Podcast-Live from Avon-Listener's Request Episode

Live from Avon-It's a listener's request episode for topics and we say goodbye to longtime favorite Garry Shandling...

Podcast-Live from Avon Ohio

The podcast hits the road to Avon as we talk from a meeting room at the Duck Tape factory with thoughts on Andre Ward,Robert Griffin,a terrific find for the collection and why 7UP beats all the competition!!

An evening in Hershey

The family made their annual trek to Hershey to see the Albany Devils.

This wasn't the usual scouting trip to see the Devils of the future.
The Albany team looks headed for the playoffs,which is unusual for them,but the real prospects of the parent team (Pavel Zacha and John Quenneville) are still playing junior hockey,so this is a team filled with lesser prospects and veterans that aren't part of the future.
Add into that that many of the best players of the team were in New Jersey,having been called up to the injury riddled Devils (Including goalie Scott Westwood and leading scorer Mike Sislo) and we didn't have a ton of faith for a Devils win in Chocolate land.

The Devils managed to play a smart and gritty game and hung in there against the Bears to the point of pushing the game through a five minute overtime and to the shootout,where they would lose 2-1 in the shootout and therefore the game 3-2.
Albany goals to Corbin McPherson (2) and Jim O'Brien (17) with Ken Appleby getting the loss in net.
Editor's Note:Thanks to Jason Christensen for catching my typo calling Jim O'brien "Ken".
The game winner in the shootout went to Hershey's Jakub Vrana,a former first rounder of Washington's and the type of player that Albany has lacked due to the Devils lack of impact players acquired through the draft.
Hopefully with Zacha,Quenneville and maybe another top 10 pick (right now the Devils would pick 13th in the draft unless they had some lottery luck) could mean that next years trip might see a more exciting team next season.

However,as with any trip,the story isn't always on the field or in this case-ice.
We had excellent seats just six rows from the ice and were in the club section,which with the food and other options not found elsewhere,I would recommend highly.
The lovely Cherie surprised me with a very nice sausage sandwich with peppers and onions.
I was pretty impressed with the club section as far as amenities go.

I wish I could say the same for the "fans" around us.
I sat beside a very nice elderly couple that rooted hard for their team,but weren't obnoxious with their rooting or got annoyed by ours.
However,we were under a heavy barrage by the four people behind us,who seemed disinterested and downright obtuse about the game in order to brag about such things as (I'm not kidding) "London is so much better than Paris in the summer","I intend getting Eggbert (I made the son's name up) on a summer internship in Belfast" and my favorite a lady older than Cherie and I discussing her "whoring around in her college days at Villanova".
I suppose many go to games for the social aspect of doing something with others and what it is becomes irrelevant,but I wish the good seats could go to real fans that care about what's going on in the game.

Rachel was on the other side of Cherie,who sat between us,so I didn't know that this older (late 50's) guy was annoying her throughout the game.
I had to work right after the game as it being Easter weekend,I couldn't take the night off as I usually would,so I wanted to make the 90 minuteish trip back as quickly as possible to in order to relieve the person being kind enough to allow me to attend the game.
Considering that,the games couldn't have went worse between an unexpected goodbye ceremony to the long time Hershey Bears general manager pushing the drop of the puck back an half hour,overtime and the shootout-time certainly drug as far as it possibly could.
The sellout crowd slowly filed out and this guy kept stopping on a dime going up the arena steps in front of Rachel in the line,which then caused everyone else to slam on the brakes.
Finally,the guy stops in the middle of the aisle again and starts a conversation with someone else to further slow things down.
What I didn't see was Rachel finally pushing this guy out of the way and saying "move!'.
I was a few steps behind her and the guy started to complain "geez,you didn't have to..."
I cut him off with a "Maybe if you wouldn't have stopped three times and then stopped with a conversation,it wouldn't have happened".
He started to rebut and I asked if he had a problem with that and with that he stepped aside.
Had he done that to begin with,I doubt he would have gotten touched.
My daughter truly is her father's child.

I raced down the road and had an enjoyable chat with my ladies as I hit Hagerstown and work at 11;45.
It's funny how games and interests bond us as family and sometimes friends.
In the end,it really isn't always about wins and losses-It's about the memories that you make and the people you share them with.
I'm pretty lucky to have the ladies here to make them with....

Editor's Note:I was told I forgot this part by Cherie and Rachel,so I wanted to come back and edit
In between periods,I saw Dan, a graphing buddy of mine from Harrisburg,so we each moved a bit to chat a while and in Hershey in between periods-a blimp floats through the arena and randomly drops five dollar bills.
As I stood and chatted with Dan,suddenly I felt the tip of something stab my neck.
I wasn't paying attention to the blimp,so I didn't see the five (folded into a paper airplane style point) flying at me.
Fortunately,I grabbed at it instead of swatting it away and therefore earned five bucks!

Podcast:Special Guest-Kristina Werner

We spend an hour talking weather,Sacramento Kings and mostly San Francisco Giants fandom with the charming Kristina Werner of FOX 40 in Sacramento!

Browns sign Robert Griffin

The Cleveland Browns finally made the splash into the free agency market that fans hope to see as the team signed former Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin as a free agent to a two year contract for 15 million dollars (6.5 guaranteed).

