Watchdog

As the oldest blogger in America, I reserve the right to bore young readers by referencing the simpler, saner land of my youth.

For example: My post insisting traditional, indoor volleyball is a better spectator sport than this newfangled beach volleyball you crazy kids are into. (Not counting the unis, obviously.)

On the other hand, readers reserve the right to call me on being a cranky old cuss, and I appreciate it when they do. Thus, behold this week's contest winner, The Mask, in response to the aforementioned volleyball rant:

"hey Neil,

It's time for you to yell at the kids on your lawn again!"

This week's Friday comment contest winner is bgl-in-slc, who originally is from Bay Shore but about 20 years ago doubled the Jewish population of Salt Lake City with his pioneering move West.

Here is his response to Wednesday's post about the prominent Jewish presence on the U.S. swim team in Beijing:

"Who would have thunk that our people would perform so well in the pool!?

I thought it was practically written in the Torah that you couldn't swim for a full three hours after you ate so you could fully digest your food.

How in the world do these people have time to practice???"

This week's comment award goes to Katie in the wake of the debate sparked by a columnist critiquing an ESPN reporter's attire and behavior in the Cubs' locker room.

It was difficult to get male commentors to take this subject seriously. That's why WatchDog Nation is happy to have representatives of all genders! Take it away, Ms. Katie:

In all seriousness, it's a very tough line that women in sports media have to walk. Look, realistically you're not going to get on TV, no matter how knowledgeable you are, unless you're good looking--preferably very good looking. But you also have to be aware that you are only allowed to push those good looks--which your employer seemingly wants to highlight--so far, and maybe the line isn't always clear. Sometimes it seems like a no win situation. I remember hearing some guys on a sports radio station snarkily talking about a female sideline reporter who looked like she'd "had some work done" (an eye job, maybe some botox, to be exact). But if she hadn't had said work done, they would probably have been the first to comment on her not looking great, or maybe her employers would have noted it and just shifted her off the broadcast. It's like you have to do everything you can to look good, but then you can also get criticized for doing everything you can to look good.

This week's comment contest winner comes not from the blog but from the inbox, an e-mail from loyal reader Andrew Romanic referencing a certain incident at Jets camp.

Here it is:

Jet quarterbacks Pennington and Clemens should show up at the WFAN studio during the Boomer and Carton show with bullhorns and chant: We want Imus! We want Imus!

I won't have time Friday for the Friday comment contest, so I'll name a winner now:

The happy recap goes to Jim Nasium, who offered this bit of highbrow humor in response to a picture of Morganna kissing George Brett during a long-ago game:

"Morganna's upper deck was always filled to capacity."

Difficult to argue with that.

The picture of Ms. Morganna at right is signed to Steve Wulf of ESPN The Magazine, who wrote about it here.

For young fans unfamiliar with her work, I can't think of a more succinct description than this from Wikipedia:

"Her claim to fame is her kissing chutzpah and her large breasts."

I like to think of WatchDog as a bright, shiny bow that ties together the generations, from new media whippersnappers to cranky old baby boomers.

Naturally, though, I have a soft spot for my fellow codgers.

Thus I thought it was cool that a video link to Bobby Murcer appearing on "What's My Line?" in 1971 morphed into an update from multiple contest award winner John Philips on Soupy Sales' health. (Not to mention a debate on Murcer's hair lengths.)

John also references Soupy once coaching the Harlem Globetrotters! Even I don't remember that.

Appropriately, loyal reader and long-time friend Charlie Chilkoot has earned the honor of posting the 15,000th comment in WatchDog's history.

Thanks to Charlie and to all the other commenters who have helped make the blog a success since its debut 14 months ago.

Here is Charlie's comment, one of three dozen or so that follows my post about Mike Francesa possibly landing at MSG if he leaves WFAN:

Nice job Best, you've found another topic to ring up the page views.

