Cufflinks Are Back in a BIG WAY!!

There’s a great web site called http://www.cuff-daddy.com/. They have more cufflinks than you could ever imagine. Cufflinks are very cool and are making a big comeback. They make a great groomsmen gift. http://www.cuff-daddy.com/ has more than just cufflinks too – they sell key chains, fancy pens, money clips, wallets, cufflink boxes, ties – they even have cufflinks for women. Their site is really cool. They have a lot of great gift ideas and even have an article that explains how to wear cufflinks.

World Series Time: I Love It!

It’s almost World Series time! This is the most exciting time of the entire baseball season. After 162 games, the playoffs and the championship series, the moment every baseball fan is anticipating is almost upon us. Whenever I think about the World Series, I think about 1988, when Kirk Gibson hit a HR against the Oakland A’s with two outs in the ninth inning. What an incredible thrill that was!! We already know that the exciting young upstart Colorado Rockies will be playing in the World Series. They’ll be going up against the yet-to-be-determined AL Champs, either the Boston Red Sox or the Cleveland Indians. Have you thought about where you might be buying your world series tickets? The Fall Classic is almost here.

Spare Us the Britney Breakdown

Is there anybody out there (other than that strange kid crying on Youtube.com) who gives a damn about Britney Spears anymore? Watching her self-destruct was interesting for a short while – kind of like seeing a spider eating a fly – but now it’s getting old.

Britney is yesterday’s news – just another sad example of what is happening to young people throughout this country. Spears has alienated her friends, her parents and most of her fans – and should be grateful that the paparazzi even care about her anymore. She is a tragic character and we love personal tragedies in this country. It makes us feel better about our lives, which must seem problem-free when compared to Britney’s daily drama.

Spears is arrogant and thinks that she can do whatever she wants. She obviously feels that people should just adapt to her boorish and out-of-control behavior. The only problem is that judges, publicists, drug counselors and record companies refuse to go with her program.

Britney is a major accident waiting to happen and if she does not wake up, she’ll end up just like Janis Joplin did. The only difference is that Joplin was talented.

This appeared this morning on TMZ:

TMZ has confirmed Britney Spears booked herself with the LAPD Monday night on misdemeanor charges of hit and run.Wearing a black mini dress, black leather jacket and sporting silver chains around her neck, she walked into the Van Nuys jail last night and did the deed.LAPD told us "at approximately 9:25 PM Miss Britney Spears checked into the Van Nuys County Jail for a court ordered booking. She was put through standard booking procedures which included booking photographs, fingerprinting and collection of information. Britney was at all time cooperative in the process. She was there approximately 45 minutes."

We're also told she was never put in a holding cell, and she was polite and courteous to the officers. We're also told cops offered her the back entrance -- but she declined, opting to go in the front door. FOX 11 Los Angeles caught Brit on her way in and out of the jail. The L.A. City Attorney charged Spears in September with one count of hit and run causing property damage and one count of driving without a valid California license.

Both charges are misdemeanors, each carrying a maximum of 6 months in jail. The charges stem from an August 6 incident in L.A. where Spears was in a private parking lot in the San Fernando Valley and rammed into a parked car.

