This morning I was feeding JJ, who woke up screaming, and flipped it to ESPN to watch the early Sports Center. I wanted to see what the score of the Giants game was (they won) and had to sit through a bunch of baseball highlights. Low and behold, the Asian guy (Steve Kim?) comes on with breaking news. I’m thinking it’s another Rae Carruth incident, or maybe someone important got hurt. That stuff is almost never positive. When the words “breaking news” come on the screen, it’s almost never positive. Anyway, while JJ was gulping down his bottle, Mr. Kim comes on and says that Danny Almonte is officially 14. My Giants highlights were interrupted for this? If you don’t know who Danny Almonte is, I don’t blame you, he’s just a little league pitcher. The story is that young Almonte was posing as a 12 year old mowing little league batters down like they weren’t even standing in the batters box. He took his Bronx, New York little league team to the semifinals of the United States bracket of the Little League World Series. He even pitched a perfect game, I believe against the team that represented the United States. Maybe he threw a one hitter against them. Anyway, there was little faith that young Almonte was of age and people were trying to find out how old he really was. While this was going on, New York (which consisted of an all Domican Republic team) lost the chance to represent the United States by losing to Florida.

After the fact, Sports Illustrated prints a copy of Almonte’s supposed birth certificate which shows the boy’s true age being 14. In little league, you can not be older than 12 years old. So if this Sports Illustrated article was true, Almonte would in fact be a freshman in high school or at least an eighth grader. As it worked out, Almonte’s real age proved to be 14. SI was right and they broke a cover that was in the works for the last year. This is the unfortunate part of the story. Almonte’s father held him out of school the entire year so it wouldn’t break young Almonte’s cover. As an ESPN article says, it wouldn’t be sly to have Almonte in school hitting on eighth graders and then watch him play baseball against 12 year olds.

Some of you probably wonder what the real difference between a 12 year old and a 14 year old in baseball years. Well, it’s the biggest step a child makes on a baseball field. In little league, the field is noticeable smaller than the field Barry Bonds plays on. The length between bases is shorter and the entire field is smaller. While a high school ball field would have left and right field lines around 320 feet to the fence, in little league it’s closer to 180 feet. In the big leages, it’s even further, closer to 340 feet for most fields. But the most important feature on a little league field in comparing to what Danny Almonte should have been playing on is the distance between home plate and the pitchers mound. Danny, throwing at a little league distance of 40 feet, was throwing upwards of 77 miles per hour. The distance he should have been throwing at, and the distance everyone who is older than little league age throws at is 60 feet and 6 inches. I’m no Physics major (actually I hated Physics), but my assumption would be that Almonte wouldn’t be throwing 77 miles per hour and even if he was, that isn’t overly exceptional in high school. It’s decent, but not phenomenal.

I feel a little sad for Danny because his life from here on out will be tainted by something he probably had little control of. The father is to blame here. To even suggest that little league baseball is more important than school is ludicrous. While Danny was throwing heat to 12 year olds, he was losing a year at doing more important things such as being social with kids his age, learning new things, and experiencing his young life. Old Almonte will probably be slapped on the wrist, but he just made his kid’s life a whole lot tougher. I hope for Danny’s sake that Old Almonte stays out of the rest of his son’s baseball career because he just screwed up the first part of it.

While I will probably be very much into both my son’s sporting career, I’m also in their educational life. They will know which one is more important. Believe me.

I guess I was naive. I figured that everyone knew who Aaliyah was. I remember when Aaliyah came on the scene back in high school as the fifteen year old kid under the mentorship of none other than R. Kelly. I didn’t think her music was the best, but there was something about her that intrigued me. She had a mysterious coolness about her. And she was only fifteen.