I spent all day waiting for the perfect Friday comment contest winner to drop into my lap to properly wrap up an eventful week of news about Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, Michael Strahan and Jeremy Shockey, Bob Papa and the NFL Network, etc.

Not to mention send me out in style for a bit of time off.

It arrived in the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the Mets-Yankees double dip, after the SNY announcers discussed what a nice job Alex Rodriguez is doing playing third base.

Take it away, Gary Cohen:

"Of course the thing that the Yankees never talk about is the fact that A-Rod is still twice the shortstop that Jeter is, but you're not allowed to say that here."

Yikes! Fightin' words!

Someone tell Michael Kay to compare A-Rod and David Wright tonight. See ya.

Click below for the complete transcript of Chris Russo's opening monologue on WFAN this afternoon, in which he confirms that he and Mike Francesa feuded for much of the spring, reiterates that both hosts are under contract and confirms again that he never will forgive me for my negative review of his book two years ago.

(A clarification: I did not review his first book because I was not a sports media critic at the time.)

Come to think of it, I'm not in the mood to give out a Friday comment award this week.

Here is the answer to the inquiry from two posts down. It's about three minutes in. (Sorry about the vaguely racist and sexist stuff in here. It's old.)

OK, everyone, get back to work. Or to the beach.

I'm turning off and storing my laptop now, as it is the only way to stop myself from blogging.

Enjoy "Legends of Poker" on MSG Plus at 9 p.m. Saturday.

This is the first comment contest winner to be rescued from the "junk comments" area of the blog service, where stuff lands that has questionable content that I am supposed to review before allowing it to appear.

I assume it ended up there because of the graphic, icky images - as well as references to body parts - used to make the case against sled dog racing.

I am in no position to judge the merits of the arguments presented one way or the other, but I figured it was a good way to stir up my old Alaska pals who commented on the original post about the Iditarod.

Click below for all the gory details.

I tried to manufacture juicy comments by prodding baseball fans to counter my argument that hockey is better - but most ended up being from hockey fans who agreed with me.

Instead our big winner is sharp-eyed Bernie Flashberg for his comment (click below to read it) correcting my Sopranos trivia in this item, which I shared only after checking it out with a usually reliable source. Sigh.

Turns out Dan Grimaldi is not the only actor to play two parts. So did Joseph Gannascoli, an avid Giants fan who during the squad's playoff run dyed his dog blue.

I'm reaching all the way back to last Friday afternoon for this one. It's from Mer212315, questioning the low journalistic standards displayed in one of my blog posts.

Click on the link to read it. It's the first reader contribution under the post.

Why am I so morbidly fascinated by this comment?

Because it offers important food for thought as I continue to navigate the treacherous waters between old and new media - and old and new readers.

I don't mind boring y'all with this debate, because studies show that 83 percent of regular WatchDog readers are media geeks who love this kind of stuff - unlike normal people, who probably read our Mets and Yankees blogs to learn about . . . sports! Yuck.

I thought about using Big Lou's list of (unflattering) suggested nicknames for Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason, but that only would have given more ammunition to those who (incorrectly) are convinced I am obsessed with Ca-Boom.

Instead, the co-winners are two comments on my post about sleeping under a giant whale last weekend at the American Museum of Natural History.

One was mean to my colleagues and me, the other to Charles Barkley. But both were mildly amusing.

Jeff P: "thats great neil.now your daughter can be exposed to more dinosaurs,the museums and the newspaper man."

Justin T: "Aww, I thought you had bottom on a bunk bed with Charles Barkley at the Wynn."

This one is borderline on the sensitivity meter, but I'm going to go with it anyway.

It's loyal reader Lee, responding to my obligatory "Manny-being-Manny" crack in a post of the video in which Washington Heights' own Mr. Ramirez makes a nice catch on a deep fly, high-fives a fan, then doubles off a runner.

"I think we've gotten to the point where if Manny became the 2nd Unabomber, or did the exact same thing as OJ Simpson, everyone would write it off as 'Manny being Manny.'''

