The Unreal Universe
A Book on Physics and Philosophy

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Pages: 292 (282 in eBook) Trimsize: 6" x 9" Illustrations: 34 (9 in color in eBook) Tables: 8 Bibliography: Yes Index: Yes ISBN: 9789810575946

So that’s the title of my new blog–Wicked Supah Bev.  Very New England huh?  I’ll tell plenty of stories about the dogs I encounter during the day, and often Bev, my German Shepherd, will be in the mix.

Beverly and Annie with Kevin

We’re dogsitting right now for my dad’s Corgi, Annie.  I think we’ve become his kennel.  He parks his car here, drops Annie off, goes to Logan International, and jets around the world.  Beverly and Annie get along famously–until there’s food in the mix.  Annie, pipsqueek that she is usually the aggressor.   Annie has the gross habit of scraping dried, crusty worms off the sidewalk with her tongue when we take her for a walk.

A couple of weeks ago we took care of  a neighbor’s bulldog.  We’ll call her Loco.  Loco is not crazy, but rather a love who loves to be loved.  I think I gave her a little too much loving though with hugs, rubs and pats.  Loco is trained to pee on the periphery of property so as not to yellow the grass.  Trouble is she wanders through patches of poison oak/ivy and when she comes in for affection, the plant oils rub off on you.  I just finished a 10-day course of Prednisone after rashes and welts inflamed the lower extremities.  If you’ve never had poison ivy in those sensitive places, consider yourself among the fortunate.  No kidding, my doctor asked me if I was gardening naked.  The answer is no, but I understood the question considering the visuals.

That’s enough for now.  Keep an eye on Wicked Supah Bev Blog.  And if you have a good dog story to share, leave a comment.  And try on your best New Englandese while you’re at it.

A Remarkable Book from Wiley-Finance

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"An excellent book!"   — Paul Wilmott Want to break into the lucrative world of trading and quantitative finance? You need this book!

Bottom, Scott Sassone (left), Mike Giardi (right). Standing, L to R. John Zannis, Joe Haggerty, Glenn Gleason, Kevin Walsh, Jeff Garcia

For a lucky few, covering the Bruins journey to the Stanley Cup Final was the assignment of a lifetime.  Above is the crew that brought you the coverage on Comcast Sportsnet New England.  We’re on the ice of Rogers Arena just a couple of hours after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.  You know the happy ending, but you don’t know the thrilling behind the scenes journey.  I’ve always felt some of the best stories are the stories behind the stories–especially when personalities and human drama come into play.

In two weeks we crossed North America six times and logged 18,000 miles between Boston and Vancouver.  Actually Mike Giardi, Joe Haggerty and Glenn Gleason did a bit more than that. They covered the first three rounds too, living out of suitcases for two months!  But for brevity sake, let’s stick largely to the Stanley Cup Final.

Everyone in the above picture has a story to tell.  Let’s start with the end.  Scott Sassone joined us late for game seven.  Scott grabbed a camera, pulled cable, but most important–he drove us around the fringes of the riots in Vancouver.  In a Chevy Suburban that was the size of an aircraft carrier, we traveled the littered streets, encountered police barricades, did a few barely legal– but very necessary U-turns, and amazingly made it back to the hotel unscathed.

From the beginning of the SCF run, sleep was a luxury.  With fast turnarounds and early morning flights, sometimes we went 36 hours with hardly a wink.  If you had any chance, anywhere–you took it.  Some of us took great amusement in snapping photos.  I took the brunt of that, but really it could have been anyone.

Kevin sleeping in Logan International Airport

Kevin in car riding from Seattle to Vancouver

Much had been made about the brutal travel schedule on the teams.  At least they flew direct on charter.  Try this.  The first round trip for us included a layover in Toronto.  The second trip back to Vancouver included a connection through Baltimore, a landing in Seattle, and a two and-a-half hour drive across the border.  For game seven we flew from Boston to Dallas, sat on the tarmac at DFW for more than an hour, and arrived in Vancouver just as the Bruins’ locker room was opening for media availability.  But these are just logistics.  There’s more.  Everybody has a story to tell.  I’ll tell them for you.

