Succumbing to the Power of Facebook

• Uncle. My Facebook holdout ends after 98 days. Shawn Terrell made sense when he said, "Look how long you waited for HD, and now you're an addict who actually needs treatment". Then Chris Hassel forced my hand with the terrific job he's doing building two Facebook pages: "SoundOFF Nation" and "SoundOFF with Keith and Andy". The first is an interactive fan page with videos, behind the scenes pictures of cast & crew, viewer profiles, and more extras than a collector's edition DVD. The second site is a group page, which I don't completely understand yet. Both SoundOFF sites added more than a hundred members in their first weekends despite no publicity. Nice job, Chris. You can sleep when you're dead.
• As for my personal Facebook page, I don't really know what I'm doing. I've added many pictures and re-connected with a lot of friends, classmates, and former co-workers. I definitely have room for improvement. My profile picture looks like it was taken at Glamour Shots, and my status update is usually something stupid like, "Keith is rearranging his sock drawer."
• I'm still not sure what to do about friend requests from people I don't know. Recommendations?
• It was in this blog while talking up Facebook's "Andy Fales is a God" that I jokingly mentioned "Keith Murphy Brushes His Teeth Daily" is stuck on one member, my mother. Well, someone took that title and had a little fun with it. Though my mom still hasn't joined, a few people have. And I've had a few laughs seeing where my head will turn up next.
• Tim from Des Moines wonders what it will take for Todd Lickliter and Greg McDermott to start winning. The answer is simple: better players. Lickliter led Butler to the Sweet Sixteen. Mac took three UNI teams to the NCAA Tournament. You don't do those things if you can't coach. Really coach. However, you can't win in the Big Ten and Big 12 with MVC or Horizon League talent. The bigger question is, can these guys recruit? Early returns aren't good.
• Has any team in the history of college basketball lost in the semifinals and been more celebrated than Drake's 1969 team? The answer is no, yet relative to Drake's history, the characters on that team, and the fact they nearly upset UCLA, it's understandable.
• UNI won't make the Dance. Neither will anyone else. (men's tourney)
• Iowa's new basketball uniforms look okay to me. At least they made the numbers smaller, and the names larger on the back so you can actually read them. Black on black is interesting for numbers on the away uniforms. The switch from white to gold at home is a "thumbs down" to many fans who have already emailed SoundOFF.
• The one downside to getting HD is it's really hard to watch games that aren't in high def. The Cyclones on Cyclone Television Network and the Hawkeyes on Big Ten Network (Mediacom version) are a huge drop off in quality after watching college basketball on ESPN (in more ways than one).
• Anyone else not getting KDSM, Fox 17, in HD this week? I miss seeing Simon Cowell's make-up.
• State wrestling deserves its rep as the nation's best tournament. It's well run, exciting, and sold out when it counts most. I played four sports in high school, but I don't think in one calendar year I worked as hard, or endured as much pain, as wrestlers do in one season. Between cutting weight, when everyone else is living on junk food, and being nearly tortured in some holds on the mat, I have a lot of respect for these kids and the sacrifices they make. I don't have the data, but I'll bet former wrestlers do pretty well in life.
• Big congrats to Ballard for absolute domination, and to Roosevelt for finally putting a Des Moines team in the top three.
• Is there a more misleading stat than "announced attendance"? I've seen Chops, Hawks, and Cyclones games where the announced number was nearly double the people in the stands.
• In this economy, niche sports need to be smart about marketing, and Iowa State showed how to do it with "Beauty and the Beast". Wrestling and gymnastics going on at the same time may be a gimmick, but it brought attention to sports that desperately need it.
• Most 17-year olds can't focus for more than a few minutes at a time, unless they're playing video games. Shawn Johnson can focus for five hours at a time, which is why she could win "Dancing with the Stars". Marathon practice sessions are nothing new to Shawn. She also told me the dancing could help her win more gold in 2012, since the judges obviously favored artistry over tumbling in Beijing. I still think we all need to leave Shawn room to change her mind about the Olympics. Three and a half years is a long time, and a lot of work, from now.