It was Saturday night. My wife and I made dinner for my parents and we watched the 49ers pre-season game against the Seattle Seahawks. Around 9:00PM, we decided to go to Target while my parents watched the boys. I turned on the radio and was searching for the new Michael Jackson song, You Rock My World. After not finding it, I decided to turn it onto 94.9 FM which is one of my least favorite channels on the radio. My wife likes their music, so I decided to not be selfish and let her listen. All of a sudden, their DJ Strawberry (an annoying guy who I had in a class at SJSU) stopped being a bumbling idiot for a second and said that he had something important to tell the listeners. He even had the board operator stop playing the music. He said he had never done this before. Done what? What is he talking about? I knew what he was talking about but didn’t want to hear. Someone had died. In my own selfishness I was hoping it was one of these new and wack rap cats from Cash Money or from No Limit. But even then, I didn’t want to hear the news. And then all of a sudden, he said that Aaliyah had died in a plane crash accident. I was hoping that it was April Fools or something, but I knew it wasn’t. Strawberry said that they didn’t really have too much news but they made sure the rumor was true before reporting. Both Carol and I just looked at each other and immediately thought of how her parents were feeling. None of us can say that we’ve been in their shoes before unless we’ve lost a child. So while we thought about them, Carol nor I could understand what they were feeling.

I’ve witnessed death once before. It was when my grandmother died in 1999. Many of her family (she had and raised 14 kids) was in the room at the time. As the doctor was taking her off the machine, allowing her to die, she saw us smiling, letting her know that things were ok. She saw us giving her hugs and kisses and even at that, you could see in her eyes, that she knew what was ahead of her. There was a slight hesitation, like she wouldn’t go down that easy. And as much as we tried to put her at ease, I was thinking that there was no way she was going to be at ease. How can you? When your time comes, even if you don’t love life, you have to be scared. Scared of the unknown. But then again, her faith was so strong in the Lord, that when she finally let herself go, I think she was finally at ease. It was great to look in her eyes, but also unsettling to see the fear in her eyes. She knew what was going on. She knew why we were all there. I hated telling her that everything was ok. She knew better. But finally, I told myself that she wanted it this way, with most of her family there when she left us. The night that Aaliyah died, I thought about my grandmother.

Aaliyah can’t be compared to Tupac and Biggie because she didn’t have a bullseye on her back like they did. She wasn’t murdered. It was a freak accident that she had nothing to do with. I’d more so compare her death to Richie Valens and Buddy Holly. She was largely out of the media. Unless she was promoting an album or a movie, you never saw the girl. She didn’t have to put out an album every year like these pop groups like Destiny’s Child and N’Sync. I don’t even think music was her best talent. While she had a nice voice, it wasn’t sensational. While her songs were swift, she rarely wrote the songs and had nothing to do with the production. In actuality, she was more so a by product of her producers. I didn’t even like her latest album and I gave it two out of a possible five stars. I think where her star would shine, was on the big screen. I enjoyed her starring role in Romeo Must Die. While the movie was average, everytime she left the screen, I wanted to see more. I believe she was finished shooting a starring role in an adaptation of an Anne Rice novel. And she had signed on to the next two Matrix movies. And the worst part of all, she was only 22. Younger than both Carol and I. One year older than Tawni. It’s a shame, not that she died, because if you think about it, many people die. It’s just a shame that she had to die so young, with much of the world right at the tips of her fingers.

Music lost someone it needed. She was what was right with the music industry. And her poor family lost a daughter. And they never got a chance to say goodbye.

Carol and I have been watching more Big Brother 2 lately. We watched much of last year’s show and while it wasn’t great, the concept kept our interest. But this year, the show is different itself. It doesn’t have the audience participation that last year’s had (mostly because the audience kept kicking the entertaining people off the show) which means in order to get kicked off, you must be kicked off by your housemates. Last year it was all about love, this year it’s all about backstabbing and infighting. Even though last year’s cast was very boring, at least I commend them for not being the robots that this year’s cast are. CBS designed the show specifically to get the housemates to act hostile toward each other. The games, the contests, the selecting of the housemates for bannishment is all to get the group to argue, fight, and belittle each other. Belittlement equals ratings. But the cast did not do that. They got along and seemed to enjoy being in the house. But this years cast? Oh man, that Nicole said yesterday that she couldn’t wait to get out of the Big Brother house.