Mike Giardi, Lake Placid, during Bruins break with Montreal

God bless Mike Giardi.  He’s more than a good broadcaster, he’s a fine human being.  Together at the Vancouver airport, we saw the best and worst of humanity at the same time.  We were clearing customs.  Next to us, Canadian border agents were questioning a woman who arrived with her teen daughters from Korea.  They didn’t have the proper paperwork, and it looked like they brought the whole house overseas with them to start a new life.  It was very clear the woman and her daughters were distressed.  After much pressing the woman confessed she was running from a homicidal husband who tried to force the girls into prostitution.  She and the girls burst into tears.  Even their little poodle cried.  I don’t think I’ve ever overheard a more painful conversation.  If you have daughters, and Mike and I do, you would have been stunned.  Mike asked one of the agents if he could share his peanut M&Ms with the family.  For his kindness he got a scolding, proving no good deed goes unpunished.

To the left are Glenn Gleason and Jeff Garcia.  Both are photographers with Comcast Sportsnet New England.  They’re native New Englanders and hockey players.  Glenn was just a little guy when the Bruins last won the Stanley Cup in 1972.  I’m pretty sure Jeff wasn’t even born.  What I’m getting at is they never had the chance to really appreciate what it meant for their hometown team to win it all.  There are people who watch hockey, and people who play it.  There is a difference.  As we waited to go onto the ice after the Bruins won, I looked back at them and saw a very special look in their eyes.  They may not have been crying on the outside, but I know they were inside.  They had waited a very long time.  It’s a great picture, and so is this one of Jeff holding the big TV camera next to Milan Lucic:

Jeff videotaping Milan Lucic. Look for the light, Jeff is holding the camera

Jeff and Glenn are really good at what they do.  They’re also funny people.  On the flight home from Vancouver via Seattle, I heard constant laughter from the front of the plane.  When the Air Tran flight attendants came to the middle section where I was sitting, I asked, “Are my coworkers entertaining you?”

The Unreal Universe
A Book on Physics and Philosophy

---

Pages: 292 (282 in eBook) Trimsize: 6" x 9" Illustrations: 34 (9 in color in eBook) Tables: 8 Bibliography: Yes Index: Yes ISBN: 9789810575946

“Yes they are!” they laughed.  As if I didn’t know.

Other funny things happened along the way.  Sometimes when we least expected it.  In game three, high above the TD Garden ice, the media contingent  turned to watch a replay on the monitor behind us.  A member of the foreign press parked himself right in front of the flatscreen, obscuring the view of about a dozen of us.  ”Yo!  Get out of the way!” I barked.

He barked back in accented English.  I won’t tell you what he said, but let’s just say it included a saucy expletive.  His call became our rallying cry whenever we needed a laugh.  To preserve the moment, a few days later, I sat down next to him during a morning skate.  Giardi took a picture with my camera phone.  The legend lives.

I really like the picture below because Giardi has nice legs.  Just kidding.  I like it because it’s one of the few pictures that has most of the broadcast team together.  The dress can be explained by a rush from the Vancouver airport to Rogers Arena, with hardly a minute to spare before a live hit on Chevrolet Sportsnet Central.  This was just before game five.  This is one of the few times you’ll ever see our executive producer, John Zannis, holding a cell phone that’s not attached to his ear.  John knows the Boston sports scene as good as anyone I know.  And he knows how to coordinate satellite transmissions and logistical stuff with the mother ship in Burlington, Mass.  These are things Giardi and I have no clue about.  Without guys like John, the work that guys like me, Mike, Glenn and Jeff do doesn’t get seen.

Kevin Walsh with Stanley Cup

It has been said that winning Lord Stanley’s Cup is the toughest thing to do in sports.  I believe it.  And believe me when I say it wasn’t easy for us either.  But who among us wouldn’t want to do it all over again?  Nobody, that’s who.  This is what we live for, to rip off the Canucks’ pregame presentation.  And who was on the road the longest?  It’s not even close.

CSNNE.com's Joe Haggerty with Mike Giardi, Vancouver

It’s CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty.  Haggs went to every game this season.  I’m pretty sure he can travel and lodge for free on points for the rest of his life.  And because Joe loves classic literature as much as sports, I’ll end this journey with an altered version of Robert Frost’s best work:  ”I took the road less traveled by, and it’s made all the difference.”

