LassenSportsNetwork.com » Scotts Thoughts

Good Morning Commercial: My New Favorite Commercial

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:11:26 +0000

As some of you know, every now and then, a good, happy riff catches my attention. And when you put some baseball in there, you got me… This is my new favorite “HAPPY” commercial, and now that we have it here, I don’t have to annoy my beautiful bride by playing it over and over on TIVO.
If this doesn’t make you happy, I don’t what to do… And let us always remember, baseball is, God’s sport…
By the way, it’s Will.I.Am covering Bob Dylan for Pepsi. The Kansas City Royal player is Billy Butler.

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The Dog Ate My Homework…

scott — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:39:15 +0000

The dog ate my diary. Seriously, “Stella the Wonder Dog” ate my yellow legal note pad, so I’m working off my limited memory this go around…
First, another big thanks to our sponsors for making our live broadcast of the Lassen High School championship softball game possible. They were (and still are if you listen to the archive): Lassen Municipal Utility District, the San Francisco Chronicle (call 257-6227 for home delivery), Rose’s Cafe (get a 10% off coupon for Rose’s by clicking on their ad), T & A Lounge, Leslie’s Jewelry, Mark Nareau, Attorney at Law and the CHP 140 Squad Club.
Our next scheduled broadcast is June 13th, when the correctional officers from High Desert State Prison and the California Correctional Center square off in the Grizz Bowl at Arnold Field. As you can see on this page, the smack talk has already begun.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Lassen High football program, as renovations at Arnold Field continue. New bathrooms and a completely rebuilt press box. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here. Lassen’s head football coach Tom St. Jacques has agreed to provide color commentary and carry me through the broadcast…
Also coming up exclusively here on the Lassen Sports Network, our live unedited interview with his “coachness” Ben Wade. We’ll be sitting down with coach Wade upon his return from Survivor parties in New York. This will be an audio interview so you will be able to listen in on all the pearls of wisdom that the “Dragonslayer” has to offer…
Here is this weeks happy song from the Blackwood archives.

dropkick murphys-Tessie

OK, so it’s another drinking, victory, celebration song, but it’s a baseball song. Plus, it’s got bagpipes and it’s at Fenway Park. How can that not make you happy?..
From happy to sad… It was with sadness that I got the call from Lassen College head men’s basketball coach, Ben Riley last week. Sad because at the end of the conversation, Riley was the former head men’s basketball coach at Lassen College.
I’ve enjoyed not only a personal friendship with Riley, but also the opportunity to watch the young man grow and mature in his profession. My best to Ben and his family in their future endeavors. I have a hunch we’ll be seeing Riley back at Lassen College. Unfortunately, he will be sitting on the visitor’s bench…
I was asked by a reader following my last diary ramblings, how I could “just laugh” at the news of the Manny Ramirez suspension doled out by Major League Baseball? DUH, I’m a Giants fan… So, we turned off the television for three days at the Blackwood house. No sports, no news, no ”House,” notta, zippo, nothing… Is it too much to ask for more than three minutes a day of quality, informative, entertaining programming from “local” radio?.. Local is more than just a word. You’ve got to actually care about your audience, and their needs, more than your own, otherwise, it’s just about the money and one’s own self-importance… I’ve found a new resting place for the diary. It’s Stella proof, I think… Be sure to check out some of the changes to the site. Specifically, the comment areas, and we love to hear your comments, so be sure to send yours, along with your stories, suggestions, requests and pictures… And don’t forget, you can catch three minutes of sports, three times daily, Monday through Friday on 96.3 Jack FM… Shameless… While I absolutely believe that, when done well, radio is the best media outlet on the planet, the TV is back on…
SMB

Prison Football and Other Notes From the Diary…

scott — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:34:01 +0000

Competing correctional officers from the California Correctional Center and High Desert State Prison are set, (almost), to square-off on the gridiron at Arnold Field, Saturday, June 13th.
We say almost, because we’re told that C.C.C. is having some issues getting enough players to field a team. (Dare we say, scared ?). With that said, C.C.C has been given the go ahead to open up the roster to, Susanville Police Department personnel as well as members of the Lassen County Sheriffs Department.
Ticket prices have been set at $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for kids 12 and under. Proceeds from the game benefit the Lassen High School football program, as the building of a new press box at Arnold Field begins.
This will be the fifth meeting of teams from the two correctional facilities.
At least until the game is over, can we call them “Prison Guards?” It sounds some much more, “footballish,” than “Correctional Officer.”
Now to more ramblings from the yellow legal notepad, or as we like to call it, “The Diary”… I’ll start with something to listen to while you read on… This is my “happy commercial.”

