February 10,2006

Hello All:



         My father in law, Tim Connors, called it the worst Super Bowl he's seen in 30 years.
Joann Hili said it was one of the great experiences of her life. Guess who each was pulling
for?
    I didn't get to see much of the game, as I was working, but people on both sides of the
game said that the officiating was awful. This is a topic that comes up every few years. This
year was particularly bad. There was a call in the AFC playoffs between the Steelers and the
Colts that went against Pittsburgh and almost cost them the game. Now from the replays
I've seen, Seahawks fans have some legitimate gripes themselves, though I don't know if
the refs blew enough calls that you can honestly say they gave Pittsburgh the game.
    Another thing that came up during the Super Bowl week was Harry Carson's election to
the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Carson, an all-pro linebacker with the Giants had been on the
ballot for several years, only to fall short. A couple of years ago, he demanded that he be
taken off the ballot. The committee didn't and Carson made it in this year. I was thinking
that the last time I saw someone pull a trick like that was "Red" Redding (played by Morgan
Freeman) in "The Shawshank Redemption.": (SPOILER ALERT)

"Rehabilitated? Well, Now let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.....
I know what *you* think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made up word; a politician's
word. So young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you
really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did? .......
There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think
I should. I look back on the way I was then, a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible
crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way
things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with
that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullsh-t word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and
stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a sh-t."

That speech got Red out of jail after 40 years. Carson, by telling the H of F to take him off
the ballot, may have gotten himself elected.

END SPOILER ALERT


I know it was a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't weigh in on Oprah Winfrey's big
controversy with James Frey and his so-called memoir A Million Little Pieces." So I will now,

    I can understand the disappointment one must feel when reading a book they think is
true, only to find out that its bogus. I've just started getting back into book reading, and the
books I've read so far have either been biographies or had some historical significance. If I
found out something I thought was fact were to be completely made up, it would definitely
take away from the reading experience.
       I also understand that Oprah Winfrey putting her stamp of approval on anything means
that its value goes up tremendously. Whether it be a watch, a car, and most importantly a
book.
       But for Oprah to sit there and berate James Frey because she was duped, because she
was deceived, because she was betrayed, shows a certain level of arrogance on her part,
that I don't think has been talked about.
       I know that people are going to say she's just defending her name, which is also a
brand, and that's fine. But don't you think with all her money, and all her power, and all her
influence, that she could have gotten to the bottom of this herself? If TheSmokingGun.com
could do it on their budget, couldn't the most powerful woman in the media?
        Yes, Oprah had the right to be angry at Frey, but nobody told her to go on Larry King
Live and defend him either. Enough red flags were going up that maybe she should have held
her tounge. Lets face it, Frey was a drug addict, well versed in the art of deception.
 Shouldn't that have been enough for Oprah to investigate this for herself?
        But there's a part of me that thinks that by going on Larry King's show and defending
Frey, Oprah figured that would be enough to make the controversy go away. The old "I said
it, that does it!" approach. Except that it never works that way. Once these sharks smell
blood, it makes them hungrier.
Oprah Winfrey of all people, should have known that.



I know this is short notice, and I should have done a better job promoting this, but our good
friend George (JR) Miller Esq., will be diving into the icy waters of Rockaway on Saturday in
the 6th Annual McMahon Family's Plunge for Cystic Fibrosis. If you're anywhere
near Rockaway on Saturday afternoon, stop on in and watch as JR takes a dip into the
choppy Atlantic Ocean where weather forecasters are predicting a N'oreaster. Go get 'em
JR, better you than us.
To make a donation and for more information, goto http://www.rockawayplunge.com/ or e-
mail JR at
jrmiller76@hotmail.com

Happy Birthday this week to one of this country's great heroes, who also happens to be my
dad. Big Bill celebrates on Monday.
Everyone Else Have a Great Week.
Wild B.