If you have a comment on the behind the scenes journey to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Bruins, leave it below.  I’m sure the guys would love to read it.

The suit is at the dry cleaner and the memories have soaked in.  I thought I’d share a few pictures and explanations of what happened after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in Vancouver.  The best moments:

1.  Brad Marchand bearhugging his girlfriend and skating her around the ice a few times. 

2.  Brad Marchand’s mom nagging him in the locker room to shave his playoffs beard off.  Brad looks exactly like his dad and little sister, but the feistiness comes from his mom.

3.  Tyler Seguin dancing out of rhythm.  Tyler has one dance move for all songs.  Tyler just has his own way of doing things.

Mark Recchi Celebrates

4.  Mark Recchi pouring champagne into the Stanley Cup.  The guy has won three cups, is 43 years old, and is just a man’s man.  Loved how he actively lobbied for a front office job with the Bruins during my interview with him.

5.  Claude Julien.  A classy man with a striking resemblance to everyone’s grandfather.  I can’t recall a man who handled more criticism and speculation about his job with better class.  I asked him some pretty tough questions throughout the season.  Sometimes he was biting in his response, but never impolite.  When talking to him after the win he looked as happy as Santa Claus.  Then Big Z dumped a cup load of champagne on him and me.  So good.

6.  Logoed Cigars and Budweisers.   The Bruins had the spoked B on some pretty expensive cigars and blue bottle/tin can Budweisers.  It personalized it and made it seem really classy.  In the age of political correctness and indoor smoking laws, some Bruins were worried they may not be able to fire up a stogey.  But realizing they just won the big one, they fired up the big ones.  If Nathan Horton and David Krejci got any closer while puffing, they would have burned my face.  My eyes are still burning from the smoke.  I should have bummed one.

7.  Tim Thomas being drenched with beer and saying, “It’s really cold and it smells… like high school.”

8.  Behind the Scenes Folks.  You may not know them by name, but they’re the people we (the media) see all the time behind the scenes, doing the little things that are not so little.  PR guys Matt Chmura and Eric Tosi looked as happy as the players.  Matt had a goofy grin on his face as he opened a bottle of champagne.  It was as if he discovered gold.  The team flew out wives, girlfriends and other staff for game seven in Vancouver.  Kelly Mohr handled the travel.  I asked her, “Do you get a ring too?”  “Yes!” she gushed.  

9.  Cam Neely.  I asked him how he felt.  “It feels so frickin’ good.”  I think he had another word in mind.  We all got it.

10.    Picture Time.  I was about to grab the cup for a good picture, but with the riots on in Vancouver and the NHL and police trying to get the players and their families out of Vancouver fast, this was as good as I got.

11.  Oh one more.  Who could forget the Green Men?  Despite the fact Force and Sully are Vancouver guys and diehard Canucks fans, they are not villains.  They are absolute rock stars around Vancouver, and the league for that matter.

Cessna, a happy dog

If this keeps up, the Vancouver Canucks may want to change their mascot from the biting Orca and hockey stick, to Cessna The Chocolate Lab.

 This is happy hotel GM’s dog that greets me in the lobby each morning.  She’s really happy today after a 1-0 last minute win over the Bruins in game one last night.

Before game one

Riding the Greyhound and Working on Laptop

I’m sharing this story about how the day after Christmas blizzard effected me.  Quite a few people told me my 30-hour odyssey on the bus was interesting.  You decide.

After two flight cancellations because of heavy snow in New England, I found myself stuck in Chicago the day after Christmas.  Chicago is not a bad place to be stuck, but TV never stops like the rest of the world.  With Sportsnet Central anchoring duties awaiting Tuesday night, and with a slim backup bench because of other peoples’ vacations, I had to go to plan B, plan C, and then a plan of which I wasn’t familiar.  Below is the actual real time account:

After being dogged by the weather, I got on The Dog.  By air travel the earliest I would have made it back was most likely Thursday.   I checked Amtrak–all trains sold out.  I checked Greyhound, and apparently so did everyone else.  So in the picture above I am rolling along at 55 mph near Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I’m taking the time to work on my laptop and write chapter seven of my second book, Our Dogs, Our Lives.  How appropriate, I’m writing a book about dogs while on The Dog.  I’m also surfing the net on my blackberry to catch up on Monday morning quarterbacking.  I’m typing this blog on my blackberry instead of on my computer because the wifi isn’t working.  Anyway, if I’m lucky I should arrive in Boston, and be on the air for Sportsnet Central at 10:30pm Tuesday night.  If I look a little ragged you’ll know why.  But hey, it’s worth it and lots of people are counting on me. 