• Thank you Charles Barkley for showing the world how to apologize and actually appear as though you know you did something wrong, and you're really sorry. A-Rod, please note.
• Frank Deford's story on HBO's Real Sports about the six year old golfer who's blind in one eye is one of the all-time inspiring tear-jerkers. Bryant Gumbel's report on the police shooting of an African-American baseball player in a small, mostly white Texas town was sports journalism at its near best---only Bryant's obvious emotions kept it from perfection, but Gumbel's only human to be outraged. It was outrageous.
• If you haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire, you should. I know it sounds and looks to a lot of people like it couldn't be that good or that entertaining, but once you see it, you'll believe.
• "Taking Chance" on HBO is incredibly moving, yet never manipulative. I cried. You will never hear the name of a fallen soldier again without thinking about the trip home.
• Jenny, Colin and I went to see Ames High play at Hoover Friday night. Wherever Harrison Barnes and the undefeated Little Cyclones show up, it's THE event. Barnes' shot was off a tad, though he scored 28 points, but it's easy to see why he's one of the nation's top recruits. He's so smooth with and without the basketball. Hoover's Charles Zanders is a terrific coach, and it wasn't a surprise to see the Huskies gives the Clones all they could handle. Great game, and the gym was so packed, it felt like a sauna despite the 21 degree weather outside.
• Thanks to a bit on SoundOFF a month ago, I'm now seen as a champion of the Snuggie. I have a confession to make... Snuggies suck. They're stupid, don't fit well, and thinner than Kate Bosworth. Sorry. The book light is nice though. No it's not.

Scattershots: Daytona 380, Fear the Bong, and Rockin' the Faux-Hawk.

• NASCAR blew it. A sport already reeling from economic stress needed to start the season with a bang. Not a flat tire. Nothing is more anti-climactic than declaring the winner of the sport's biggest race, the Daytona 500, during a rain delay. Can you imagine the NFL calling a winner after the third quarter? The Masters after the third round? Major League Baseball after the 6th inning in game 7? The Daytona 380 is a terrible idea. If there's too much rain to finish that night, race the next day, even if the stands are half empty. The Daytona 500 jump-starts NASCAR's entire season, and ending under an umbrella brings no one new to the party.
• Authorities in South Carolina are trying to build a case to arrest Michael Phelps. In the history of ill-advised bong hits, few have paid more of a price than Phelps already has. (update 2/16: South Carolina Sheriff's office says there will be no charges against Phelps.)
• Don't think winning cures all? Six months ago Kirk Ferentz was under fire for all the arrested Hawkeyes off the field. Four months ago, Ferentz faced harsh criticism for his coaching on the field. Iowa then went on a roll, upset #3 Penn State, and blew out South Carolina in a January bowl game. Ferentz just signed a new 7 year contract.
• Good to see Ferentz and Gary Barta were smart enough to not add any more money to Ferentz's deal. The $3 million a year already caused Ferentz more strife than he ever wanted. Not his fault. If channel 13 wanted to pay me $3 million (they don't), I'd take it.
• I didn't think there was any way for the Packers to come out of the year long Favre soap opera looking better than Favre, but they do.
• Can't we make Hank Aaron the home run king again? Probably not.
• Pitchers and catchers report to spring training. I'm trying to get excited, but I'm still suffering from A-Rod fatigue and Cubs hangover.
• According to the Birmingham News, Gene Chizik says "he's never made a mistake, and never failed". This guy is unbelievable. He made too many mistakes to mention at Iowa State, and he most certainly failed. Iowa State's fortunate to get out of the Chizik era without owing this fraud money.
• I was sick on the couch all weekend. That means I watched a lot of losing basketball. It doesn't take a bad cold to realize what Greg McDermott and Todd Lickliter are missing: talented players. These guys have both proven they can coach. You won't take UNI to NCAA tournaments, or Butler to the Sweet 16 if you're a coaching moron. In the big conferences, you have to have the players. They don't. Both need to seriously upgrade recruiting, or they're going to be out of jobs in the next couple years.