Colorado Rocks Baseball World

The Colorado Rockies are the big story of baseball’s postseason. If you would have told me a month ago that this team would win 20 of 21 games and be one win away from playing in the World Series at this point, I would have checked to see what you were smoking.
I cannot remember the last time a team has done what the Rockies have accomplished. They’re a shoo-in for the World Series at this point. I just cannot see them losing four straight to an embattled and obviously very tired Arizona Diamondback’s team.
Colorado has a perfect mix of seasoned vets and young, hungry players. They’re not hitting the cover off the baseball, but they are doing just enough to win ballgames. They are not great, but they’re good enough – and that’s all that matters.
One thing they do have is team chemistry – something the Yankees, Mets and Cubs lacked. The Rockies enjoy just being around each other and play like a team. You won’t find any selfish, self-centered, big-headed guys on this team.
And now that it appears as though the American League Championship Series could go 6 or 7 games, the Rockies look even stronger. If they can sweep the D-Backs or win it in 5 games, they’ll be able to rest all their starting pitchers and won’t have to change their rotation one iota.
It will be tough to beat either Boston or Cleveland – but, if any team can do it, my money is on the red-hot Colorado Rockies.
(This appeared on http://www.cbssportsline.com/ last night:)
DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies were one strike away from not even making the playoffs. Now, they're one win away from their first World Series. With a cold rain falling, Josh Fogg shut down Arizona's bats in his first postseason start and Yorvit Torrealba hit a tiebreaking three-run homer to fuel the Rockies' 4-1 victory Sunday night in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series.
MVP hopeful Matt Holliday also homered as the wild-card Rockies took a 3-0 lead with their 20th win in 21 games, a streak that has taken Colorado from afterthoughts to the buzz of baseball.
"Tomorrow we're going to come here just like we have been doing," Torrealba said. "We're going to relax, watch TV, and when it's time to play, we're going to try to get one more win."
And not think about their first World Series until then. "No, no, no, no, I'm not thinking about that," insisted the face of the franchise, Todd Helton, whose decade of disappointment has disappeared in one of the most incredible winning streaks in baseball history.
"We're still focused on the task at hand." About two weeks ago, the Rockies had no control over whether they'd even make the playoffs.
The San Diego Padres could've eliminated Colorado on the final Saturday of the regular season. But Milwaukee's Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a tying, two-out, two-strike triple off San Diego's Trevor Hoffman that gave the Rockies a chance.
The next day, Colorado caught the Padres. The night after that, the Rockies beat San Diego in a 13-inning, NL wild-card tiebreaker.
Since then, the Rockies have been unbeatable.
Arizona, which has scored just four runs in the series so far, must win four consecutive times against a Rockies team that is the first since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win at least 20 of 21 games after Sept. 1, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
They haven't looked back, sweeping past Philadelphia and taking the first three against Arizona.
They will try to sweep the Diamondbacks on Monday night when Franklin Morales faces Arizona's Micah Owings in a matchup of rookies who have never faced each other's teams.
The Rockies, who this season set a major league record for fielding percentage, turned three double plays in the first three innings.
"When you can take the sting out of them early ... I think it helped our confidence," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.
The 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team to overcome a 3-0 hole to win a best-of-7 postseason series. Boston did it in the ALCS against the Yankees.
"Until they win four and we can't win four at once. We've just got to get one on the board first," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "That's what we've been trying to do all year."
Torrealba connected in the sixth inning, three pitches after watching one of Livan Hernandez's trademark "eephus" offerings poke across the plate for a strike -- so slow it didn't register on the stadium scoreboard radar.
Hernandez said he knew better than to throw an inside fastball to his buddy that he played with in San Francisco, but he had used all the pitches in his bag of tricks.
"It's the last pitch I want to throw," Hernandez said. "Yorvit is one of my best friends in baseball and I know he can handle the fastball inside very good. It's just the situation. I'd thrown everything: foul, foul. I know he can hit the fastball inside. Trust me, and he hit it out."
After a 60 mph bender that he fought off for a foul, Torrealba hit a fastball 402 feet into the left-field seats, then raced around the bases pumping his fists and hooting and hollering.
"He worked me really well all season long. He tried to throw me a fastball inside, and it stayed over the plate and I hit it really good," Torrealba said.
Torrealba, who is 8-for-21 in the playoffs with seven RBI, nearly had a home run in the third when he doubled off the center-field wall. The stadium's pyrotechnics operator thought it was gone and set off some fireworks as Torrealba pulled into second base.
The real fireworks came three innings later from Torrealba, who had just eight home runs in the regular season.
"One pitch, one bad pitch all night," lamented D-Backs catcher Miguel Montero.
"That's kind of been the theme of this series so far. They've gotten that one big hit where we haven't," Melvin said.
Holliday's homer in the first inning was the first by either team in this series. Hernandez fell to 7-3 lifetime in the playoffs, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Fogg, who won Game 2 of the division series over Philadelphia in relief of Morales, scattered seven hits, including rookie Mark Reynolds' solo home run in the fourth, in six stellar innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
With the game time temperature hovering at 43 degrees -- and quickly dipping into the 30s -- and a light drizzle falling, the crowd showed up wearing fleece jackets, gloves, wool caps and scarves, looking like they were headed for the ski slopes west of Denver, where it was indeed snowing.
Even Montero wore a ski cap beneath his catcher's helmet. It was only fitting that the Rockies sent a pitcher named Fogg to the mound to deal with the elements in the first NLCS game in Denver in franchise history. The Rockies have not lost since Sept. 16, and this win at Coors Field was their ninth consecutive victory overall.
A cool drizzle fell all day and continued into the evening. The grounds crew didn't even remove the tarp until an hour before the game. In between innings, they brought out bags of dry dirt to keep the infield from getting too slick. In the fifth, the crews poured a wheelbarrow full of "diamond dust" around home plate.
The TV broadcast mentioned how the grounds crew ran out of the quick-dry dirt and started calling around. They said they found some in a warehouse and showed a truck rolling up to the stadium with extra bags.
Holliday, with only two other hits in this series, neither of which left the infield, put Colorado ahead 1-0 in the first inning with a high drive. Left fielder Eric Byrnes crashed into the wall chasing the ball, much to the delight of the crowd that razzed him every chance they got.
Forty-eight hours earlier, Byrnes suggested the Rockies were a lucky bunch who had actually been outplayed by the Diamondbacks in this series.
Although that drew the ire of the fans, Rockies rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said there was some truth to Byrnes' comments "and they can outplay us all four games.
If we end up winning the series, I'll be fine with that." Reynolds hit a 422-foot solo shot in the fourth to tie it at 1-all, sending a first-pitch breaking ball from Fogg halfway up into the left-field seats to quiet the sellout crowd of 50,137.
Jeremy Affeldt threw the seventh, Brian Fuentes the eighth and Manny Corpas the ninth for his fourth save of the playoffs. In Game 2 at Arizona, Corpas blew a save chance in the ninth inning.
The Rockies are trying for their first NL pennant in the franchise's 15-year history, and history appears solidly on their side.
"Nothing has gone our way so far," Byrnes said. "For whatever reason, that's the way it's been."

