I Found Manny Ramirez at Disneyland

I thought I'd take time out from vacation to check in from the road...

Heidi scoffed on Friday when I said that I'd be hanging with Manny Ramirez at Disneyland while on vacation in California! I tried to tell her that Manny and I were tight..but she just rolled her eyes.

Oh thee of little faith.

Less than 3 hours after entering Disneyland on Sunday...I ran smack dab into Manny as he left the Soaring California. I couldn't believe my eyes...there he was sporting his brand new LA Dodger colors...a big 99 on his back...walking with his agent, taking in all of the wonderful attractions offered at Disneyland and California Adventure.

He was shorter than I thought he'd be...and where were those trademark dreads? Hmmm...I guess Joe Torre must have made him cut them off already. As I got closer, and called out his name, he turned and gave me that famous Manny grin...

It was then that I realized that I'd been hoodwinked!

That wasn't Manny...it was a 10 year old kid wearing Manny's new Dodgers shirt...well, that explains where his dreads went! And the agent? That was the kids dad...oh man...whatta a rip off!

Although I didn't see the real Manny, I can tell you that he is alive and well in Los Angeles. The entire city is caught up in Mannymania...they absolutely LOVE the guy.

The kid and his dad went on to tell me that they had been at the game the night before when Manny got his first home run. You could hear the excitement in the voices as they described how he came to the plate, the sound the bat made when it struck the ball, and how cool Manny glided around the bases.



They also apologized. They know that their teams gain was our teams loss. And they weren't the only ones who offered up condolences.

As I walked around the park with my family, sporting my new David Ortiz T-shirt, I was met with chants of Go Sox, and Yeaaah! Boston. But most people simply said, Hey, sorry about Manny.

My response...yeah me too.

On a funny note...after a full day of chants and shout outs for the world champs I had kind of gotten used to it...but I wasn't prepared for what happened as I was leaving the park the first day.

Walking with my youngest son (he was wearing his Coco Crisp shirt)...I could hear a group of people talking softly. Occasionally I'd hear David Ortiz name, or someone whisper Red Sox...when I turned to see who was following me...I was met with a group of about 15 Japanese tourist being led through Disneyland by a tour guide.

As I caught their eye they all smiled, gave the thumbs up, and said Ohhh Red Sox...Dice K!

I almost fell over laughing! I smiled back, gave them the thumbs up and said Yeah! Dice K!

As we walked out the front gate, my son asked me if maybe hose tourist thought that he was really Coco and that I was Big Papi! I told him probably...after all I thought I'd spotted Manny Ramirez just a few hours earlier!

I guess when we talk about Red Sox Nation it's not too far of a stretch.

I'm a Junkie

I'm a news and entertainment junkie.

I love sitting and watching CNN, ESPN SportsCenter, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, FOX News...you name it...if it covers current events I'm all over it like a teenager on a Wii!

A lot of the things that I watch on those shows gets discussed on the show each morning, while others don't because of time, subject matter, or because it's not mass appeal enough. So I thought I'd take a few minutes and discuss some of those things here on the blog.

First off...The Rolling Stones just signed a long-term contract with a new record label. That's obviously not a story you'll see Tori Ryden lead with tonight on News 8 WMTW. However, around Frank-FM it's been a big topic of discussion.

Mick Jagger is 65. Keith Richards is 64. Charlie Watts is 67. Ronnie Wood is 61.



I can't believe the words "long term" come up in conversation about any of the Rolling Stones...unless we're talking about long term health care!

Another thing that got my attention yesterday was the news about the family that had Extreme Makover demolish their nasty old house and replace it with a mini-mansion back in 2005...now having their dream home put up for auction because they can't pay the mortgage.

Besides a luxury home, they were also provided with $250,000, including scholarships for their 3 kids, and a home maintenance fund.

So where did all the money go? Well I'm assuming it went for more than extra cheese on a couple of pizza's last Friday night! Reports say they used the home as collateral for a $450,000 loan to start a construction business that failed.

I don't want to judge them, but can you imagine someone GIVING you a brand new home, college scholarships for your kids, money to keep up the house, and $250K? How do you mess that up?

NFL training camps opened this week. This is the time of year that I live for...I LOVE the NFL. Obviously I'm interested to see how former NY Jet and Oakland Raider running-back Lamont Jordan will fit-in on the Pat's squad...

But the BIG news is the return of Packers QB Brett Favre.

Brett retired back in April...



Now he wants to play again...



The Pack...not so interested! They've moved on, but they don't want Brett to move on...they'd prefer he just stay down on the farm in Mississsippi.

Have you ever been to Mississippi? Yeah...now ya know why Brett wants to return to Green Bay!

Anyway...enough already. The Pack should let him go play someplace else...other than the NFC North...and Brett should make sure that next time he says he's done...he's really done!

Here's a question for you...are you sick and tired of the Presidential election yet? I try to never get too deep into discussing politics for the obvious reasons. But unless they have something new to report I wish CNN and FOX would find something else to discuss.


And here's a tip for Obama and McCain...pick a VP already! Let us know who they are...so the TV know-it-all's can sit around and pick them apart for a while. It serves two purposes...it gets them to stop talking about you so much...and give us a chance to sort through the dirty laundry of your VP!

OK...that's it for now...I gotta get to the TV for late-breaking news! There has just been an earthquake in southern California...5.8 in the Richter scale...



Since I'm going to Disneyland for vacation on Friday, I need to find out if Mickey and Minnie still have a house...

See ya in the morning.