Howard 100 News. The concept just doesn’t work for me, and neither do the reporters. I’d rather have more of the show, and Robin already does enough news. As for news about the show, most of it is incredibly dull – they make stories out of nothing. All four of the reporters are boring. Lisa G has a whiny voice and she never says anything about her personal life. Ralph Howard is really old and his style doesn’t fit the show. I’m pretty sure Howard has him on for nostalgia – I think he had an earlier connection to the show. Shuli is so boring in his style. He has this monotone delivery that isn’t funny at all. The questions he asks as well as his interviewees are decidedly minor league. Who cares what J.D. thinks about anything? Finally, Steve Langford. He’s mildly interesting at times but the jingle is old, his overly exaggerated deep voice, alliteration, and pit bull style just aren’t very funny. You could get rid of the entire Howard 100 News team or at least two of the four, and do other stuff instead of killing time.
Scrap Howard 100 News from the Howard Stern show
August 22, 2009Howard Stern: Bring back the Creativity
August 22, 2009One of my favorite parts of the Howard Stern show has always been the prank calls they play – from the old Captain Janks calls to the current ones by Sal and Richard. A year or two ago, their calls were amazing. They can be incredibly creative. The best was when Richard called a woman using two voices simultaneously. The problem is that two years ago, the stuff Howard was rejecting because it wasn’t quite good enough to make the air was still very funny. Now many of the bits that make the air just aren’t that funny, and there aren’t very many of them. It used to be that there were some funny bits on the “Jack and Rod” show done by Sal and Richard that Howard wouldn’t play at first but would occasionally say, “These were the ones that didn’t make the air.” Now, the ones that do make the air aren’t even as good as those from two years ago that didn’t.
Local Sports should be Local
August 9, 2009I have a problem with the order of the sports stories on Channel 4 tonight, read by Dari Noka. He buried the DC United-Real Madrid soccer game near the bottom. Real Madrid is one of the most famous teams in the world, the game was local, and 72,000 fans attended. Then the final story was the Legg Mason Tennis Championship, also in DC, which featuring two of the top six players in the world. The last two items were local, so they should not have been behind an NFL preseason game and a minor golf tournament.
Here’s the rundown of how it went:
- Nationals win 8th in a row
- Tidbit about Redskin Carlos Rodgers’ injury
- NFL Hall of Fame Game
- Tiger Woods wins some golf tournament
- DC United – Real Madrid soccer game
- Juan Martin Del Potro beats Andy Roddick in tiebreaker in 3rd set of finals of Legg Mason tennis tournament in DC
Here’s how it should have gone:
- Nationals win 8th in a row
- DC United – Real Madrid soccer game
- Juan Martin Del Potro beats Andy Roddick in tiebreaker in 3rd set of finals of Legg Mason tennis tournament in DC
- Tidbit about Redskin Carlos Rodgers’ injury
- NFL Hall of Fame Game
- Tiger Woods wins some golf tournament
Maybe I should get a life but maybe local sports should be taken more seriously, like back in the day when we had Glenn Brenner, George Michael, and Frank Herzog, not to mention Bernie Smilovitz and Steve Buckhantz, plus good weekend anchors like James Brown.
Ok, I just realized the NFL preseason game was on channel 4 (NBC). That makes it more understandable, but it doesn’t make it right. It reminds me of when I worked at Mutual Radio years ago – a minor golf tournament would get a report a minute and 20 seconds long, because it was sponsored, more than twice as much time as was devoted to a Super Bowl report.
Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
August 8, 2009Later today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will induct wide receiver Bob Hayes, guard Randall McDaniel, defensive end Bruce Smith, linebacker Derrick Thomas, owner Ralph Wilson, and defensive back Rod Woodson. It’s a very worthy class. Expect a lot of Bills and Steelers fans there to support Smith, Wilson, and Woodson.
Last year’s induction ceremony was great. Redskins fans filled the place, as Art Monk and Darrell Green were enshrined along with several others. For my recap of last year’s ceremony in Canton Ohio, see http://myredskinsblog.com/2009/07/29/art-monk-and-darrell-green-inducted-in-nfl-hall-of-fame-class-of-2008/.
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8/9 update: I saw the speeches yesterday. They were great, especially the one by Rod Woodson. The Buffalo Bills now have four Hall of Famers in from their four Super Bowl teams — Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, and James Lofton. The first three obviously deserve it but Lofton is questionable. It highlights the bias that there is against the Redskins – the fact that the Bills have more players in than the Skins. From the Skins’ last four Super Bowl teams (three of them wins), they only have three players in the HOF — John Riggins, Art Monk, and Darrell Green, and before last year they only had one (and Riggins was only on the first of those four teams). Gary Clark deserves it — his stats are virtually identical to Michael Irvin’s, plus Clark played without a HOF QB and played several years before Irvin when passing stats were lower. Clark will not get in, though.
