The Knight's Roundtable

Truly Hometown Heroes

2007-12-24T13:35:00Z

If you don’t believe that the Holiday season really brings out the best in your fellow man, you weren’t in my neighborhood this past Sunday afternoon.

We live in New Cumberland, and one of the neat traditions in our town is the annual visit from Santa Claus as he rides high atop the borough’s fire truck. Every year around Christmas, the normal quiet of our street is suddenly shattered by a massive blast of the fire siren and immediately all of the young ones in our neighborhood drop what they are doing and race outside to give Santa a wave as he slowly rides by. The volunteer firefighters ride along on the outside of the truck and serve as Santa’s helpers and they always take the time to hand out a small hand wrapped package to each child.

In all honesty, I could post an entire blog on what these volunteer men and women do year round. Is there a better way to serve your community than being a volunteer firefighter? I don’t know if there is a more selfless act of volunteerism for your Community than to literally risk your life in the name of service and safety for your fellow residents.

What they do during the Holidays is an admirable gesture any year, but they went well above and beyond the call of duty in 2007.

Last week, it was announced that Sunday afternoon would be the time that the New Cumberland volunteer fire company would bring Santa to the streets for his yearly visit. But when Sunday arrived, there was just one really big problem…… the weather. As you know, the weather this past Sunday was just absolutely miserable. I glanced out the window around Noon and it was dreary, windy, and there was a hard and driving windswept rain. I thought about the scheduled annual visit from Santa and figured that they were probably going to have to either try to reschedule for Christmas Eve (never easy) or just skip this years visit altogether.

Beyond that, I didn’t give it much thought…… until about 2:30 when suddenly there was a huge bellow from a fire truck siren. I glanced out the window to see that not only was it still raining, but raining even harder. “You’ve got to be kidding me” was the only thought that was going through my mind.

Normally it seems to take about four or five hours for my two boys to get their shoes, coat, and hat on…… when that siren went off, it only took them about 10 seconds. They waited patiently by the front door until the fire truck got to our house and then they dashed outside in to the pelting raindrops to wave to Santa and get their gift from one of the firefighters that was serving as one of Santa’s elves. Here these volunteers were, on a long Holiday weekend that most folks were spending with their family and friends, giving their time to bring Santa around to every house in the borough during a driving rain storm. They were all absolutely soaked, and with rain dripping in torrents off their caps, they gave my boys a smile, a small gift, and wished them Merry Christmas.

Not only do these men and women volunteer year round as firefighters, but this was the kind of dedication and service that is rarely seen, and it was all done for little or no recognition. Suddenly I got the idea to go grab my camera and snap a picture of them as they were riding past my house. I know it’s not much, but it occurred to me that a picture and a public thank you on our CBS 21 Community website would be my own little way of saluting these truly Hometown Heroes.

So here’s a sincere tip of the cap to the New Cumberland volunteer firefighters for their dedication to the community. By braving the elements to bring smiles to all of the borough children yesterday, they reminded me of exactly what the fellowship of the Holiday season is all about.

Nice job guys.

2007 Harrisburg Holiday Parade photos

2007-11-20T12:42:00Z

This year I decided to take my digital camera along the parade route as the entire CBS 21 crew rode in the Harrisburg Holiday parade. City officials report that the 2007 version saw a record turnout for a parade that only seems to get bigger and better every year. Thanks to all of those that came out, and maybe you'll see yourself in one of my pictures.

For once it was fun to be on the other side of the camera looking back at you!

The overflow crowd at Market Square:

Flanked by our good friend RJ Harris from WHP - 580AM, Mayor Reed gives me a wave as I take his picture:

What's a parade without the souvenir cart?

Hamming it up for my camera:

That's our own Mike Parker's better half in the green hat and scarf:

More waves from the crowd:

Despite the cold temperatures, everyone just bundled up and came out in droves:

I told this group to give me a big cheer for the camera and they enthusiastically obliged!

My own two boys were also a part of the record crowd:

It's the Thanksgiving turkey!

Last but not least........ it's Santa!!!!

A Happy Day in Happy Valley.....

2007-09-03T14:05:00Z

As Tom Petty once sang, "The Waiting is the hardest part......." That's the way I feel every Summer.... waiting...... waiting..... waiting....... sometimes it feels like it will never get here, but when it finally does, I feel like a kid again on Christmas morning.

Football season is BACK! The NFL gets going this week, and thanks to my annual purchase of the NFL Sunday ticket satellite package, my next 17 Sundays are spoken for.

