"Nine! Nine! Nine!"

And all these years I thought Colonel Klink was shouting "No!" in German.  Turns out he was getting an early start promoting the big day for Beatles fans.  What visionaries they were on that sitcom.

Today (9/9/09) is the release of The Beatles: Rock Band and also new digitally remastered stereo tracks from the Fab Four.  The box set includes over 206 songs from 13 original albums and the Beatles-themed video game will contain 45 tracks for fans to do today what Pete Best was once asked not to do - play along with John, Paul and George.

The video game includes only 45 tracks?  Are these the same people who make available only 4 Sopranos episodes at a time on my cable television "On Demand"??

Like "Hogan's Heroes", I was born too late to appreciate The Beatles in their prime.  My first recollection of the band was hearing "I Am the Walrus" while a strange smelling cigarette was being passed among my older brother and his friends.

But that doesn't mean that my childhood was void of my own 'Fab Four'.  They existed and, in fact, they might even be considered 'Zaccagnini's Heroes' from back in the day.

#4 Davey Lopes

Not sure I even understand how he became one of my first idols.  I was never a Los Angeles Dodgers fan but I did play 2nd base throughout little league and up until high school.  Maybe it was because I liked to pronounce "Daveeeeey Lopes" (or the way it rolled off of the tongue of Vin Scully).  Either way, I watched the 1977 and 1978 World Series rooting for the guy with the crazy moustache and the fun sounding name.

#3 Paul Stanley

Here's a band that even The Beatles could learn a thing or two from when it comes to repackaging the same stuff and selling it to the same people.  In between albums, cassettes and remastered compact discs, I unofficially own over 30 different versions of "Detroit Rock City".

Glad I got over this one.  Only the Chicago Cubs have taken more and given back less to their fans.

#2 Terry Bradshaw

Let's see... I was a football fan since the day I can first remember and raised in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 1970s.  This was an easy one.  But, unlike Davey Lopes and Paul Stanley, it's one that I can still support to this day.

Bradshaw won 4 Super Bowls and was the MVP in 2 of them (and he ALWAYS beat the Dallas Cowboys).  Terry might never have been a fan favorite in Pittsburgh (they often cheered when he'd get knocked out of a game) but he was clutch, throwing a TD pass in the 4th quarter of ever Super Bowl game he played.

Hell, you know you're a fan of someone when that photograph doesn't deter your idolism.

#1 Farrah Fawcett

Thanks to this woman and this poster I became a man.  A young man who was discovering things years before my 5th grade health class showed us the filmstrip with the naked people in the shower.  Because of Farrah I learned that the lock on my bedroom door served another purpose other than pretending to do homework after dinner.

Fabulous, indeed!

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