Here’s what and who I saw along the way:  Two college coeds returning from Chicago to New York.  They sat in the two seats right in front of me.  They listened to their IPods the whole way.  A pretty pregnant woman with blond hair, traveling with her mother on the way to Cape Cod sat a few rows ahead and on the left.  They talked through the night.  A man who lived in Brooklyn sat next to me on the leg from Cleveland to Manhattan.  He helped me put my Comcast Sportsnet issued work jacket on in Newark, NJ, when the jacket liner and my arm ended up in two different sleeves.  But the wildest moment of all was a woman who cut the transfer line in the Cleveland terminal and dared anyone to stop her.  No one did.     

Racing to Make it Home for Sportsnet Central

Update and Conclusion:  Three Dogs and two Peter Pans later, that’s three Greyhound buses and two Peter Pan buses for the traveling challenged, I arrived at Boston Logan International Airport.  After a quick stop for Chinese food takeout at Burlington Jade, I rolled into the Comcast Sportsnet Studios in Burlington just before 9:00pm, some 30 hours after starting the journey from the southwest Chicago suburbs.  I checked in with producer Jeff Capatosto, endured friendly digs from co-anchor Chris Collins from across my desk, and wrote a few scripts.  At 10:00pm sharp we were on the air with an early addition of Chevrolet Sportsnet Central.  After that I solo anchored the 1:00am addition of SNC live, which airs several more times in the morning hours on tape.

When I got home I collapsed in bed.  It was a good kind of tired because I felt good about the effort.  There are but a few rules in TV.  Number one: be on time.  And two: once you’re on the air, own it.  Viewers did what they had to do to show up, so give ‘em a show, and give it your all.  Nobody likes a whiner.

I joke that that trip may haven taken years off my life, but it’s already given me a lifetime of stories to tell.  Hey I might just work the story of my 30 hours on Greyhound into my book about dogs too.  I’ll see you on the tube.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Here’s the thing, this never had to happen.  At the very least Roger Clemens had three chances to save himself from a federal indictment for allegedly lying to Congress.  But he willingly walked himself into an opportunity to incriminate himself.   Who does that?  This, in my opinion, is the definition of stupidity.

Ask yourself for a second, if you knew your henchmen had a sizable pile of evidence against you, but they gave you an option to avoid legal trouble, wouldn’t it be wise to walk away?

Clemens could have done that.  But he asked for the hearing which put him in a dangerous situation by his choice.  Then, as investigators would have you believe, he tried to bullsh*t his way out of it, essentially making a hole of his digging even deeper.  Who does this? 

Clemens says he’s completely innocent and looks forward to his day in court, which means at the very least we’ll be subject to more rounds of his sanctimonious denials.  Here’s my take and the lesson that ought to be learned.   If you mess up,even a little, fess up.  Does anybody talk about Andy Pettitte admitting he took performance enhancing drugs anymore?  No.  But they’ll be talking about Roger Clemens forever; not so much because of The Rocket’s alleged steroid use, but because of his insistence to waste lawmakers’ time and taxpayers’ money in a ridiculous spectacle.

I welcome your comments on the matter.

Well this is going to be interesting.  Shaquille O’Neal, all 7’1″ 325 pounds of him is going to have a huge impact in ways beyond basketball.  There is nothing small about Shaq; in how he lives, plays, talks, acts, etc.  OK maybe his defense has shrunk, but whose D doesn’t on the back nine of a career?

Shaq does everything extra large.  Big body, big entertainer, a human quote machine.  Need sound, find Shaq.  You can’t miss him.  