Thankfully, the College football season got started a week earlier then the NFL, and the first slate of games is already in the books. All I can say is that I sure wouldn't want to be a Michigan fan! Did you hear that Jaime Meyers?

There is nothing like the first game of the year in Happy Valley. It's the first tailgate, and that first Nittany Lion frank that's cooked under the large shadow of Beaver Stadium always tastes awesome. It's also our first chance to get a look at the latest edition of the Nittany Lions. I have questions about both their offensive and defensive lines, but overall I think this is a good team that has a chance to be a great team.

Granted, Florida International is a sad excuse for a football team, but my first impressions of the 2007 Lions are mostly favorable. It's hard to grumble when the final score is 59-0, but despite the 59 points I thought the offense looked a little sluggish at times. Anthony Morelli threw for nearly 300 yards, but he wasn't totally in synch with his wideouts. If he would have been a little more sharp, he would have thrown for 500 yards.

I have no complaints about the defense. Linebacker U might have it's best set of linebackers ever..... and that's saying something. They have a chance to be a shut down defense, we'll see how it plays out.

It was also an extra special day for me because it was my son's first trip to a Penn State game. He just turned 7, and I made the executive decision that he was now old enough and had enough interest and patience to deal with the all day affair that is a Penn State game.

We were blessed with terrific weather, and the two of us tailgated, tossed the football around the parking lot, and then made our way up to section WBU on a perfect sun splashed day. I know that Florida International was totally overmatched, but it's still fun to watch your team win. Just ask all of those Michigan fans that left their home opener with tears streaming down their cheeks...... Did you hear that Jaime Meyers?

Here's some pictures of our day:

The Penn State Blue Band-

The Lions huddle-

The student section "S" -

A great day to be Penn State fans-

A fun night at the Perry County Fair....

2007-08-25T14:23:00Z

On Thursday night I had a great time as guest emcee and judge at the annual Perry County Fair in Newport. Everybody loves a good Summertime fair, and this was my first visit to the Perry County version. I want to thank all of the terrific people and viewers that I met. CBS 21 has a lot of support in Perry County and I really had a lot of fun.

But then again, how could I not? I was a judge for the milk mustache and ice cream eating contests and the moo to you relays. In addition, I was also a taster and judge of the dairy dessert contest. That's right..... a whole table full of dairy desserts for me to taste and judge. Not exactly a bad way to spend a Thursday evening.

Here are few pictures from the Fair..........

Pouring milk for the kids milk mustache contest-

Downing the milk-

The ice cream eating contest, broken down in to age groups -

Posing with Vicki Godbout, 1st place winner of the Dairy Dessert contest -

A very special thanks to Patti McLaughlin for extending me the invitation, and thanks again to all of our loyal Perry County viewers, especially the ones that specifically told me that they are up with us early at 5am looking for their river route traffic info!

-Steve

The Top 25 Rock Songs of All-time are........

2007-05-31T12:17:00Z

A couple of months back I blogged about the death of Boston lead singer Brad Delp. Within the context of that blog I stated that in my opinion Boston's "More Than a Feeling" was one of the top ten rock songs of all time.

A reader from Lemoyne that remembers me from my days as a local disc jockey on the old Solid Rock 92-7 Starview commented that a list of what my top rock songs of all-time actually are would make for a good blog topic.

It was flattering to hear from someone who still remembers me from my local radio career and the days of my, "mullet." I also figured that compiling such a list would actually be a lot of fun.

Me...... "back in the day"

An old Lancaster Newspaper ad

I enjoyed doing it, but it was also a challenge. Go ahead... try it. Sit down with a blank sheet of paper and try to write down the definitive top 25 rock songs of all time. For me the challenge was (as Bob Seger once sang) "What to leave in, what to leave out."

I decided to establish one very important rule for my list. I would only include songs that were released during my lifetime, therefore anything prior to 1970 would not make the cut. I guess I just didn't feel like having to tax myself with the debate over whether or not artists like Dion, Del Shannon, the Supremes, or the Miracles belong in a top 25 "rock" songs list. To me, I define most of the 50's and 60's stuff as "oldies." Therefore, I came up with the "1970 rule." Also, just to be clear, this is not a list of my personal favorite top 25 rock songs of all time, that list would look different. This is a list of songs that I feel are the true heavyweights of the genre, regardless of my personal opinion.

I took several criteria in to consideration while compiling this list, including popularity of the song, frequency of radio airplay over the years, the songs impact, and the general impact of the artist as a whole.

Don't agree with my list? Want to go upside my head with an Elvis or Motown 2 x 4? Wondering how a list like this could omit the Doors, the Police or R.E.M.? Not happy about not seeing "Fantasy" from Aldo Nova make the cut? I would love to hear your comments, that's what lists like this are all about.