This week's winner is loyal reader Ray, for turning my post about Joe Pepitone's hair into a look back at "Ball Four," the most important sports book ever. Here is his comment/excerpt:

One of my favorite moments in Ball Four is the recounting of the tale where, after a grueling loss, Pepitone came out of the shower to blow-dry his perfect coif:

So everyone was tired and angry and upset and you could hear a pin drop in the clubhouse, because after a loss that's the way it's supposed to be. Pepitone came out of the shower and turned his hair-dryer on . Whoooosh! Instant white. He looked like an Italian George Washington wearing a powdered wig. There was talcum powder over everything, his hair, his eyebrows, his nose, the hair on his chest. Of course, everybody went crazy. Loss or no, they all laughed like hell.

The paragraph ends with what may, in my legal opinion, be an admission of guilt by one J. Bouton of Teaneck, New Jersey.

In the early months, the energy behind the blog's growth was generated primarily by the Don Imus saga and by the loyalty and passion of his fans.

In recognition, I'm giving the Friday comment contest award this week to an entire thread of comments here that reminded me of the good old days of 2007, when every Imus post would generate dozens of responses.

Warning for parents and Craig Carton: There is some rough stuff here. But Carton can take it.

Many people think I'm some sort of Carton/Boomer apologist. Sorry, not guilty. Every time I've written about the show I've tried to stay mostly neutral, because that's the way I feel about it.

It's grown on me and I usually enjoy it in small doses, but on the other hand Carton undeniably can be crass and sophomoric and stuff involving other fancy words.

If you don't like him, turn to another channel, or go to the library and take out a book on tape. "War and Peace" should take care of at least a week worth of commutes on the LIE.

My favorite comment this week was an e-mail I got Monday in response to a post in which I announced I was not in the mood to blog.

It was from a famous local radio personality who shall remain nameless, other than that his last name is Ackerman.

He quoted George Costanza, thusly: "You ask me to have lunch, tell me you slept with Elaine, and then say you're not in the mood for details. Now you listen to me. I want details and I want them right now. I don't have a job, I have no place to go. You're not in the mood? Well you get in the mood!"

Speaking of not being in the mood . . . ESPN was nice enough to invite me to a movie screening Thursday night where I would have hung out with John Skipper, one of the most powerful men in sports media, as well as Kelly Ripa.

Then the NFL Network was nice enough to invite me to an event Thursday night where I would have hung out with Steve Bornstein, one of the most powerful men in sports media, as well as Brett Favre.

I politely declined both and instead played softball and drank fermented malt beverages.

I'm on a roll blasphemously bashing baseball (see post below), so I might as well dig myself even deeper and award the Friday comment contest a day early before I spend the rest of this Thursday doing my side job as a newspaper columnist/reporter.

(Hint: I'm on Mark Jackson's trail!)

Our winner is Jim Clark, for sharing this quote on Theodore Roosevelt's view of the sport, from someone who should know. Turns out he was no Teddy Ballgame.

"Father and all of us regarded baseball as a mollycoddle game. Tennis, football, lacrosse, boxing, polo, yes; they are violent, which appealed to us. But baseball? Father wouldn't watch it, not even at Harvard."

- Alice Roosevelt Longworth, 1961

This week's award is a combo to Jeff and Islander505.

I had a post Thursday about the new YES show, "YESterdays," which debuts Friday with a "This is Your Life" style look at Joba Chamberlain and will follow with an episode on Alex Rodriguez in May.

Responded Jeff: "Even more interesting is that Canseco will be the first guest when A-Rod's show is on."

To which Islander505 responded: "So....Wouldn't an A-Rod/Canseco episode be more appropriately titled... 'This Is Your Wife?"'

This week's honoree is multiple-time champ Chris, for a weird but interesting response to my item about Paul O'Neill briefly being barred from the Blue Jays' locker room Monday by a guard who didn't recognize him.

I'm always a sucker for references to former Newsday food writers, in this case none other than Molly O'Neill, Paul's older sister.