Stereo Cabinets

If you have a high-end stereo system or TV, you want the very best cabinet or mounting system you can possibly get. Why spend the big-time dinero on your electronics and then buy a cheap, little K-Mart cabinet or mounting system. I found a great place where you can get a top-notch stereo cabinet or TV stand at a great place. They have Premier Mounts, Peerless, Tech Craft, LOVAN, VTI, Vogels, and Walker Edison. And the best thing, is they will give you FREE SHIPPING on everything!

The Crazy Weather of The City by the Bay

Today the weather was absolutely miserable...very wet and cold. It's hard to believe that last weekend it was warm and beautiful (see photos). It's like they say...if you don't like the weather in San Francisco, just wait an hour and it will change!

Society's #1 Illness: Drug Addiction

Illegal drugs are going to be a problem within our society forever, it seems. Back in the ‘60s it was pot and LSD, in the ‘70s and ‘80s it was heroine and coke, in the ‘90s it was crank and crack. Now it’s meth and oxycontin. As long as there are human beings on this planet, drug use and abuse will be issues. That’s why drug rehabilitation is more important than ever. If we are going to succeed as a society, we need to get our people, especially our youth, off drugs!

Another Smoke Screen for California

You cannot smoke in a car. You cannot smoke in a bar. You cannot smoke on a plane. You cannot smoke on a train. You cannot smoke with a kid around. You cannot smoke anywhere in town. The only place that you can smoke is sitting in a garbage pail. And even then you can’t exhale!

Why don’t they just make smoking cigarettes illegal? I just recently quit (for the 100th time), so I would actually welcome it at this point. California has passed so many laws that limit where people can smoke, that it just seems like they’re dodging the inevitable. If smoking is so bad for us and the state keeps limiting where we can smoke – then why is it still legal?

First, they said no smoking in bars or restaurants. That one I agree with…partially. Anyone who would smoke in a restaurant is rude and an inconsiderate idiot any way, in my opinion. Bars I have a little different feeling about. I think bar owners should be able to designate a certain area within their establishment for smoking if they want to. California already screws with bar and nightclub owners enough as it is – a smoking ban is just another way to exert further control over them in an already over-regulated business environment.