For better or for worse, here we go......

25. Baba O’Riley – The Who 1971

This is a song that is often (and incorrectly) called “Teenage Wasteland” thanks to its chorus. The song comes from their 1971 effort Who’s Next, an album that many consider to be The Who’s best.

24. “We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions” – Queen 1977

From it’s “stomp, stomp, clap” beat during We will Rock You, to the soaring vocals of the late great Freddie Mercury on We are the Champions, these two songs played back to back epitomize everything that made Queen one of rock’s most influential bands.

23. “Go Your Own Way” – Fleetwood Mac 1976

For a period of time in the late 1970’s, Fleetwood Mac was the biggest act on the planet. The first song released from their 1977 album, Rumours propelled the album to spending 31 weeks at the top of the charts. To date, Rumours has sold almost 20 million copies, and counting.

22. “Creep” – Radiohead 1992

The first of two “grunge” era songs to make the chart, this was the first Radiohead single to receive wide airplay. “Creep” put British band Radiohead on the United States map. For a time Radiohead was perceived as a one hit wonder, but the 1997 album Ok Computer became a huge critical and commercial success. More success came in the new millennium with the albums Kid A and Amnesiac.

21. “American Pie” – Don McLean 1971

This classic American sing along traces much of the history of rock n’ roll and was inspired by the events of February 3^rd 1959, a day that McLean penned as “the Day the Music Died.” On that day, young rock stars the Big Bopper (J.P. Richards), Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly all lost their lives when the small plane they were traveling in crashed in to an Iowa cornfield. Over the years there has been much debate about the meaning of McLean’s lyrics. In a recent interview he coyly stated, "The song was written as my attempt at an epic song about America, and I used the imagery of music and politics to do that." Let the debate rage on.

20. Piano Man – Billy Joel 1973

This song is based on real people from a bar that a young and struggling Billy Joel played for free. His first major hit, it is still considered his signature song. Released in 1973, “Piano Man” remains popular as it is still listed as Billy Joel’s top seller in the online iTunes music store.

19. Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf 1977

The best known song from Meat Loaf’s classic Bat out of Hell album. This is a tune that everyone that has been in a long relationship can relate to and features a guest appearance by legendary New York Yankee Phil Rizzuto. Bat Out of Hell still sells about 200,000 copies per year and has sold an estimated 40 million copies worldwide, 16 million in the US alone.

18. . Enter Sandman – Metallica 1991

With one song and one album, Metallica went from a band with a loyal but relatively small following, to a world wide commercially succesful sensation. From the self titled or “Black” album, Enter Sandman tells the grim tale of a young child who fears falling asleep and the nightmares that come. To date, the “Black” album has sold 15 million copies worldwide.

17.Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd 1979

From the concept album, The Wall this song helps tell the tale of the of a rock star that is slowly going insane and building a wall inside of his head between himself and reality. According to Rolling Stone the lyrics came from Roger Waters' experience when he was injected with tranquillizers for hepatitis by a doctor prior to playing a Pink Floyd show in Philadelphia on the band's 1977 tour for the Animals album. "That was the longest two hours of my life," Waters said. "Trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm." The experience gave him the idea which became this song.

16.Miss You – The Rolling Stones 1978

Admitedly, a lot of the classic Stones material came out prior to 1970, but this song is one of their best. From the album, Some Girls it was the first Rolling Stones single with prominent disco influences that reflected the pop culture of the late 1970’s.

15. Dream On – Aerosmith 1973

It’s hard to believe, but when this song was first released in 1973, it went nowhere on the chart, not even cracking the top 50. That was most likely a result of the fact that it comes from Aerosmith’s debut album and the band was relatively unknown at the time. Re-released in 1976, it stormed up the charts and made the top 10. One of the first hard rock, “power ballads” and still one of the best.

14.One – U2 1991

You could argue the case for several U2 songs to make this chart, but in my mind this is U2’s best effort. U2 was on the brink of breaking up when the band rallied around a riff The Edge was writing during the recording sessions for the album Achtung Baby. It inspired the band to write "One," and it changed the band's outlook. Treat yourself and seek out Johnny Cash’s cover of this song from his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man. Trust me, it’s one of the greatest vocals the late great Cash ever recorded.

13. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes 1970

Considered one of rock music's definitive love songs, it features an unmistakable guitar opening riff that was played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Layla was written by Eric Clapton about his love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison from The Beatles. This song became a hit all over again 20 years later when it was a released as a single from Eric Clapton’s famous Unplugged album.

12. Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith 1975

From the bands breakthough album Toys in the Attic, this song was the first one to achieve major mainstream success for American rockers Aerosmith. The song was loosely based on some of the internal turmoil that was going on amongst the wives of the band members. Ever since its inception, the song has been a live staple at Aerosmith concerts, and even to this day, the band almost never omits it from the setlist.

11. Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers 1991

Like Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers spent years developing a loyal but small fan base. That all changed in 1991 with their commercial break through album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Under the Bridge is a reflection on vocalist Anthony Kiedis’ drug addiction. It remains their most succesful song, peaking at number 2 on the charts.

10. You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC 1980

In 1980 AC/DC was reeling from the death of its legendary lead singer Bon Scott. The band considered breaking up, but ultimately decided to continue after hiring Brian Johnson as new singer and lyricist. Amazingly the first album from the new AC/DC lineup, Back in Black became their most succesful and an instant classic. Driven by songs like “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “Hells Bells”, and the title track, international sales of Back in Black ascend to more than 42 million copies, making it the second most sold disc of all time after “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.

9. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who 1971

The second song on the chart to come from The Who’s 1971 album, Who’s Next. Written by Who guitarist Pete Townshend. The song famously mixes organs against massive guitar power chords, leading up to an extended synthesizer break into a drum entrance followed by a massive scream. Roger Daltrey’s scream from Won’t Get Fooled Again is perhaps the most famous bellow in the history of rock music.

8. More Than a Feeling – Boston 1976

The inspiration for this blog, and for my money, just about the “perfect” rock song. It features incredible vocals from Brad Delp, stellar guitar work from Tom Scholz, and a huge sing along hook for a chourus. The most popular of all of the Boston tracks, it has helped their 1976 debut album sell over 17 million copies worldwide.

7. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses 1988

The opening guitar chord progression on this track by G N’ R guitarist Slash is unmistakeable. Guns and Roses was a relatively unknown L.A. band until the release of their album, Appetite for Destruction. Intial response to the album was lukewarm until Sweet Child O’ Mine was released as a single. It shot all of the way to number one by September of 1988 and propelled Appetite for Destruction to sales in excess of 25 million copies

6. Hotel California – Eagles 1976

From the smash album of the same name, Hotel California is a complex song with themes of addiction, materialism, and the 1970’s Southern California lifestyle. Known for it’s guitar solos that are performed by both Joe Walsh and Don Felder, Hotel California was a grammy award winner and an overwhelming critical and commercial success.

5. Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen 1975

Without question, Born to Run has become the signature song for Bruce Springsteen. “The Boss” had released two albums prior to Born to Run to vast critical acclaim but with little to show in actual sales. Both the album and single of Born to Run changed all that. Springsteen has said that he wrote the song with a desperate feeling to make something big out of his music career. The lyrics are written to a fictious girl named Wendy, and they echo those desperate sentiments: “We gotta get out while we're young, 'cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.”

4. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd 1973

This epics theme was originally conceived by Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins after his steady girlfriend, who realized that the band would always come first, kept asking him questions like, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” After the 1977 plane crash that killed Skynyrd band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray, the song took on mythical proportions as the legendary story of Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to be told to each new generation of rock fans.

3. Smells like Teen Spirit – Nirvana 1991

Simply put, this song changed absolutely everything. From the seminal album Nevermind, Smells Like Teen Spirit sent a seismic shock wave across the rock music landscape. It put the sound of the 1980’s firmly in its grave and ushered in an entire era of new music. With the possible exception of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” I don’t think another single song has ever changed things the way this one did from the then previously unknown Seattle trio.

2 Hey Jude – The Beatles 1968*

* This will be my one exception to my, “1970 rule.” I just don’t think I can have a top 25 list like this without including a song from the Beatles. I’ll skirt my way around my rule by virtue of the fact that the song was covered by several artists after 1970, including versions by Elvis Presley and the Grateful Dead. Originally titled "Hey Jules", it was written by Paul McCartney to comfort John Lennon's son Julian when Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia Powell, were divorced. Despite being over 7 minutes long, it lasted two weeks at number one in the British charts, and spent nine weeks as number one in the United States, the longest spell at the top of the American charts for a Beatles single.

