Thursday, February 27, 2014

We're Moving!!!!

Exciting news, my digital friends. The great 10-minute time-waster and one-stop shop shop for all these "Czabe" is moving to the following domain...

www.theczabe.com

Yeah, I know. Woo, big change!

I do think you'll like the new design. There's a good sampling of content on there, and it will be updated each day, M-F.

The current www.czabe.com will not be updated, and will be migrating over to www.theczabe.com shortly. Eventually, both domains will take you to the same place, but you can go ahead and bookmark this now, just to be safe.

Big thanks to Adam Austreng who helped design this more robust WordPress based site. And thanks to you people for being patient while I made sure we were ready to launch.

Soooo... see ya over there! And tell me what you think!

Best,
Czabe

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Three Priceless Things I Found Cleaning Out My Storage Room in the Basement

I highly recommend keeping files of things in your life. Things you otherwise might throw away. Or just lose track of. Because when you get older, they become precious artifacts of life - your life, which goes by way too fast it seems.

So here's the only season I played organized, real-life, big-boy tackle football.

I was 12. Does it look like I was any good?

I didn't have a horrible experience, but the game was certainly rougher and more physical than I was ready to handle. Still, I am glad I did it. As a Little League baseball kid, I think I had to persuade my mom to let me try football.

I was an offensive lineman, which.. hello.. is a joke, because... look at me. Those pipe cleaner arms. They weren't running any power-toss-sweeps behind ol' "Road Grader 79" - but as you can count from the roster size (about 16 kids) everyone played somewhere.

I was too slow and unathletic to play any skill position on offense, and too much of a pussy to play ANYWHERE on defense. So they threw me on the left side and basically said: "Try to get in somebody's way, kid."

Ol' #82 was Jake McInearney, who went on to be a placekicker at UVA. Even kicked in the Sugar Bowl back in the late 80's. He was my only friend on the team. The dog was our best player, but battled a nasty cocaine addiction, and was frequently suspended by the league.

One of the guys in this photo is local legend John Boobas, easily our toughest and best player on defense. You can try to figure out which one he is. He went to a rival high school, and reportedly got all jacked up with muscles, and ended up setting the Virginia State high school record in the shot put.

Yes. Allegedly. I will likely hear from Mr. Boobas now that this has been posted. The internet has an amazing way of being viral. 'Sup, Boobas! (We weren't friends. Please don't beat me up!)

Believe it or not, my only season in youth football, was cut short by a concussion: FALLING OFF A SKATEBOARD at my buddy Jeff Benjamin's house!

Six stitches to the head, another 6 to a gash on my right elbow, and that was that. Never kissed any of those cheerleaders either. I was 12. I didn't even like girls at the time.


>>>>>>>

This artifact here is my first ever official radio contract. Les Carroll was the GM of the station in Santa Barbara, and my job was to do 6 sports updates during morning drive, and a one hour sports talk show from 6-7 p.m. leading into Dodgers play-by-play.



As you can see, they paid me a TON of money!

Of course, I also called UCSB basketball games, at a cool $200 a pop! About 30 games per season, another $6K in my pocket, my god, I was rich!

>>>>>>>>



And this is a photo I have been looking for now for quite some time - alas, gotcha!

Behold: "The ORIGINAL 5-Hour Energy Dome!"

Circa 1998, it was in our first married house in Charlotte, NC. 9312 Hanover South Trail. Lovely neighborhood, and since homes down there almost never had finished basements (due to the water table in the ground being too close to the surface) they often had "bonus rooms" like this one, over the garage.

Those are some sweet Toshiba, standard DEF, TUBE TV's, baby! That's twin 27 inchers, above a 32. Two Sony VCR's, rack mounted above twin DirecTV receivers.

I left it all with the house. Was likely a nice selling point to the dude and his wife buying it. Wonder if it is still there today.



Monday, February 10, 2014

Sochi Sucks - Parody!

Nothing quite like a little Phil Collins and "Sussudio" to get your morning going. In fairness to the Russians, that mud you see in front of the sign has been hastily covered with grass, and dutifully painted by an old woman in a headscarf.

"See! Look perfect for winter games!"







Friday, February 7, 2014

Franz Klammer's 1976 Gold Medal Run, and "The Agony of Defeat"



As a young lad, one of my earliest sports memories was as an 8 year old watching the great downhiller Franz Klammer win gold in the downhill at the "famed" Kitzbuhl in his native Austria. The breathless excitement of the announcers, coupled with the cool-for-the-time electronic split timing, was awesome television for a boy stuck indoors in the winter before iPads and the internet were invented.

The other most iconic clip in Olympic-related history (because technically, it wasn't in the Olympics) is the wipeout by Slovenian Vinko Bogotaj who lost his nerve on the ski jump and authored the most epic yard sale in TV sports history.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The Three Must Watch Videos From Super Bowl Weekend



1. Frank Caliendo's "30 for 30" on Richard Sherman.

An impressionistic tour de force. I think his (heretofore unseen) Ron Jaworski is simply amazing. And I just know Berman did NOT like the fact Frank helped highlight what a cable-access hack he really is as a TV talent. Fox, you screwed up big time, letting Frank walk out the door. Rob Riggle? Really?



2. Marshawn Lynch "All 'Bout dat Action" Video

The soundbite alone, classic. Re-mixed into a rap riff/song, even better. Set to highlights of his best run? Simply brilliant.



3. Peyton Manning "A Little Bit of Pee Came Out"

Okay, so this was my personal creation. A recycled bit of SNL audio, coupled with some choice images from Super Bowl 48. Not bad for a radio guy with a MacBook Pro, eh?


Monday, February 3, 2014

Wearing the Dunce Cap

Never again. I shall never again fall swooning for "offense" when it meets great, or even just "good" defense.

Here, let me hammer home the eternal sports truths for several major sports.

NFL: Defense > Offense
MLB: Pitching > Hitting
NBA: Superstar > Balanced Team

Several things from this game, I completely failed to account for, that helped lead to the humiliating (for me) disaster (for the Broncos) that ensued.

1. It Was Loud
As much as Seattle thrives on the 12th man fury at home, Peyton thrives on the library like silence on offense at home. It allows for seamless check-outs, hard counts, and manipulation. When MetLife came alive from the start, it was like a road game for Manning. Trouble. The o-line was nervous against that pass rush, and none of the usual gyrations were worth two shits.

2. The Denver Secondary Was Atrocious
Okay, so Champ Bailey had a helluva a career. He's shot. Letting Baldwin loose like that was pathetic. And Dominique Rodgers Cromartie should retire, as he threatened. When Percy Harvin comes across a second time on a jet-sweep that went for huge yards the first time, you can't let the WR easily seal you off with a block. And don't get me started on Tony Carter. You suck. Like they were going to ignore that PI in the endzone? At the Super Bowl? Good job, good effort.

3. Cliff Avril Dominating
And it wasn't just him up front, I am well aware. But to see Avril lift up RT Orlando Franklin like he put a palette jack underneath him and moved him effortless into Manning's lap, was a singularly incredible athletic feat to see.

All that, plus three ill-timed, and utter disasters: the safety-snap, the balloon pick-six, and the Percy Harvin Immaculate Bounce-Pooch, meant Denver just "got debacled" as Emmitt Smith would say.

A perfect storm, of Seattle dominance. Well done Hawks.

/slow clap