Griffin,the former rookie of the year and second overall draft pick,has not played in a game since 2014 and has not been the same player since a Redskins playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks,where Griffin took a beating and then-Washington coach Mike Shanahan kept a clearly injured Griffin in the game to continue to aggravate injuries suffered in the game.

Robert Griffin has a strong arm and is still very mobile (although perhaps not as mobile before his injuries to his ACL/MCL (knee) and then a dislocated ankle that ended his 2014 season.
Griffin still has the potential skills to be a good quarterback,but there are caveats.
Griffin has attempted to make the adjustment to be a true pocket passer and has never quite mastered that skill,despite the occasional glimmer of hope.
Griffin also has shined in the read option offense that allows quarterbacks to be hit far more often than in a more conventional offense and the NFL defenses have become more capable in stopping that system,which has seen the decline in play of Griffin and Colin Kaepernick,who was often attached to Cleveland in trade rumors.
Griffin has also had issues with locking on receivers and holding onto the ball longer than need be,but considering the work that Hue Jackson has done with quarterbacks over his career of varying talent (Joe Flacco,Andy Dalton and Jason Campbell most notably) in making huge strides in their games,it's not impossible for Griffin to find some of his past form.
Griffin also has the advantage of being a college teammate and long time friend (Griffin attempted to get the Redskins to draft him) of Josh Gordon,so perhaps Griffin's influence could help with the oft-troubled receiver's attempt to stay on the straight and narrow path.

I'm not sure what the Browns are getting in Robert Griffin after the trials and tribulations of the last few years,but for the price and comparing that the team got Griffin at no cost compared to trading a draft pick for the more expensive and less talented Colin Kaepernick-I'm OK with the decision.

I don't really see much of a downside.
If Griffin bounces back,the Browns have an impact player for a bridge quarterback price,
If not,the Browns really haven't invested very much money into Griffin and haven't really lost much as any young quarterback wouldn't have done better behind a less than strong offensive line.
If I'm the Browns,I wouldn't allow this signing to take their eye off a quarterback that they like in the draft,but if they aren't in love with Carson Wentz or Jared Goff,I wouldn't be against taking the best player available or even trading down to add picks.

I'll be interested in seeing just what Robert Griffin has to offer and I think he could be a jolt of energy to a roster that needs it badly.....

Goodbye to the White Shadow

The face of the White Shadow passed away today as Ken Howard died at the age of 71.

Howard appeared on Broadway and had numerous films and television shows on his resume',but will be most remembered for the starring role of Ken Reeves on the White Shadow.
The CBS show lasted three years and although never a ratings hit,found an audience through kids like me in syndication-Teenagers that liked basketball gave the show a chance and it ran often on channels through the 80's.

The show,which hooked basketball fans with a snazzy opening from an actual NBA pre-season game with "Ken Reeves" (Howard's character) tearing up his knee in an age where a knee injury could finish a career,featured Howard as a former NBA player coaching at an inner-city Los Angeles high school and coaching the mostly African-American team.
The White Shadow dealt with many issues of the day and because of the show breaking new ground (Reeves was the only white guy on the show) as in the majority of the cast being ethnic gained critical acclaim.
The problem was it was never was a prime time hit and as the show went on,the show became softened and a bit more cliched' as CBS tinkered with it in order to gain ratings momentum that never arrived.

The show really began to slide in season three as five of the Carver High team 'graduated' which wasn't all bad as some of these guys looked closer to NBA retirement age than guys leaving high school and new players came in.
The new characters didn't really click other than former Stanford star and Utah Jazz draftee Wolfe Perry added some realism to the on court scenes.
Some fans like Bill Simmons prefer to pretend the final season never existed and although I bought the first two seasons on DVD and the third season wasn't as good,I still wished that they would have released it so my set could at least have been completed.

Ken Howard would go on to be more of a supporting actor than a lead after the cancellation of the White Shadow and would do so successfully,but to me and so many people of my age,Ken Howard will always be remembered as Ken Reeves-the White Shadow...

Browns lose Craig Robertson

It's a slow day as far as news at the TRS media empire.
No Cavaliers,Devils,baseball not here yet and despite having a really fun podcast finished and ready to go,I decided to wait a little bit before I use that one.
Plus the impending exciting fire safety class that I have to take today and not only is it a slow news day-it's a slow life day!

The only nugget of news is the Cleveland Browns losing linebacker Craig Robertson to the Saints via the free agency route.
Robertson only played in 12 games last season after playing in all 16 the previous two seasons and finished with 29 solo tackles and an interception.

Robertson is a decent,but nothing outstanding inside linebacker and the Saints are trying to hodge-podge some veterans around 2015 first rounder Stephone Anthony (They have now signed 3 veteran linebackers including former Buckeye James Laurinaitis),so it depends on how things work out,if Robertson starts in New Orleans,although I'm sure he'll see playing time.

I'm OK with allowing Robertson to leave,I think DeMario Davis is a superior player and will more than likely out-perform Robertson's numbers in Cleveland.
Robertson always played with a high motor though and I don't have anything bad to say about him,just the Browns replaced him with a better player,which is something I usually can't say about the Browns.

A final note,yes,I have noticed in the posts of players leaving that I always use the old uniform shots when possible,
There will be a day that comes that makes that impossible,but until that day-I'll pretend that the ugly "Alec Scheiner" specials simply don't exist in this timeline....