1.Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin 1971

What? You actually expected something else to be number 1? No way. This Led Zeppelin classic is the undisputed king of kings. In the history of FM radio, no song has received more airplay then Stairway to Heaven. Despite pressure from Atlantic Records, the band would not authorize the editing of the lenghty song for single release, making Stairway to Heaven one of the most well-known and popular rock songs never to have been actually released as a single. The extended Jimmy Page guitar solo in the song's final section was played for the recording on a classic 1958 Fender Telecaster guitar. Three different solos were recorded with Page agonizing about deciding which one to keep. It’s safe to say that Jimmy made the right decision. On a personal note, I was always amazed when I was a disc jockey about the amount of continual requests I would get for, “Stairway” a song that at the time was 20 years old. Finally it occurred to me that every day there was a new young rock fan being turned on to this song for the first time, and being as blown away by it as I was when I first heard it. As long as there are people playing rock music, there will be people playing Stairway to Heaven.

Well there you go, for better or worse, my top 25.

I’ll close with a nod to a guy I listened to on the radio every weekend growing up…the all-time countdown king….. Some of you will know exactly where I’m going with this…….

”Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.”

There are two letters that would solve this problem.......

2007-03-29T12:45:00Z

N O.

A little background before I blog…..

This morning on 21 News this Morning we ran a National story from CBS news correspondent Bill Whitaker about the amount of commercials kids are being bombarded with that advertise junk food. According to the story, on average kids see about 40 hours of ads for foods that are full of fat, sugar, and salt on a yearly basis. In the story, they linked this advertising to America’s childhood obesity epidemic. The fact of the matter is that since 1980, the number of overweight youngsters in America has doubled.

For their part, the processed (or junk) food makers say that kids are heavier today because of a sedentary lifestyle, and some have volunteered to cut back on ads aimed at kids.

In the story, Harvard psychiatrist Susan Linn is one of a chorus of critics calling for the United States government to ban the advertising. Linn says, “I think it is essential that we stop advertising and marketing unhealthy foods to kids.”

While the story was airing, I led a rather lively off air discussion between Sherry, Shane and myself on this very topic of a link between junk food marketing and childhood obesity. All three of us have young children that watch children’s television and are the targets of all of this advertising. It’s not just the processed foods either; our kids are also blitzed with an endless array of marketing from the toy companies. Many of these ads come off as materialistic and give the impression that in order to be, “cool” you need to have the latest and greatest toy or gadget.

When the story finished airing and the three of us came back on the air, Sherry commented that we didn’t have enough time to express our personal opinions on the topic…. But then she looked at me and with a wink and added that it might not be such a bad thing that we didn’t have time for us to discuss the issue. I looked at Sherry and I said on the air, “You know what; I’ll blog about it on our CBS 21 Community website!”

I’m not here to deny that there are too many obese children in America. The amount of overweight children is also much greater than it was when I was growing up. All you have to do is just look around to see that it’s a fact.

But do you know how almost all of these youngsters got that way? THEIR PARENTS ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.

My children are 6 and 4, and they watch Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. I can tell you first hand that the marketing blitz on those channels is very effective. I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked, “Can we get that Daddy?” from one of my boys while they are taking in yet another television commercial during Spongebob Squarepants.

From the tone of this blog, I’ll bet you can guess what my answer is 99% of the time. A loud, emphatic, don’t you dare argue with me little man, NO.

Its two letters, N O. They form the word NO.

By now, my kids are almost trained not to even bother asking, because they know what the answer is going to be.

I offer no explanation for my decision, I don’t reason with my children, nor do I bargain with them.

I use a simple equation:

Me Parent : You Not

End of story.

To be fair, my children get plenty of junk food and toys. Halloween and Easter alone are enough to keep them in candy for months. Admittedly, my kids spend too much time watching television and playing Nintendo gamecube. Sometimes Daddy just needs a break, and I am 100% guilty of allowing the television to serve as a babysitter at times.

But I also make an effort to keep my kids active. I take them outside to play a lot. They ride their bikes and their scooters. I volunteer and get involved by making the time to coach their soccer and t-ball teams.

Junk food and candy is kept in cupboard that is high out of their reach and is only handed out as a “treat.” The day their pediatrician or dentist tells me that either one of them is having too many sweets will be the day that the junk completely disappears for a while.

What I don’t need is a ban on advertising, or a law that outlaws happy meals.

The day that more parents actually start giving a rip about how fat their kids are will be the day that we can stop being scolded as a society by bookwormy Harvard psychiatrists.

I’m not overly optimistic of that day ever coming. But for me, personally……

I DON’T NEED THE GOVERNMENT TO RAISE MY CHILDREN!!!

I’ll do it myself, thank you very much.

The headline this morning reads......

2007-03-10T14:36:00Z

"Lead singer of the band Boston dead at the age of 55"

To me, it just feels like the official straw that breaks the camels back.

I never knew Brad Delp, but I sure knew his voice.