• Have you ever tried Tabasco sauce on popcorn? Andy's wife, Kahala, does this... and I'm hooked. Though it burns my fingernails.
• I wish I had enough hair to rock a faux-hawk like Dave Price.
• I don't buy Joaquin Phoenix's wackjob act, but I do think it's a fascinating stunt, reminiscent of Andy Kauffman on Lettermen twenty years ago. People fell for that too.
• We just watched the chick flick, "Definitely, Maybe". It was definitely, maybe pretty good. I liked it. (Assist to Geoff on correcting title.) "Swing Vote" was a swing and a miss. Kevin Costner is likeable---all the actors are good---but the movie doesn't know what it wants to be: silly, serious, or satirical. Also watched "W". Josh Brolin brings it, but W just isn't quite entertaining enough.
• What's your favorite Valentine's Day treat? I'm leaning toward the chocolate covered strawberry. It's much better than a chocolate covered hard boiled egg.

A-Roid, Hilton Magic Disappears, and Taking Out a Mortgage for Little League

• The five players who, arguably, impacted Major League Baseball the most in the past decade are now all linked to steroids. A-Rod, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and Clemens. So far, only A-Roid came clean, and that's after he was backed into a corner, following years of denials. Still, it was the smart play.
• A-Rod says he only used steroids when he played for Texas and felt all that pressure to be one of the greatest players of all time. Let me get this straight, he felt pressure in a place where next to no one cares about baseball---Texas---but he never juiced when playing in baseball's most pressure packed spotlight, Yankee Stadium? Could be true. We can't believe much of what we hear, but we've learned to trust what we see. All of the power players above looked over-inflated and put up video game numbers, several at times when their careers should be in decline.
• I wish MLB would put Hank Aaron and Roger Maris back on top where they each belong. I suppose it's impossible to do because we still don't fully know who cheated and who didn't, but it's slowly becoming clear. The power era was a fraudulent joke, and somewhat understandable. Those artificially inflated numbers led to billions of dollars in player salaries, and to date, no one has had to give back a single penny. The cost has been humiliation, shame, and possibly raisin-size testicles.
• Props to Alex Rodriguez and his teams of crisis management advisers for being much smarter than Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens. Admit to wrongdoing, apologize for mistake, look really sorry. Bonds and Clemens kept denying in the face of an overwhelming mountains of evidence and now the Hall of Fame is the least of their problems. We Americans will forgive you, but you have to go Jimmy Swaggert, not Richard Nixon (or Bill Clinton, if you prefer.).
• It's hard to watch the newscast right now and hear about another local company laying off a bunch of workers. It just doesn't end. I can't imagine what those people are going through, and my heart goes out to them.
• If the economy continues in this direction, we're going to see a huge impact on local sports. In a way, we already are. Winning trumps everything, and we're seeing that people will not spend money to watch losing basketball. Iowa is giving tickets away to students and selling reserved seats for $10---to men's games. Hilton Coliseum hasn't had a sellout this year, and likely won't. Drake comes off it's best season in four decades, but with the Dogs in a slump, finding a seat is no problem on any night. This will put more pressure on coaches to win now. (Even UNI is fighting apathy, and the Panthers are in first place.)
• Eventually fans are going to turn against professional athletes. While fans lose their jobs, 401K's, and benefits, it's pretty hard to hear about a guy turning down $25 million for one season of baseball.
• Jenny and I always try to hit Wrigley Field for a weekend, but $800 or so for baseball seems crazy right now. Principal Park will do just fine.
• The Barnstormers had it figured out ahead of time. That's why af2 is still playing and AFL is not. $10 tickets work in a recession, $100 tickets do not---unless you're in Pittsburgh.