By the way, I’m so sick of all the Dallas Cowboys talk. All Sirius NFL Radio did the other day was interview former Cowboys, then today I turn on the NFL Network and there is a special on about the Cowboy “triplets” (I don’t feel like mentioning their names). Not only that, but whenever the NFL Network runs old games, they always replay Cowboys or Packers (with Favre) games, and never Redskins games.
Back to the anti-Redskins HOF bias. The team that glamorized the offensive line position and had linemen running to the opposite side of the field leading running plays has no offensive linemen in the HOF? This is a travesty. Either Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby, or Jim Lachey should be in.
First Annual Cruncher Weekend
August 8, 2009Here are the photos from OWU Sig Ep Alumni Weekend 2009. We hung out at the house, talked about old stories, went to the bars, and played a football game. Nothing crazy happened, which is probably a good thing, but it was a great time. It was a pretty good turnout considering we announced the date just more than a month in advance.
This weekend will be held the last weekend in July or the first weekend in August each year for Sig Eps who graduated from Ohio Wesleyan in the late 80s or early 90s. We might add an activity such as golf, but only about half of the people play golf, so we’ll come up with a couple of ideas. We’ll probably have a slightly different group of people each year with some overlap.
Next year we’ll make sure the people who want to play football play, and those who don’t will sit. One idea is to play the game early evening on the Friday so it’s cooler and people have more energy. The first game unofficially ended in a tie. It was Frandsen, Armstrong, and Falko vs. Apel, Blake, and Adams (Apel was not allowed to run). Chuck and Shad made it later. It’ll be a real game by 2011.
Sports for Children with Autism
July 23, 2009There was a good article in the Washington Post yesterday about a boy with autism who swims on a local swim team. Kids with autism can benefit a lot from playing sports, as can their neurotypical peers from having them on the teams. Swimming is one of the better sports for kids with autism because it is both individual, without a lot of complex requirements, yet still social in that kids are still part of a team.
Participating in sports can help kids with autism and other disabilities in many ways. Sports give kids with disabilities confidence, improve socialization, get more oxygen to the brain, improve coordination, help them stay in shape, help them sleep better, improve cognitive function by improving proprioception (the body’s sense of where it is in space), and reduce inappropriate behaviors. Improvements in fine and gross motor skills often go hand in hand with improvements in academic and cognitive function. Certain exercises can relax kids and even help align both hemispheres of the brain. And of course, sports are also a lot of fun.
Kids with autism often like swimming, trampoline, and swinging. This gives us clues on what kind of sensory input they need. What is the best sport for children with autism? I tried to answer the question a couple of years ago at http://www.coachmike.net/autism-faq.php#12. I think the real answer is, “Whatever they like best.” In order to find out whatever they like best, we need to get rid of our preconceived notions and expose them to as many athletic opportunities as possible. I learned this after coaching a child in soccer a few years ago who ultimately ended up playing hockey. I never would have thought hockey would be a great sport for kids with autism because of the need to skate and handle a stick simultaneously, but it turns out that it can be great, and it just goes to show that we shouldn’t put limitations on anyone.
Sports can be more effective for kids with disabilities when they are mixed in with academics and social skills. You can do a half hour of sports followed by a half hour of schoolwork, followed by a half hour of social skills. Each area helps the child generalize and build on the previous one. Sometimes people make the mistake, though well intentioned, of segregating each activity to the point where each one is facilitated by different specialists who, worst-case scenario, don’t coordinate and communicate with each other. In any case, each activity should transition and relate to the others, and ideally, you can do some academic work while moving at the same time. One example is to play catch or jump on a trampoline while answering questions. This helps with sensory integration. Yoga is also great for balance and relaxation, and deep breathing and meditation exercises can help improve the attention spans of children and reduce unwanted behaviors at the same time.
For a high functioning child, you can have him or her play in a league with typical peers, preferably a couple of years younger than the child who has autism. The child has a “shadow” who helps integrate him or her with the other children athletically and socially. I’ve facilitated in this way, and also coached Special Olympics soccer, and both can be great depending on the situation. See www.soccerideas.net for ideas on drills. It’s the same concept as in school – sometimes it’s best for kids to be mainstreamed into the typical school environment, and other times it’s best for them to be in a self-contained (special education) classroom, and often the best of both worlds is a combination of both, depending on the situation.
Exercises are great, but it’s best to do ones that are meaningful in the context of sports, so that children can eventually be part of a team, or at least play in impromptu games after school, or even use imagination to make up their own games. It’s how kids learn best – not just sitting at a desk doing work, but getting along with others, being spontaneous, thinking on the fly.
A lot of people are familiar with the amazing story of Jason McElwain, an autistic teenager who scored 6 three-point baskets for his high school team a few years ago. This type of success doesn’t happen a lot, but it would never happen if too many limitations are put on children who have autism and other disabilities who want to play sports.