In the summer of 1976 a five year old Steve Knight walked in to the old "Two Guys" department store in Lancaster anxious to buy his first rock and roll record.

I had helped out a little around the house to earn a few dollars, and I finally had my Dad's blessing to buy my first rock albums. This was to be a big step up from my usual purchase of Spiderman records.

Back in those days, actual vinyl records were a big deal. Oh how I miss flipping through the stacks and stacks of shrink wrapped records that used to be neatly organized in large bins inside the "record section" of a department store. While my Mom would be off shopping for things like sheets and shoes, I spent countless hours in the record department. As a kid, I lived for those hours.

On that summer day in 1976, I walked out of Two Guys with the first two rock albums that I ever owned. In one hand I held a copy of Kiss, "Destroyer" and in the other a copy of the self titled debut album from a band called Boston.

I had a little record player in my room. It folded up in to a little case and had small speaker built in. Have records.... will travel..... Usually to my best friend's house were we would sit around and listen to our rock music. Two first graders jamming out, and I never went anywhere without my beloved Boston record.

Times have changed, and for the most part I have adapted. While I love a lot of new bands and new music, I still keep a copy of that Boston album with me at all times... except now it's on my Ipod. It's extremely convenient to have it in Ipod form, but trust me, it lacks a lot of the charm that went with lugging around your record collection.

I have long maintained that Boston's song "More than a Feeling" is one of the top 10 rock songs ever. Even though I have literally heard it thousands of times, it never comes on the radio without me reaching down to turn it way up. It always leaves me in a better mood then I was in before I heard it's signature opening guitar strains.

I will certainly miss the voice and talent of Brad Delp, and so will his millions of fans.

I guess it's just that lately death and I have been having a good go around in my head.

This past week brought the sad news that lifetime Philadelphia Phillies player and coach John Vukovich lost his battle with brain cancer. "Vuk" was a member of my beloved 1980 World Champion Phillies and is gone way too early at age 59.

Today brings news that one of the greatest voices in rock and roll history has been silenced.

Death has also been hitting too close to home. In the past year I have mourned the loss of friends, and unfortunately, somene that I was very close to.

I know that it is all a part of life, and it is probably just a sign of my own age that some of my childhood heros are dying.

At some point today I plan on listening to that first Boston album.

To paraphrase, "I'll lose myself in a familiar song, close my eyes and slip away."

Today more then ever, it's More Than a Feeling when I hear that old song that they used to play.

He doesn't know the meaning of the word, "quit."

2007-01-09T14:00:00Z

I'll admit right up front that I've never been a true Eagles fan, but I've never been anti-Eagle either. I have always had a soft spot for them because I am such a devout fan of Philadelphia's other teams. You won't find a bigger Phillies, Flyers or Sixers fan than Yours Truly. When it comes to pro football I'm a Denver Broncos fan, because my parents are both from Denver and even though I grew up in Lancaster County surrounded by Eagles fans, our house was a Bronco house. Always was, and always will be.

The Broncos season went down the tubes two Sundays ago with a crushing home loss in overtime. The next morning brought worse news, 24 year old Bronco star in the making Darrent Williams was murdered in a shocking act of senseless violence. I was very down about sports..... and I suddenly found myself not even really caring about what was to happen in the NFL playoffs. For all I cared, the playoffs and the Super Bowl could come and go, I had checked out.

But these Eagles, and more specifically their fill-in quarterback Jeff Garcia, are such a feel good story that they have resurrected my interest and I am a fan once again. For those of you that don't know, Jeff Garcia isn't supposed to even be playing for the Eagles. He was only summoned in to duty when Eagles star quarterback Donovan McNabb went down for the season with a knee injury. At that time most of the experts wrote the Eagles and their nearly 37 year old back up quarterback off for the season. Garcia and the Eagles have proven how wrong the, "experts" can be.

But then again, Jeff Garcia has been battling adversity and proving people wrong his entire life.

As a child, Jeff lost both his sister and brother in tragic accidents just 14 months apart. Before his death, Garcia and his brother were inseparable. By the time Jeff was 7 years old, he had suddenly gone from being one of three children to being an only child. The Garcia family was in shambles.

He once told nfl.com that "I felt like, in many ways, I was robbed of my childhood. I don't want to say that if my brother and sister were here that I wouldn't have been a good son. But by experiencing the tragedies as a family, I saw the hurt and the pain in my mom's eyes and my dad's eyes. I did not want to bring any more disappointment to them. I wanted to do everything I could to bring some joy to their lives. My dad was a football coach, so football was a natural way for me to make my parents happy."