• I continue to hear from hockey fans who say the Chops are doing everything right, including reasonable ticket prices (concession is another matter, though out of the Chops hands). However, one problem won't go away: atmosphere. Even on a rare night when Iowa pulls in 7,000 fans, it's never that energetic, magical shared experience you'd get in a building that holds 7,000. Wells Fargo Arena is just too big for hockey in Des Moines.
• Michael Phelps didn't hurt anyone but himself ---and the feelings of his fans, especially the young ones. Driving drunk was a far more serious offense because he could have killed someone. I did my share of stupid things when I was 23, though smoking weed wasn't one of them. The thing I can't quite understand is how Phelps could be so foolish and naive. Did he really not stop and think that in this day and age, someone might take a picture? You can't do anything without someone whipping out a cell phone and putting it on his or her Facebook page 15 minutes later. Heck, my wife embarrassed me in no time just because I made the mistake of wearing a Snuggie on the couch to prove you can hold a cell phone and a remote at the same time, thanks to the blanket's sleeves!
• Mark Phelps may need more players who didn't play under Dr. Tom or Keno. I don't think the holdovers quite buy into the new system. If you don't believe, it won't work.
• I hate that Greg McDermott is not getting it done at Iowa State. He's a perfect fit in every way, but there's no way to excuse Iowa State losing 17 of its past 19 Big 12 games. Worst of all, Hilton Magic is all but dead. Even when Johnny Orr's teams couldn't win a Big 8 game away from Ames, they'd take down a top ten team or two at Hilton. It seems like Orr's team would often come close to being winless on the conference road, and undefeated at home. Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy started winning home and away. The Magic started to slip at the end of the Eustachy era, fell further under Wayne Morgan, and now it's just gone. Iowa State must get it back. I'd argue Hilton Magic is Iowa State's most iconic athletic identity.
• Colin and I took in "Paul Blart, Mall Cop". I enjoyed it more than I anticipated. Kevin James shows a flair for the kind of physical comedy John Belushi made famous. Instantly forgettable, but sweet. B-
• Last week's "30 Rock" with Alec Baldwin as "Generalissimo", bad guy in a Spanish soap opera, was genius. Baldwin puts on a comedy timing clinic each week. "Friday Night Lights" also had its best episode since season one. The goodbye to Smash was moving because it took a long time to get there.
• Has anyone seen "The Secret Life of Bees"? I never really wanted to, but my friend Franklin Greene made me curious. You remember Franklin---he's about 6 foot 8 and has that BOOMING James Earl Jones voice. Anyway, Franklin said he saw the Secret Life of Bees. I asked him what he thought. Franklin replied, and I quote, "I didn't think I was going to like it, but man, I cried like a bitch." That made me cry.
• We just signed up for Raccoon Valley Little League. Our monthly installments start in March. RVLL is awesome, but when did Little League get so expensive? Or as judge Odell McGhee said to me on his way in, "Whatever happened to playing in the backyard? Or the sandlot?" (Reminds me, I need to watch "Sandlot" again.)
• Tell me if this ever happens to you, because my wife has turned it into a science. She'll try to make be think I'm making a decision, when in fact she is. Real life example: Saturday at Firkin Fox (okay food, great service), we ordered nachos. Our waitress said, "chicken or beef". Jenny said to me, "I don't care. You pick whatever you want... as long as it's not beef."
• Saturday we also dropped Cade off at "Chuck E Cheese". That place is INSANE on Saturdays. They didn't have enough people working for the 57 birthday parties going on at once. I felt like I was dropped into a can of Red Bull.

Post Super Bowl Scattershot Thoughts

• Great Super Bowl. That makes two in a row. Let's hope this pattern continues. Remember when Super Bowls were an annual letdown? This is way better.
• Kurt Warner couldn't have done much more. He made the one awful pass, but that was also a great disguise by the Steelers defense. I think Kurt probably should have thrown it in Larry Fitzgerald's general direction more in the first half, but overall I'm just proud to know Kurt. He wins NFL Man of the Year before the kickoff, and then goes out and plays a great game for a franchise I never expected to see in February. I was surprised how emotionally invested I was in wanting to see Kurt and the Cards win.