You may have seen it during various sports broadcasts. Every time it comes on, it cheers me up. Enough so that my beautiful bride yells at me for playing it over and over until the game comes back on… TIVO is a wonderful thing… You think there’s a 12 pack headed my way…
The worst thing about John Madden stepping down from the broadcast booth. Chris Collinsworth is taking his place… I’ve had the good fortune to attend Super Bowls, the World Series, NBA and NHL playoff games. I really, really, want to see the spectacle of the Kentucky Derby, in person… There’s no real argument, Lebron James is the Most Valuable Player in the NBA. Take Lebron out of the Cleveland Cavalier’s line-up. No best record, no #1 seed and, quite possibly, no playoffs. Sorry Kobe fans… Steroids be damned. If A-Rod is proven to be guilty of tipping pitches to opposing batters, he should be Pete Rose’d right out of baseball. Immediately… The BCS. Like it or hate it, it keeps college football at the top of our awareness, pretty much, year round… Only Congress can screw that up… Whatever happened to the term, “Mythical National Champion ?… I know it only lasted two rounds, but if you paid for the Pacquiao/Hatton fight, you got your moneys worth… Steroids be damned, Pt.2; Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has just been suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. I just laugh… Alex Rodriguez is the happiest guy in baseball right now… That commercial just makes me happy… Till next time…
SMB

Random Thoughts, Dear Diary, You Pick a Name…

scott — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:57:12 +0000

So, here we go. I’ve had numerous requests to do more column type writing here on Lassen Sports Network. Thank you for the comments, they are greatly appreciated and we will work harder.
Let me be clear, my style of writing is very “three-dottish,” mostly because my attention span sometimes lacks. I used to do some writing for the local paper and my column was, in essence, random notes from what my beautiful bride refers to as “my diary.” It’s actually a yellow legal notepad so it was oft times, mockingly referred to as “Dear Diary.”
My sister came up with “Blackwood’s Random Points of Ponderance” for a name. What say you ? (Hey Blackwood shut up doesn’t count). Anyway. I had a couple of comments that I wanted to pass along…
If you have a chance, shake the hand of a Lassen College baseball player and/or coach. I know you see an 8-22 record for the Cougars. What you may not see, is the fact that as recently as August, there was, in essence, no Lassen College baseball program. These young men and the staff have not only been a credit to their school, they have been a credit to our community, and through some of the most adverse conditions.
The likes of Carl Johnson, Cort Cortez, Brad Sanchez and coach Deal are the reason that Lassen College baseball will return to prominence, sooner rather than later…
From the things to look forward to department: Coach Ben Wade, the “Dragonslayer,” the musical prodigy, the Peruvian Pygmy warrior and the self-proclaimed star of the television series “Survivor,” has assured me that, at the conclusion of the series, we here at the Lassen Sports Network will be granted the first local interview. Rest assured, it will not be the slurpy type of coverage that competing local media outlets have afforded Mr. Wade over the past several weeks…
While the Carl Edwards flip at Talladega last weekend was scary as hell, can anyone say they don’t watch NASCAR to see that kind of stuff…Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, is becoming that pitcher that you go out of your way to see…The NBA got it right, Orlando’s Dwight Howard should have been suspended. Boston’s Rajon Rondo, should not have been…For my money, I’ll take the competitive intensity of an NHL playoff game over the NBA every time…
You know we put submission information at the bottom of just about every post here at LSN, and we mean it. This site is every bit yours as anyone’s. So if you have stories and/or pictures, or any kind of information you would like to see, submit it !
For the haters out there who know no better, the Susanville Symphony is pretty spectacular…
That’s what I’ve got for you today, come up with a name for the column that the higher ups approve of, and we’ll send you a pizza from the Pizza Factory. If you’re from another area, we’ll send you a picture of a pizza from the Pizza Factory…

I’m No Fan of A-Rod, But…

scott — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:07:04 +0000

Nope, I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of Alex Rodriguez. And for previously publicized reasons of my own, but I do not hesitate to say:

Alex Rodriguez is one of the best baseball players I, or you, have ever seen play the game. Unless you just hate the guy or don’t get baseball, there’s no argument to be had. Was it the right thing to dabble in Performance Enhancing Drugs, (PEDs) from 2001 – 2003? (as he has confessed). That’s debatable. Was it the wrong thing? Probably.

I’m not one to judge the sincerity of an apology from someone I do not personally know, but I’ll say this for A-Rod, his coming-clean party was the first time, outside of injury, that I felt an athlete gave a legitimate response as to why they did what they did. As I took it, Rodriguez told ESPN’s Peter Gammons, when asked why he took PEDs, and I’m paraphrasing here: “I just signed a ten year, 252 million dollar deal. Dude, that’s the biggest contract ever ! You don’t think I felt the pressure to be the best baseball player in history.” By no means am I advocating the use of steroids, PEDs, HGH and/or any other banned substance. But it’s time to move on. What has happened has happened, and you know what, it all counts !

You cannot undo the history of baseball just because you don’t like it. How many era’s of baseball have we seen ? The “dead ball” era, low pitcher’s mounds, high pitchers mounds, and back again. The “amphetamine” era. You can go on and on about how this era was better than that one. That’s one of the many beauties, and root of many a baseball argument. Now we can add, the “steroid “era, and let the arguments commence.

The simple fact of the matter is, it happened. Every home run, every base hit, every strike-out, it all happened and you can’t go back and say that it didn’t. We don’t know when it started and we don’t know when it will end. And you most certainly cannot just erase some numbers.

You can fix the problem, which, like it or not, baseball is seemingly attempting to do. For all I care, if you get caught using one of these substances now, ban ‘em for life, that’s fine, but you cannot undo history. Baseball will survive, it always has.

One closing note: Before you start espousing your moral authority, do your homework, have a clue as to what it is you’re speaking or writing about, and then, count to ten, take a deep breath, and MOST importantly, take a good, long look in the mirror…