I once asked Paul about Molly at Shea when the former was playing for the Reds. He grudgingly answered while eating a plate of locker room food of which his sister would not have approved.

Click below for Chris' winning contribution.

The remarkable John Philips already has clinched this week's comment contest. Thanks to everyone else for playing our game.

Upon WatchDog's request, Philips posted his video of the famous Kiner's Korner in 1986 that featured Lenny Dykstra and his mom, and which was referenced here and here.

Lenny's mom doesn't look much older than him, and reminds me of . . . Lucille Ball.

When I called up the video, it had registered zero views. I feel honored to have been the first. Beyond cool!

Dual winners this week!

Laurels and hearty handshakes to Rich and John Philips for their responses to a post about Len Dykstra's post-career business success.

They combined two Mets icons: Dykstra and Ralph Kiner.

Wrote Rich: "I seem to remember he was on Kiner's Korner with his mother (for some reason) and it seemed Ralph was trying to hit on her. Anyone else remember something like that or is it an urban myth or macabre nightmare?"

Wrote John: "Rich, I have that edition of Kiner's Korner on videotape and you are correct. I was at the game that day, taped it, watched it, and decided it was a keeper. Ralph was being Mr. Smooth. He ended the interview by saying something like, 'Well, congratulations on a great game Lenny, and for having a great-looking mom."

Here's something strange and disappointing I just discovered: A search of "Kiner's Korner" on YouTube yielded zero matches.

I like this simple, biting, to-the-point comment from loyal reader SC-NJ in response to my whiny post the other day about being too cranky and burned out (and busy with my real job) to blog:

"C'mon....snap out of it.

Did Roger Clemens take any days off?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Enjoy!"

OK, that's it from me for the rest of the day. I'm whiny, cranky, burned out and behind schedule on my Sunday column.

This week's award goes to frequent commenter and fellow former Alaskan "Islander505" for his reponse to this sentence in Sean Salisbury's exit statement from ESPN:

"I have created a brand and it’s time to expand into other opportunities in TV, radio, Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking, among others."

Click below for Islander505's comment, which references one of the most fondly remembered (and truly gross, now that we look back on it) dinner treats of the baby boomer era.

What's that you say? It's Thursday?

So what? We already have a winner: Mike from Morristown, who late Wednesday afternoon is believed to have been the first caller ever to mention the WatchDog blog by name on WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog" program.

Self-promotion is fun, but having others promote you is even funner.

Thanks, Mike.

(Full disclosure: My wife's brother lives in Morristown. But his name is not Mike.)

This week's comment contest winner is Islander505, who had a strong overall week by buttering me up with heavy duty early 1980s Anchorage, Alaska, trivia. Well played, sir!

He officially wins for the comment below about my Zorn's chicken tangent in the wake of the Redskins hiring a new head coach by that name.

It's all got me in the mood for my first visit to Zorn's in at least 30 years. I will be there Sunday to pick up a bucket for lunch. No autographs, please. But I will be available for pictures.

Here is Islander505's comment:

"Geezus Best,

You are one trip down memory lane after another.
I grew up not far from the original Zorn's in Bethpage (on Hempstead Tpke). In the early 60's it was more than a food outlet, they had a little mini-zoo that was a weekly must visit for any post diaper toddler. I wasn' t aware that Zorn's still existed until I read your article and googled their website.
Sure enough, there they are.....still going out of business in the same location for over 65 years.
God Bless 'em."

I intentionally used the word "spunk" to describe the Arizona TV reporter who slipped uninvited Sunday into the NBC suite where most of the Manning family was watching SBXLII.

(He ended up taking a family photo and writing a story about the experience for the Arizona Republic.)

I was curious to see who would be the first reader to make the obvious connection between the word "spunk" and an item about a local TV journalist.

Sure enough, it was DuMont Berger, one of WatchDog's most reliable baby boomer nostalgia experts:

Lou [Grant]: "You know what? You've got spunk."
Mary [Richards]: "Well, yes… "
Lou: "I hate spunk."