• It always surprises me how many Steelers fans there are in Iowa, but maybe it shouldn't. They look like the Hawkeyes, and several generations came of age when the Steelers were winning a Super Bowl. Six titles. That's just greedy.
• Overall I thought it was a subpar year for commercials. I loved the Bud Light Boardroom, the Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast, and the Doritos Vending Machine. Didn't see all the spots though.
• Time marches on. One of our reporters tonight referred to "M-C Hammer" as "McHammer". You know why? Because she's too young to remember when MC Hammer was the biggest star in music. It's nearly 20 years ago now. McHammer is understandable. However, I know of a news anchor who once called Malcolm X, Malcolm the Tenth.
• Is there a harder decision to make at work then when you walk up to the vending machine, and the snack you really want, like the trail mix, is behind a snack you don't want, like Bugles. So to get what you want, you have to pay twice because you know those Bugles aren't going anywhere. Earlier tonight I paid $1.75 for one bag of trail mix. It was worth it. Plus Chris ate the Bugles (after he wore them like fingernails).
• 12 minutes isn't a lot of time to work a crowd into a frenzy, but Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band got it done. No one saw that set list coming though (except Shawn Terrell who overheard rehearsal at Raymond James Stadium Thursday night): "10th Avenue Freeze Out": only Bruce fans know this song, but it is great live. Unexpected, but it worked. "Born to Run": made Andy get up and walk out. He's sick of it, but it's one of the all time great stadium rockers. A no-brainer. "Working On a Dream": good song off the great new album, and a smart move by Bruce to only play about 90 seconds. Sell some CD's, move along. "Glory Days": perfect ending with great assists from Steve Van Zandt and the pyrotechnics.
• We watched the game at Andy's house. He has a new home theater. The sound is awesome. I thought I was all set up with HD, but I'm now rethinking whether all our kids need to go to college.
• My favorite story of the week was Dave Price's report from Tampa on Justin Hartwig's mother handing out Steeler #62 jerseys to friends and family as they arrived at the airport. I was going to say some positive things about Shawn's reporting, but he rubbed it in a little too much that he was there and we were here.
• My friend Heather Burnside met Kevin Costner before his sold out show at Peoples Friday night. I'm happy to report Heather said Kevin was a good guy. My favorite Costner Movies: 1) Bull Durham 2) Field of Dreams 3) Dances with Wolves 4) Tin Cup 5) Silverado
• Did Rush Limbaugh really say he hopes Obama fails? He is talking about our President, right? If he fails, we all suffer. How is that good for any American? I hope Rush was misquoted. I admit I didn't hear it with my own ears.
• I don't really understand what a Panini sandwich is, but they're really tasty at the new "Good Sons" restaurant in Beaverdale.
• I was reminded Friday night that Cooney's has the best Bloody Marys in Iowa. Saturday morning I was sorry for the reminder.
• Cub Scout Pinewood Derby is a great idea. It's always fun to see whose dad can make the fastest car. Rest assured it was not Cade Murphy's dad.
• I just read "People Are Idiots, And I Can Prove It." Good self-help read. Accurate and wise.
• Now reading John Grisham's "The Associate". One of his best page-turners since "The Firm". If you like Grisham, you'll love it. If you don't, I couldn't talk you into reading more of his stuff anyway.
• Saw "The Wrestler" at the great Fleur Theater Friday night. Mickey Rourke lives up to all the hype with a heartbreaking performance that never lets you see him acting. He's great. Marisa Tomei is nearly as good, and at 44 years old spends most of the movie naked. She's aged well. Great acting, good movie.
• It's been an hour since SoundOff ended. So far, we've received about 25 emails on the Super Bowl, and 35 about Snuggies. They really are warm and cozy.
• Day 76. Still a Facebook holdout.