I’d like to add one other thing. While parents shouldn’t push their kids too hard into sports, they should expose them to sports and in some cases kids may need a nudge. You wouldn’t tell your child who says, “I don’t want to do math” that it’s ok to avoid homework just because he or she doesn’t want to do it. Math is necessary and good for kids. Sports may be good for them as well, so don’t be so quick to say, “He doesn’t want to do it.” In any case, it’s better to try something new that to do the same things over and over. Sometimes I think parents are more autistic than the kids themselves – not willing to try anything new, just doing the same old x number of hours of therapy sitting at a desk in a vacuum. And playing sports is certainly better than sitting inside and watching TV.
Ok, that reminds me, I have one other thing to add. Today, a lot of kids play video games, and one video game that can be beneficial is the Nintendo Wii, which has simulated sports that can create an interest in real sports (tennis, bowling, baseball), as well as fitness (yoga, exercises, and running).
For people in the Bethesda/Montgomery County, MD/Washington, DC areas, there are several sports-related opportunities for children with autism.
- Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN, www.keenusa.org) is a free, volunteer-run sports program for kids with disabilities. There is a waiting list that was up to a year long the last time I checked, but they don’t turn anyone away unless they are over 21. KEEN has a general sports program, a swim program, a music program, and a Teen Club for higher functioning children to do outings. KEEN has chapters in Bethesda, Washington, DC, and several more across the country, and even a few in England, where KEEN began.
- Sports Plus, based in Germantown, MD, has sports leagues for kids with high functioning autism (www.playsportsplus.org).
- Fitness for Health in Rockville has some excellent equipment and specializes in one on one training sessions. See http://www.fitnessforhealth.org/.
- Special Olympics provides sports for not only children but also adults with disabilities: http://www.somdmontgomery.org/. The Special Olympics national website is http://www.specialolympics.org/.
- There are a few youth hockey programs in the area such as the Montgomery Cheetahs (www.montgomerycheetahs.org).
Elsewhere, check with your local schools and governments, or search the web to see what is out there.
How to Drive and Park in a Parking Garage
July 15, 2009I thought I’d remind people of the rules for driving in a parking garage. They’re not that much different than regular driving rules, really.
- Stay on the right side of the road. The same rules apply as if you were driving on the street. If you were in England, you’d drive on the left; if you knew you were the only person in the garage, you could drive in the middle; but barring those two situations, you should drive on the right.
- Neither drive as fast as you can, recklessly disregarding the possibility that someone might be around the corner, nor go incredibly slow, tentatively hoping that you will find a spot. Try to strike a balance between the two extremes.
- It may not be worth it to sit there forever and wait for people who get into their cars to leave so that you can get their spots. Why not just drive to the first spot that’s already open? You might find that even though you have to park on a higher level, it might be just as close if not closer to the stairway or elevator so you won’t have to walk as much.
This was inspired by the parking garage in Bethesda between Bethesda Ave., Woodmont Ave., and Elm Street. I know, I need to find more inspirational things to write about.
The Daily Show: Samantha, Bee Nice
July 15, 2009I love the Daily Show but a couple of weeks ago Samantha Bee was making a joke about the House of Representatives, saying, “They eat paste and wear a helmet. It’s the one that likes bright colors and hates loud noises. I’m saying that they’re dumb.”
I don’t get offended too easily, but this is inappropriate and I would think very insulting to people with disabilities. Here are a couple of examples: Some people may need to wear helmets because they are prone to seizures. And certain children and adults with autism may have very sensitive hearing so they hear things much more loudly than most people do, so it’s not their fault if they are startled by loud noises.
Books on Tape/Audiobooks for sale on Amazon.com
July 11, 2009Imagine you’re driving a long, boring commute. You’re tired of hearing the same songs over and over. Even on satellite radio, the stations play the same stuff again and again. Music CDs get old too. Even the news, unless you listen to BBC or something else international, covers no more than a few stories over and over, without much depth. Sports radio? Gets old fast. Howard Stern? They replay the same stuff over and over.
What is the solution? Books on tape (or nowadays, books on CD) can help. More and more people are trying to use their time productively whether they are in the car or taking public transportation to work. They’re also great for people who are blind or cannot read for other reasons. (I’m pretty sure there’s a way to transfer audio books from CD to Ipod, though I haven’t done it myself.)
I have a couple of hundred books on CD/audiobooks that I am selling on amazon.com. My prices are the lowest on amazon. My prices for used audiobooks (all of mine are used) range from from $4.50 to $49.99. Some of the audiobooks when new were originally priced at over $100 because some of them have more than 15 CDs. A lot of people list the prices sky high if they have the only copy available of a particular book on amazon because of supply and demand, but I list a lot of them at $29.99 even if I have the only copy for sale on amazon.
Some of the authors include: John Grisham, Stephen King, Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Kerouac, William F. Buckley, and Jackie Collins. A couple of the titles include: “Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush” by John Dean, and “The Google Story” by David Vise.
The list is below and also at http://www.amazon.com/shops/mikeneedsakidneydotcom. (A few of these books are hardcover books on art, sports, or other topics but I didn’t have time to edit those out from the list). Thanks for looking.
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