Yeah, I know it's Thursday, but I'm naming the Friday Comment Contest winner now anyway, because I won't have time Friday and because I'm still trying to stagger to the January page views finish line.

The repeat winner (and a strong contender week in and week out) is Chris, for his response to my item making fun of Glauber for asking whether Jalen Rose's father, Jimmy Walker, is Jimmy Walker the actor . . . as opposed to Jimmy Walker the former Providence star.

Here it is: "Jimmy 'JJ' Walker being the father of Jalen Rose would be like Huggy Bear being the father of an NFL running back. What? Really?? Never mind."

(WatchDog's explanation: Justin Fargas of the Raiders is, indeed, the son of Antonio Fargas, aka Huggy Bear from "Starsky and Hutch," a show that was on when I was young.)

A laurel and hearty handshake for Chris, this week's Friday comment contest winner.

It happened Monday, after I posted an item making fun of Terrell Owens' assertion that he always has had his quarterbacks' backs.

The item was accompanied by a picture of Nicollette Sheridan dropping her bath towel as T.O. looked on in an infamous "Monday Night Football" intro from a while back.

Chris' comment: "So, recapping, T.O. has Tony Romo's back and Nicollette Sheridan's front, right?"

OK, that's enough.

I have to write a couple of pages worth of stuff for the Sunday paper to see who else I can get mad at me.

Enjoy "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" at 12:30 p.m. on Ch. 7.

I can't say whether I'll be on or not, or whether I'll make a complete fool of myself or not.

This week’s comment contest winner is a loyal reader who does not post comments in the traditional sense, as far as I know: Christopher Russo.

During a discussion of WFAN’s strong autumn ratings Thursday, Russo referred to a post from Dec. 21 in which I off-handedly suggested he and Mike Francesa tweak their show to keep it fresh moving forward.

“This is for Neil Best,’’ Russo said. “We are going to add a 20/20 inside entertainment segment every day now, just to make sure we keep up with the culture of the times.’’ Then he turned to Francesa and said, “Say something funny.’’

This week's runnerup? Francesa, on the same topic. He said asking them to tweak their show is “like the Patriots going out and getting a new receiver’’ because things aren’t working well enough.

Chris did say, “I like Neil. I think Neil’s funny.’’ I like Chris and Mike and think they’re funny, too.

For example: They said they did not originally read the Dec. 21 post, insisting someone had forwarded it to them. But Thursday they referred to a WatchDog post from Tuesday. I guess someone forwarded that one to them as well.

It was the second time in three days Russo and Francesa gave Newsday free publicity by making fun of me at 5 p.m. In my next contract I’m going to ask for a bonus the equivalent of the cost of a Newsday ad in that slot every time the boys mention me.

For an insightful, amusing view on Mike and Chris' ratings, click below for regular commenter DuMont Berger’s take. (Anyone who works the word “shmatte’’ into a post deserves props.)

I was tempted to make "Chris" the comment contest winner for this response to the news that I shared an elevator with Gisele Bundchen before Saturday night's Pats-Giants game:

"As a reporter, you should have asked her if she was coming back from Gate D."

That was funny, but honoring it would give the impression I find the abuse women have taken from drunk Jets fans at that location to be funny, which I definitely do not.

So instead our winner is . . . Bob Glauber? No, really. Yes, it seems as if Newsday employees should be ineligible, but I make the rules here and Bob has been as loyal a commenter as any of you. I enjoyed his response to a video link to a table hockey tournament featuring drunk sportswriters in 1971.

Here is the original post.

Click below for Bob's take.

For the second week in a row, the comment contest winner is Sandy, who once again weighed in with a cold, hard slap of reality in response to an item on rising baseball ticket prices.

Things figure to get much worse before they get better on this subject as the wave of new stadium openings crests in 2009 and 2010.

Click below for Sandy's take.