speaking reported on the Brookfield School Board meeting that voted for continuing the4K classes.

Cindy Kilkenny comments on the Richard Roberts resignation from Oral Roberts University, something I haven't included in my posts on televangelists spending habits.

State Senator Mary Lazich posts at least twice on PhotoID for voter verification. This was in response to a Legislative Audit Bureau report on Compliance with Election Laws.

Sancho posts at Hobo Springs about his high schooler taking online phys. ed. Yep, you read that right, online Phys. Ed. How do they do that, you ask? Well, I can't spoil the ending.

Pete (although many others did also) noted the passing of Evel Knievel. I know some distant relatives of his (same last name) and he died in my adopted hometown of Clearwater, FL. Pete has a couple of video clips.

New Berlin continues their full contact politics this time the New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government posts and Linda Richter at Inside New Berlin responds.

Tom Gehl at Brookfield Basics has some good thoughts about Great Lakes water.

Dad29 reflects on the budget deficit in Wisconsin and ends it with, "it's the SPENDING, STUPID!!!"

That's it for this week. Tune in next week for another edition. If you think there's an omission, submit it in the comments.