Since Carol and I haven’t watched much of the show until now, we don’t really know much about the evicted house members. We just know about who is in there now. Bunky is the token gay member of the house. What really intrigues me about him is that he is really your stereotypical gay man. I was reading a movie review for Rush Hour 2 and the author said that a gay character in the movie was offensive because was too stereotypical of a gay person. Well, then, Bunky must be a caricature of himself. He must’ve cried 6 times in the last two episodes. He is the butt (no pun intended) of the jokes. He is easily the most sensitive person in the house and he’s very defensive and worried about what others think of him. But while all those things are true from my perspective, he has the public’s sentiment. He tries hard at everything he does and is not a jackass like most of the members left. If this were up to the public, I think he would win. I think he still has a great chance to win even without the public vote. Will is Carol’s favorite house member. She thinks he’s hot. While he does have a good sense of humor, I really think he’s playing himself out of the house. He says that he doesn’t trust anyone, and that he lies to everyone and in turn tries to look like the good guy while starting fights. That’s all fine and dandy, and would work like a charm, but he’s playing himself. He actually does have feelings for some of his housemates and ruined his cover when he fell for that Shannon girl. If he leaves, the entertainment aspect of the show would suffer, but I think he may be next. Hardy is the kind of guy that in high school, you just wanted to spear. He’s got the looks, the body, some charm, and thinks so highly of himself, it’s disgusting. And the other thing that you hate about him is that he’s good. He won another head of household challenge the other day, thus saving his ass from the cutting room floor for another week. He will now select two members to be up for banishment and house will decide who goes. He’s already selected Will every time and there’s no reason not to put him up there again. Hardy is a good pick to win as long as he doesn’t offend too many people along the way. Monica is that crazy girl. She’s the girl that does everything so expressively that it amazes. She doesn’t go half way. It’s all or nothing. But she’s a little naive in a sense that I think most people toy with her. They are a little intimidated by her loud voice and equally loud actions, but they know that she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. I think she has absolutely no chance at winning this event. And finally, probably my least favorite person left in the house, Nicole. She has such a dirty mouth. It’s so unattractive watching a female curse so much. And her angry side comes out way too much. I loved it when Will was playing with her, ramming his toy car into her legs and getting on her last nerve purposely. She has very little patience for stuff like that and plays the drama queen too much. And I would say, she’s very selfish at times, even though she would say she’s not. While she said she would be happy if anyone won the latest prize, which was a letter from a loved one, deep down inside, she wanted it so bad and wondered why America hated her so much. The prize is voted on by the audience through a phone poll. I’ll tell you why America hates you. It’s because you are just as juvenile, selfish, and back stabbing as the rest of them, but you try to act like you aren’t. I can’t wait until she gets kicked off.

It’s an entertaining show, but what I enjoy most is watching people act in ways I never thought I’d see. It’s almost to the point of “where did they get these people” because I’ve never seen people act in such extremes before. Let’s just say they were hand selected and the selectors did good job. That’s what CBS wants anyway, a cast of crazies fighting with each other until there is one person left. Have you seen The Truman Show? I have a feeling when most of these people get out of the house, they may feel a little like Jim Carrey’s character in that movie.

When you’re a parent, there are many things that make you smile. Baby’s first tooth. Baby’s first time sitting up. Baby’s first steps. And again, last night, I smiled. Brian at the young age of 2 years and almost 2 months, went pee pee in the potty. I have to give kudos to Carol as she made him sit there on the toilet for over an hour. She wasn’t doing it in a mean spirited way, but wanted to make it fun so he would be comfortable butt naked in the living room sitting on a toilet. He wanted to read a book while he was on the can. He is so MY son. And then Carol put on some videos for him to relax. Where was I? Well I took little JJ and gave him a bath and was trying to teach him how to play with the Playstation 2 until he got tired and then went to sleep. I was so nervous for Brian that I could not even help Carol out. I stayed in the office playing NCAA 2002 for the PS2 while Brian was trying to pee. Carol decided that she’d try to urge the pee to come out since the kid was on the can so she gave him milk to drink. Finally, a stream swished in the potty and joy was had by all.

Carol and I cheered for Brian while he grinned up a storm. We all chanted, “Brian Went Pee Pee In the Potty”. Then Brian called his Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie to tell them of his accomplishment.