A bunch of us in the Boston media are maneuvering to give him a nifty nickname so we can coin it.  I thought I said The Big Shamrock first, but I’ve heard at least three other people say it too–including Gary Tanguay–so I guess it’s not original enough.  My colleague Kyle Draper suggested The Big Leprechaun.  That’s a good one.  It might have legs taller than the logo on the parquet at The Garden.  If The Big Leprechaun sticks, Draper I’m sure will annoy me constantly about how clever he was for having come up with it.

The basketball heads are fighting about whether Shaq is a good fit for the Green Team, or just a clog on an aging team.  My thoughts: it’s a PR boon and it just might be the difference in putting the C’s over the top.  Really what’s the risk?  He’s only signing for the veteran’s minimum.  If it doesn’t work, release him.  There is no risk.  We’ll all be watching.

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Like I said in my last post, it ain’t over.  Not ten minutes after my previous post, a heavy letter from a very disappointed Cleveland Cavaliers owner eviserating Lebron James crossed my computer screen. 

It appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.   The entire letter from Dan Gilbert is listed below, but a few lowlights:  Dan Gilbert called Lebron James and his decision to join the Miami Heat as “a cowardly betrayal” and a “shocking act of disloyalty.”   In reference to how Lebron ultimately informed him and tens of millions of others, Gilbert called it a ”narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Gilbert may be right about the obnoxious self-promotion, but he was dead wrong to send that letter out.  Never send out an angry letter, or email.   I can’t tell you how many past colleagues have written emails that they’d love to have back, especially after the message was forwarded to many more people.  Give yourself a day to cool off.  

Dan Gilbert has every reason to be mad at Lebron.  Bad news is best delivered when it’s done directly and privately.  To find out your best employee is leaving at the same time the rest of the world is learning it too is disgraceful on Lebron’s part.

He should have known better, or someone should have told him.  Read the letter below.  It’s enough to make paint peel off of walls.   

CLEVELAND — Cavs owner Dan Gilbert fired back sharply to LeBron James after James announced he was leaving Cleveland for Miami.

In an open letter to Cavs fans distributed to the media, Gilbert called James “a former hero” and his decision “a cowardly betrayal.”

“Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there,” Gilbert wrote. “Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.”

The letter in its entirety:

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You can take it to the bank.

Courtesy: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Estabrook Group

I have Lebron fatigue and I don’t think I’m the only one.  But I, like everyone, else need to suck it up because it isn’t over.  Just because he made his decision about where he’s going hardly means it’s the end of the story.  It’ll be talked about, and talked about, and talked about for a long, long time. 

I can certainly respect his decision to seek a new challenge in a new place.   The greatest personal and professional growth often comes when one summons the courage to leave their comfort zone.  For Lebron, there’s been no other home than the Greater Cleveland/Akron area.  Reward doesn’t come without risk.  Lebron’s not risking it all, but he’s risking plenty emotionally.

What’s most interesting, I think, is the impact on the NBA in general.  It gives the league a charge.  Man did it ever need it.  I don’t know if the Heat will win an NBA title right away, but I’m pretty sure the team will grab a couple before the new Big Three is done in South Beach.

When I write ”down on the farm” in the above headline, I’m not talking about the place where cows graze and drop steaming bowling balls on the ground.  I’m talking about the farm club of a major league baseball team.  In this case, the Red Sox Triple-A team in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Fishing for Autographs

I went down to the farm yesterday to chat up future Red Sox big leaguers.  It’s nice to get out of the studio every now and then, so I welcomed the ”designated for assignment” term that’s used when big leaguers are sent down.  McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket is a nice place and the clubhouse is miles away better than Fenway Park’s clubhouse.  But really, which clubhouse would you rather be in?

You see things at minor league games that you just don’t see in the bigs.  Autograph seekers here are fishers rather than barkers.  Instead of shouting at a player and begging for his signature, some dangle the goods over the dugout.  I like this one, a milk jug on a shoestring, with a baseball and a Sharpie placed inside.  Others drop down mesh bags or clipboards with baseball cars attached.

Lars Anderson/Pawtucket 1B

Lars Anderson, a surfer dude from inland Northern California signed happily after he finished up a conversation with a newspaper reporter.  Could you see this happening at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, or Citzens Bank Park?  Neither can I.