During his senior year in high school, Garcia broke his arm and it killed any chance of getting a football scholarship. He didn't give up and after a tremendous season at Gavilan Junior College he was offered a scholarship to tiny San Jose State. While at San Jose, he earned UPI All-America honors after throwing for 2,418 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Despite that fact, after graduation Garcia didn't get a chance at his NFL dream. No team was willing to even give him a shot, so Garcia decided to keep his dream alive by playing for very little money in the vastly inferior Canadian Football League. His first year with the Calgary Stampeders in 1994 didn't go well, he rarely played and was often not even on the game day roster. Garcia watched many games his first year in Canada from the sidelines..... In street clothes..... But Garcia pressed on. He eventually played well enough in practice to get his shot as Calgary's starting quarterback, and he made the most of it. By 1998 Garcia was a CFL All-Star and led his team to the league Championship. Still, only one NFL team was willing to give him a look.

San Francisco 49ers executive Bill Walsh remembered seeing Garcia at San Jose State and was willing to give him a chance. Garcia began the 1999 season in San Francisco as a back up to future Hall of Famer Steve Young. Early in that 1999 season Young suffered what would turn out to be a career ending concussion, Garcia was finally a starter in the National Football League. Despite all of the skepticism, he played well enough to enter the 2000 season as the 49ers starter. Once again when given a chance, he made the most of it. All he did was go to three straight All Star games. Along the way he threw for team-record 4,278 yards in one season. Considering the 49ers have had the likes of John Brodie, Steve Young, and perhaps the greatest of all-time Joe Montana as its signal caller, Garcia was suddenly in some pretty fast company.

Garcia moved in to his mid-30's and despite his stellar play, the 49ers were getting old and facing a major rebuilding project. The team decided to let Garcia sign elsewhere. As he bounced through NFL exile playing for hapless Cleveland and Detroit the past few seasons, the accepted view was that he was washed up. In the two seasons before he came to the Eagles, Garcia threw 13 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. Once again, Garcia was counted out.

Without a team to call home for this season, Garcia got a call from Eagles head coach Andy Reid. The Eagles had a job for Garcia, but only to compete with A.J. Feely as a back up for starter Donovan McNabb. Garcia accepted the invitation, and made the team as the number two quarterback, ahead of Feely. When McNabb went down on November 19th against Tennessee, he stepped in as the Eagles new starter.

The early returns weren't very good, the Eagles lost his first start when they were easily trounced on National television by the Indianapolis Colts. Eagle fans were giving up on the season and on Garcia, many of them were actively calling for him to be replaced by Feeley. But as he has always done in life and in football, Garcia rallied. All he did was lead the Eagles to one of the most remarkable runs in team history, a five game winning streak to end the season and an NFC Eastern division title. Along the way to leading the Birds to their first playoff berth since 2004, Garcia threw 10 touchdown passes and just 2 interceptions and posted a 100-plus rating in each of his first three starts, becoming the first Eagles quarterback to do so in his first three starts with the team.

Last weekend I cheered as a David Akers field goal beat the Giants and sent the Eagles into the second round of the playoffs. The irony is that the feel good player of the year now faces the feel good team of the year in the New Orleans Saints. After Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana last year, the Saints were left to play their games in San Antonio and a 3-13 record followed. Nobody expected anything out of the Saints this year, but they have been the Cinderella's of the NFL, posting a 10-6 record on their way to winning the NFC South title. Unfortunately, someone's dream will die this Saturday.

Jeff Garcia is a remarkable story that has rekindled my fire for football. He is a breath of fresh air in an era where money, ego, and the obnoxious actions of so many professional athletes long ago rendered the air stale.

Life rarely has a fairy tale ending for any of us, but seeing Jeff Garcia in the twilight of his career hoist up a Super Bowl trophy on February 4th is an ending certainly worth rooting for.

I'm not the only WHP staffer that's a kid at heart

2006-11-27T17:04:00Z

And I have proof.....

Last weekend was the annual Harrisburg Holiday parade. As you may know, a group on on-air personalities from the station always participates. As a Central Pennsylvania native, the Harrisburg Holiday parade is a local tradition that I grew up with and it is still a thrill for me to actually get to ride in it. There is one drawback though.... downtime. A LOT of downtime. In order for us to be in our proper spot, we all need to arrive at the City Island staging area by 9am. The parade doesn't even start until 10am, and until it's your turn to fall in line in the parade route, it can be much later then that.

