Notes From Nashville

Boy, what a wild and crazy week it has been. Never before in my life have 2 sides of my brain been in such conflict. Remember the old Frosted Mini Wheat commercials? Well, the adult in me and the baseball fan in me definitely conflicted in Nashville:



I spent alot of money that I didn't have, and drove 13 hours and 900 miles to Nashville to find a job in baseball. The Job Fair was pretty much a complete joke. Trying to find a team hiring close to where we moved was supposed to be fairly easy; instead, of the 8 jobs that I applied for, 5 of them never even scheduled interviews with anyone! And it wasn't just me, as most of the 450 job seekers that were there were as completely frustrated and baffled as I was. It's not all bad news, as of the 2 interviews I had, I got a second interview scheduled with Wilmington next week, albeit for another barely-paying job as I had with the P-Nats. One more job fair in Philly in a couple weeks, so we'll see what happens...

As for the baseball fan in me, it was a virtual nirvana. There were dozens of baseball players, managers, and TV personalities roaming the same hallway as the Winter Meetings were taking place as well. The two biggest thrills for me was bumping into Tommy Lasorda my first day there, and then seeing and nodding to Cal Ripken as he walked into the hotel bar. Also got to watch live broadcasts of ESPN, XM and MLB.TV, as well as the live announcement of the Vets' Committee on who they are sending into the Hall of Fame. So it wasn't a complete loss, but when you spend money you don't have to further your career, the adult in you invariably wins out.

Some pics from my adventure. Jerome Bettis. Wrong sport, but I'm not gonna tell him:



Cal Ripken:



Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire interviewing Astros manager Cecil Cooper. This also was a big thrill for me, as he is the architect of the last Dodgers Championship in 1988, unfortunately he came and went so quickly that I didn't get a chance to speak with him:



Ravech, Kurkjian and Gammons live on Baseball Tonight:

Sheryl's New Video!

My girl Sheryl Crow's awesome new song & video, "Shine Over Babylon." It should give you even more respect for her talents. Enjoy:

How Bout Them Cowboys!!

The Dallas Football Cowboys looked great tonight as they beat the Packers 37-27in a battle of the best 2 teams in the NFC. All the great things that happened in a game half of the country (including myself) could not see because of the damn cable company:

- Tony Romo threw for 4 TD's, giving him 33 on the year, breaking the Cowboys all-time Season TD record. With names like Aikman, Staubach, and Meredith in our history, that's pretty damn impressive. He's also dating Jessica Simpson, which justifies my man-crush on Romo even more.

- The Cowboys ran their record to 11-1, the best in their history. They also pulled 2 games ahead of the Packers for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

- The Cowboys clinched a playoff spot, and depending on what the Giants do on Sunday, may have clinched the division.

I've gotta say, I am starting to believe just a little bit in this team. It's been a long 12 years since any of my teams did anything, so my skepticism is justified. But with 4 weeks left in the regular season, it's starting to look like this team can do some very special things.

A New Kenney Thanksgiving

Staci & I hosted our first holiday dinner as a married couple on Thursday for Thanksgiving. All of the family was here, except for Colleen & Hillary (we missed you guys!), as well as our extended family of Mari, Ian & Sharon. It was a full house, to be sure, but alot of fun. The turkey came out great, and Staci's chocolate pie was a hit, as usual! And we got to watch my Cowboys go 10-1 for the first time in their history. A day to be thankful for, to be sure.

Thankful For...

One of my favorite holidays has always been Thanksgiving, mostly for the tasty dinner and Dallas Cowboys football. One of the things we would do as kids would be to make a list, half serious and half funny, of things we were thankful for. I've decided to revive that for this edition of BK's Blog. I am thankful for:

- Staci's & my first Thanksgiving as a married couple;
- The first Thanksgiving since 1998 I will be with Mary, and the 1st since 1992 that I will be with Dad;
- The 9-1 (hopefully) Super Bowl-bound Cowboys;
- The great friends that I have, who lift me up in tough times;
- Barry "Big Head" Bonds being indicted on perjury, ensuring that his cheating ass will never play baseball again;
- Being able to listen to all the great Christmas songs starting on Friday;
- A great job in baseball (oops, maybe I can be thankful for that at Christmas);
- A new hometown that I actually like, away from traffic and knock-in-blocs;


Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day, and go Cowboys!

Ian's Birthday Celebration At PSU

Ian's birthday was last week, and the gang headed where we have 4 out of the last 5 years- to Penn State! A good time was had by all, as we wandered to old favorite places, and some interesting new ones as well. And aside from HORRIBLE service at our regular haunt, Ye Olde College Diner, everything was great. And we even found laughs in that situation as well!



It was good to see friends we hadn't seen in a while, and as the week of "Thanks" begins, you have to be thankful spending good times with people you care deeply about.

Dodgers: A New Hope?

The official introduction of new Dodgers, and former Yankees, manager Joe Torre took place yesterday. As deep as my hatred for the Yankees runs, I am actually pleased with this move. In a Yankee team full of classless individuals, Joe was always the epitome of class. And I never have a problem with a smart and proven manager/coach coming over from a hated rival and making my team better (see Bill Parcells).

Having said all of that, I still need to see if Joe can actually do what the last 6 Dodgers managers could not- bring home the World Series title to L.A. After years of suffering, this is the best news we have gotten in awhile.

More Convention..

A couple videos from the Q & A, taken by another fan. The questions aren't included, but Office fans will get the gist. Enjoy!

Part 1:



Part 2:

The Office Convention!

What an unexpected thrill to go to The Office convention on Saturday. It was held in my hometown of Scranton, the setting for the show. I braved the hard rain to go down and spent the entire day taking it all in. First, I got to be in the Office Olympics, a take-off of a Season 2 episode. I did ok, but did not win. Still alot of fun!


After that, I headed back over to the tent to pick up my free t-shirt, and Phyllis Smith (Phyllis) was signing autographs. I got to meet her and she was just as sweet as she is on the show.


Staci and I headed down to grab a bite at one of the many stands that were set up. The Good Alfredo's Pizza was there, as was Poor Richard's and Farley's, all of which are often mentioned on the show. As we walked back up towards the main stage Creed Bratton (Creed) and Craig Robinson were joining local band The Scrantones for a few tunes. Turns out Creed really was in the '60's group The Grass Roots (as is his character).



The highlight of the day was definitely the Q & A with the cast. 10 members of the supporting cast were there and they answered silly and serious questions for 2 hours. They really seemed touched by the reception they had received by locals and out-of-towners alike.



All in all, a great day, hopefully next year, we can all go and hit the non-free events!

We Are...

Penn State! Well, thanks to Jason, I was finally able to see the only one of my favorite teams that I had never seen. Only took 34 years! Penn State did not disappoint in my debut, as they tromped all over #15 Wisconsin, 38-7. Jason made sure I had the whole experience, from the great tailgating to getting onto the field after the game. Only 109,000+ fans in attendance. I will always love baseball first, but there is nothing like a true college football game for a sports fan.