Now California is passing a law that prohibits people from smoking in a vehicle where kids are present. I have mixed feelings about that one as well. A courteous smoker can roll down the window and blow the smoke out into the already smoggy atmosphere and easily spare his or her child the second hand smoke. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think children should EVER be exposed to cigarette smoke. But, it just seems like the government is taking away our rights one by one.

Where does it end? Besides, on some days in places like LA and NY (and even here in SF) the air we breathe is just about as harmful as second hand cigarette smoke.
Some cities in California have even outlawed smoking outside. In Burbank, for instance, it is illegal to smoke within the city limits. Now, how invasive is that? You can’t even smoke outside?
The entire situation has reached comical proportions. Cigarette companies pay millions of dollars per year to warn people about the dangers of smoking. They are essentially paying for most of the anti-smoking campaigns in this country. How ridiculous! That would be like the beef producers doing ads that say “Don’t Eat Red Meat” or condom manufacturers promoting celibacy.

Either let people smoke wherever they want or outlaw it altogether. That’s my opinion. If we live in a free country, let’s act like it and stop trying to play Big Brother in every aspect of people’s lives.

This appeared on http://www.aol.com/ today:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California motorists will risk fines of up to $100 next year if they are caught smoking in cars with minors, making their state the third to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed a bill that will make it an infraction to smoke in a vehicle if someone under age 18 is present. But the traffic stop would have to be made for another offense, such as speeding or an illegal turn, before the driver could be cited for smoking.
The ban, which takes effect Jan. 1, joins a string of smoking prohibitions adopted in California, including a ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces and within 25 feet of a playground.

A Harvard School of Public Health report issued last year said secondhand smoke in cars can be up to 10 times more of a health risk than secondhand smoke in a home.
"Protecting the health of our children is among government's highest responsibilities," said the bill's author, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, a Democrat. "It is clear that increasing public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke is the right thing to do."

At least 20 states and a number of municipalities have considered limiting smoking in cars where minors are present. Arkansas now bans smoking in cars with children age 6 and younger, while Louisiana has limited it when children 13 and younger are in the vehicle. Maine lawmakers will take up the issue in January.

Is it End-of-Story for Joe Torre?

Will George Steinbrenner fire Joe Torre after losing in the AL Division Series to the Cleveland Indians? Georgie Porgie said that Torre was gone if the Yankees didn’t come back and win the series, which they lost in four games, but was it an idle threat or just a lame attempt to rally the troops?

George and Joe are very different people, in my opinion. The fact that they’ve been working together for so long is amazing, I believe.

The two men possess very disparate qualities -- Torre is a class act and a wonderful human being. Steinbrenner is a slime ball.

Torre has established throughout the years that he is a compassionate, respectful and thoughtful human being. Steinbrenner has a reputation for being a conniving, loudmouthed bully who uses his money and power to get whatever he wants.

Joe should just walk away from the Yankees. He’s won world championships and will probably end up in the Hall of Fame for what he’s achieved as a manager. What more does he have to prove?

This appeared in the New York Times earlier this week:

In his news conference late Monday night, Joe Torre tried to dissect another Yankees playoff loss and explain what it meant for his future. Watching on a television in the manager’s office as Torre choked up, the coaches struggled with what they were seeing.
“Joe treats everybody with respect, whether you’re a batboy, a coach or a trainer,” said Larry Bowa, the third-base coach. “He does everything the right way. What he has to go through, after all that he’s done, it doesn’t seem right. But we’ve all been in baseball for a long time. That’s the process.”
The painful process of parting with a manager was enough to make Bowa and the others teary on Monday. A day later, as the coaches and some players packed up their lockers at Yankee Stadium, Torre was a no-show and George Steinbrenner, the principal owner, was silent.
His only statement came through his publicist, Howard Rubenstein, who said Steinbrenner was flying home to Tampa, Fla., and had nothing to say for now. Steinbrenner will seek opinions on whether to offer Torre a new contract, but his public decree before Game 3 of the division series — that Torre would lose his job if the Yankees lost the series to Cleveland — resonates.
If Steinbrenner lets Torre go, as expected, most people around the team believe the front-runner to succeed him is the bench coach, Don Mattingly. Others believe Joe Girardi has a chance, and Tony La Russa — like Lou Piniella last year — is the biggest name on the managerial free-agent market.
Mattingly yesterday would not directly address whether he would want Torre’s job, but he said he had always made it clear that he would like a chance to manage. Yet he knows that replacing Torre, his close friend who won four World Series, would be an extraordinary challenge.
“I would think it’s like following John Wooden or somebody,” Mattingly said yesterday. “The guy’s won championship after championship, and he’s in the playoffs every year. It’s pretty much a no-win situation for someone to come in here and be able to experience what he’s done. It’s not going to happen. So as far as coming in here and taking on that job, it’s not necessarily a great situation.”
Girardi was Torre’s bench coach in 2005 before taking over the Florida Marlins and winning the National League Manager of the Year award. He clashed with management and was fired, but he is still widely respected, especially by General Manager Brian Cashman.
When Steinbrenner wanted to fire Torre last fall, Cashman interceded and saved Torre’s job. Torre had a year remaining on his contract then, but the deal is up now, and Cashman would not say if he would still recommend Torre.
“I’m not going to comment, in fairness to the process, until I have a chance to sit down with ownership,” Cashman said yesterday, adding later of Steinbrenner: “He’s always picked the manager here. Obviously, I had a great deal of input in last year’s process, so we’ll see. You can’t get ahead of the process.”
The Yankees are planning their annual organizational meetings, and before he left for Tampa, Steinbrenner’s son Hank, a senior vice president, told The Associated Press that no decisions had been made.
“I really do like Joe a lot,” he said. “I have a lot of admiration for him.”
Torre stayed at his home in Westchester County yesterday, speaking by phone with Cashman, Mattingly and others. Torre contacted the Yankees’ media relations director, Jason Zillo, because photographers were camped on his lawn, even though he had pleaded for privacy in his news conference.
The idea of La Russa replacing Torre would seem to appeal more to the vintage Steinbrenner, who craved the biggest name, than the Steinbrenner of today. La Russa’s contract with the St. Louis Cardinals is also expiring, and the Cardinals are without a general manager.
“You know how rumors are; anyone can start one,” said outfielder Shelley Duncan, whose father, Dave, is La Russa’s pitching coach. “Even my dad would tell you there is nothing substantial until action starts to take place. None of that has happened. Joe is our manager.”
Steinbrenner, 77, has a warm spot for ex-Yankees and has always held Mattingly, a former Yankees captain, in high regard. Four years ago, he called Mattingly at his farm in Evansville, Ind., making a personal appeal for him to coach the Yankees’ hitters after eight years of retirement.
When Mattingly was given the bench coach job last October, after Lee Mazzilli was dismissed, he was seen as the clear heir to Torre. Players believe Mattingly would have a similar style.
“He’s got a great baseball mind,” first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. “He and Joe were both great players. Sometimes you lose how hard this game really is, but Joe and Donnie didn’t lose that. Usually, the longer it is since you played, the better player you were and the easier the game was to you. But with those guys, they never make you feel like they’re talking down to you.”
Mientkiewicz and the other players who showed up yesterday expressed support for Torre, praising him for steering the Yankees to the postseason after a 21-29 start. Mientkiewicz revealed that Torre “let us have it” during a team meeting in Toronto in May, just before the turnaround began, and another first baseman, Andy Phillips, said he could not contemplate the Yankees without Torre.
“I refuse to think that way right now,” Phillips said. “I won’t let that thought enter into my mind.”
Most important, of course, is how seriously that thought is bouncing around the brain of Steinbrenner, who must decide — officially — whether to part with the most popular and successful manager he has had.
“His reign so far here has been terrific,” Cashman said of Torre. “You’d sign up for it right now, if you could find that. It’s been magical and it’s been incredible through ’07. What goes on going forward, in ’08 and beyond, is the discussion topic on the tabl

Cerebral Palsy

What exactly is cerebral palsy? Cerebral Palsy is a broad term used to describe a group of chronic movement or posture disorders. “Cerebral” refers to the brain, while “Palsy” refers to a physical disorder, such as a lack of muscle control. Cerebral Palsy is not caused by problems with the muscles or nerves, but rather with the brain’s ability to adequately control the body. Cerebral Palsy can be caused by injury during birth, although sometimes it is the result of later damage to the brain. Symptoms usually appear in the first few years of life and once they appear, they generally do not worsen over time. Disorders are classified into four categories