I never knew how hard it was to teach a child to use the toilet. I figured I would take him in the bathroom a few times, tell him this is what you do, show him how to do it and then he would follow. But no, it’s not that easy. The toilet is very intimidating for a young person as it’s huge. If you think about it, try peeing in a toilet that stands 5-6 feet tall. I would probably go around and do it on the side of the house if toilets were that big. And also, he still doesn’t usually know he has to go pee, until, well…..he’s going pee. So while we’ve been trying this for a couple days (Grandma included), Brian would just pee his chonies and while he was doing it, tell us that he was doing it. Carol and my mother would sit him on the toilet and he would sit there for a few minutes and get up. Soon there after, he was going. Carol had to change him three times in 15 minutes. But through determination, he did it. What a winner.

Now if I can only teach JJ how to sleep through the night….....

I have resisted from posting because of my last post being lost before it could hit the server. I was so upset. It was such a good post about my vacation with my family and was meaningful to me. I guess that’s why some people still don’t like the internet. With pen and paper, I would have those thoughts with me (unless they were burnt in a fire) but then again, I wouldn’t be able to post them for endless amounts of people to see. Ok, at least the ones I give the website to.

So I decided to end the moratorium and post.

SummerSlam will be upon us in three days. Eddy, Tawni, George and I bought those tickets (I did all the work) in what has seemed like ages ago. It was the same day I bought my Snakeskin Jordans. I had to go over to my parent’s house and log on my sis’ computer at 10 in the morning. Her modem connects at a faster speed than mine does so I decided to use her computer to buy the tickets. The positive for having a faster modem speed is that when you buy tickets online, there are so many people hitting Ticketmaster’s server that you will get a message that says try again. You must refresh your browser until you actually get the opportunity to buy the tickets. Timing is everything, but your chances are better with a faster web speed. Low and behold, I was able to score 4 tickets on the bottom level only 8 rows back from the front. We are so close, George will be able to see the Rock’s bulging testicles through his shorts.

I remember that day as I was driving over to my parent’s house and while turning right onto a street, these Indian guys (I don’t know exactly what to call them as they wore the long hair with it whipped up in the sheet) decided that they didn’t know what they were doing and stopped in front of me. This was at 9:30 on a Saturday morning and there was no one driving on this street. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be late so I honked at these guys. I think I startled them but they were pissed. I’ve never seen two more pissed off guys in my life. I was driving up Aborn Rd and at every stop light, they would look at me seething. Then I saw one of them reach into the back and my first thought was that he was going to get a gun. Man, why did I have to honk my horn. I could read the headlines, Father and Husband Dead Because He Was In A Hurry To Get SummerSlam Tickets. But luckily, they made a right turn, and when they did I flipped those bastards off. No one was going to stop me in my attempts to get SummerSlam tickets.

Now here I am on Friday, thinking about the experience of SummerSlam. I remember it was 1986, when I started watching wrestling. Back then, it was more of a show to me. Now, it’s a business. But for one day, I will act like it was 1986 all over again. I was the biggest Hulkamaniac on the block. I even had the gear. For one Christmas, mom and dad bought me the Hulk Hogan Work Out Package with the workout tape, the shirt, the dumbells, and the wonderful headband. I would go out in that garage and try to do those exercises just like the Hulkster did them. I was such the Hulkamaniac. In a sense, I don’t want my kids to watch wrestling because it’s too violent for anyone under 13 in my opinion. But on the other hand, I remember how I would wait all month, checking the mail every day for my new issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. I couldn’t wait for dad to take me to Evergreen Video to see what the newest wrestling tapes were. And every Saturday morning, I would watch Superstars of Wrestling even if every match was a squash match and I would rarely see the Hulkster in action. And then, come Pay Per View time, I would go over Billy’s house and watch the extravaganzas. Even one time, me and my cousin Davy, basically let ourselves into Billy’s house when he and Michele were away to watch a PPV. They came home about an hour later and we quickly turned off the TV and pretended like we were waiting outside for them to get home. So while, I don’t necessarily want them to watch, it wouldn’t bug me to see them get into it for the entertainment aspect of it like I did as a child. But my real fear is that by the age of 5, Brian may want to start reading my Dave Meltzer Wrestling Observers. He better wait in line.