Dave's Thoughts of the Day: November 20th

Gobble countdown is down to TWO days.  Two days, everyone 'til Thanksgiving.    Who cannot wait for the big meals in store?  I look forward to it.

Colin Kapernick did a remarkable job last night for the 49ers.   I think I want to give him one more start before I decide whether he's a long term solution.  It's too bad his next start would be against the Saints on the road.  That's almost an impossible place to win.   If Alex Smith is deemed healthy I would guess he gets the start anyway.

I got my first look at TWC Sportsnet last night.  This is terrific!   I have always wondered what a channel entirely devoted to the Lakers would be like.  No Angels games to get in the way.  No rushed postgame shows from a makeshift desk next to the Jerry West statue at Staples Center.  No more of that useless Norm Nixon failing to analyze plays.  The only issue at the moment is that the programming is pretty repetitive.   Lakers Access, Classic Lakers, Lakers Replay, Lakers Access again...  

I don't worry so much about that: every program takes a while to build an archive of material in the very beginning.  The first years of NFL Network featured a lot of old NFL Films highlight shows, and by old I mean VERY old, like from the mid-to-late 60's.  I rather enjoyed it, but it was just filler for a very new channel.  The first years of most HD channels had programming on about a 3 hour block, which just repeated or alternated with one other 3 hour block ad nauseum.  Over time, TWC Sportsnet will have more comprehensive programming.  I love the dedication to Lakers coverage, and even better, I get to see my boy Coach Dave Miller at the studio desk again!

Who is Dave Miller?  He used to coach the Hornets in some capacity.  Then, years later, he came over to Los Angeles to do postgame and pregame shows for the Lakers on radio.  Now he's on TV.  He's had a good post-coaching career and he seems to bleed Lakers, even though I don't remember him having any connections to the team in the past.

Then you look over at Fox Sports Net and Prime Ticket.    You can bet the Clippers, Kings, and Dodgers are *begging* to go to their own channels.  Kings would be pretty good to be a complimentary team to the Lakers on TWC Sportsnet, and I bet that's where they will go when their contract with FSN expires.   The Kings can take their time: the more time this channel spends on the Lakers, the better it will be.   If all goes well I'll be watching TWC Sportsnet every night.

I do miss hockey.   The last time the NHL had a lockout, and teams came back it was never the same.   You'd see all the same players and all the same teams but it just felt different.   I'm afraid the same thing happens this year.   Hockey is never going to learn... they were picking up momentum with its fans, and slowly building popularity again.  Now, it's as good as badminton in terms of popularity.    Way to go, Bettman.  Way to go, NHLPA.

I just find it amusing that Donald Fehr has a hand in the NHLPA during this lockout.  He's the man responsible for the bloated salaries in MLB today.   Now he's in the NHL trying to milk all the money he can for the players.   One problem, Donald:  WHERE IS THIS MONEY COMING FROM?   You can't milk money from a league that doesn't have that much money to begin with.   NHL Revenues from 2011 were 3.3 billion dollars.  That's a full 1 billion less than the NBA's 4.3 billion, and less than 50% of MLB's 7 billion.  The NHL gets easily the worst TV ratings of any professional sport.  They have ratings bad enough to be comparable to MLS Soccer.  It's a joke.   Yet, the NHL thinks they can operate like the NFL and hope all its fans start pouring back.

Some of them will, but many of them will take longer to return to following the sport.  NHL Strikes out again.

A Kings fan, like myself, could be furious about this lockout.   To waste not only a whole year of all the players' lives and kill any momentum for a title repeat, THEN take away the fans' chance to see the Kings put up their championship banner is a very bitter pill to swallow.   It would be impossible for any team to repeat after a full calendar year in between seasons.  It's just awful.

How long does pasta keep?   I've had a batch of pasta that I cooked on Thursday, I believe, and it's in the fridge now.   Think it's all right to eat?  I think we're going to find out tonight!

We do have one more Dave in the City Podcast tonight at 10 East, 7 Pacific.  Mike in North NJ joins us to break down the upcoming Notre Dame/USC game.  Should be a good time.  In hour 2, Kevin on the Cape helps us usher in Thanksgiving.

I've got to get an anniversary present for my parents.  Their anniversary is on Thanksgiving Weekend.  Odd isn't it?  I don't know how they arrived at that date but it makes a busy weekend even busier for them.  It should be great though!

Is Turkey an overrated meat?   It's easy to turn that thing dry in cooking.   It takes forever to cook.   The end result can be hit or miss.   I do like it though, so I can't decide.

Imagine this!   A turkey rotisserie restaurant in the style of California Chicken Cafe or any other rotisserie chicken place.   It'd cost way more but I'm intrigued.   Or, if not that, how about a Fried Turkey restaurant?  You *can* fry them.   There are these huge peanut oil turkey fryer pots they sell.  Put in the Turkey, let it sit for a few minutes and bazinga, perfectly cooked turkey with a delicious crust.

There's a Dunkin Donuts in Las Vegas.   If there's a Dunkin Donuts in Las Vegas, why in the world is there no Dunkin Donuts in California?  Vegas is practically next to California!  This is outrageous, my friends.  Just outrageous.

That's all for the moment:  You know, I'm so thankful to have the freedom and the means to write this blog.   I'm thankful to have the people and good friends to support it.  I'm happy to have a great family to help me be the man I am today.   Thanks to you all.   Back tomorrow!