While patiently waiting two hours for this years parade to start, I took notice of the fact that the Hersheypark float was positioned across the City Island lot from where we were setting up. They had a really cool float that featured several of the Hershey characters such as a dancing Krackel bar, Peppermint Patty, Reese's Peanut Butter cup, and most importantly, Coco the Bear!!

For those of you that don't know, Coco is the official mascot for the Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears hockey club. I've been a fan of the Bears all of my life, and I also still get a big kick out of team mascots. Now that I have kids of my own, I always take my boys under the ruse of "it's for the kids" to go visit the mascot when we go to any sporting events. In many ways, I'm just a big kid, and I still get a thrill out of getting a, "high five" from the likes of the Phillie Phanatic. So when I saw Coco the Bear standing around on his float just waiting for the Holiday parade to start, I had to make my move.

I knew that WHP weekend anchor Mike Parker had a digital camera with him to take parade pictures. Mike is one of my good friends here at WHP, and I was sure that he would be more than happy to take a picture for me. I also knew that I was probably going to violate several, "man laws" and be subject to some serious verbal abuse if I asked him to walk all of the way over to the Hershey float just to take my picture with of all things.... Coco the Bear. After thinking it over for a few minutes, I swallowed hard and asked Mike if he could see fit to snapping a shot of me and Coco.

Mike laughed and agreed to take the picture, and just as I predicted began asking me questions like, "What are you Knight, like 4 years old?" Shane Schillaci was also standing within earshot, and he too found it funny that a 36 year old man would want his picture taken with a dancing Coco the Bear.

Armed with Mike's camera, the three of us made our way over to the Hershey float. Depite having to take their teasing, as a Hershey Bears fan I was excited about how cool my personal computer was going to look once I had a wallpaper shot of me with Coco. I asked the woman in charge if she minded if I hopped up on the float so that I could get my picture taken with Coco. She graciously agreed and I stepped up on to the float, put my arm around Coco, and Mike took the picture.

I was thanking Coco and getting ready to step down when suddenly I was unexpectedly joined on the float by two other people wearing WHP jackets and big smiles. Mike and Shane had made their way on to the float and the woman in charge of the float was now holding Mike's camera. Even though Mike and Shane had given me a hard time for suggesting that I wanted a picture with Coco the Bear, it seems I'm not the only WHP personality that is a true kid at heart.

Don't believe me? Well as they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words.......

I was hugged by a Blue Shark.........

2006-10-28T23:24:00Z

A sweaty little 5 year old Blue Shark.

This past July I got an email from the West Shore Soccer Club, it was a plea for someone to come forward and coach my son's soccer team. You see, there were enough players signed up to form six teams, but only five parents had volunteered to coach. Someone needed to step forward and take on the 6th team and I decided that the someone was going to be me.

I did somewhat know what I was getting in to because I had my first "coaching" experience this past Spring with my son's t-ball team. One huge difference though..... I know the game of baseball. I mean, I REALLY know the game of baseball. I can wax poetic with best of them on all of the intricacies of our National pastime. Want to have a debate on the best "wheel" defense against a left handed bunt with a runner on second and less than 2 outs? If so, then I'm your guy. But soccer? Uh-oh. I tried to reassure myself by thinking, "It's only 5 year old boys... how tough can it really be?" Oops.

I had a couple of weeks before our first practice to prepare, so I started doing some research. At the 5 year old level, an entire team only consists of six players because the game is played 3 on 3 with no goalie. I know that sounds a little strange, but the goal nets are very small and the idea is just to keep the kids active and moving. Armed with a positive attitude and a copy of, "Soccer for Dummies" I held my first practice on a sticky summer evening in early August. It didn't take me long to realize that I had a HUGE challenge on my hands.

This was the first experience that most of my players were having with any true organized sport. They had NO CONCEPT of the word, "team." Trying to have any kind of structure on an open field filled with a group of five year old boys and soccer balls was next to impossible. Even though I was struggling with them, by the end of that first practice there was individually something about each one of their little personalities that I really liked. I felt a connection with this group of kids and their parents.

I'm not going to lie though, the first few weeks of practice were pretty rough. Thankfully another Dad stepped up and volunteered to be my assistant, otherwise my soccer coaching career may have been over before it really started. The one thing we could at least all agree on was our name. The league had given us blue t-shirts to wear for our games, and thus the West Shore Blue Sharks were born.

We had practices disrupted by pushing, shoving, and shoe throwing. I was having trouble just teaching these kids that when a defensive player kicks the ball away from you, it isn't just cause for the fists to start flying. The low point may have come when some of my parents had to come on the practice field to help me break up a full blown fight. We were having an intra-squad scrimmage and one of my players made a nice steal, took the ball the other way and scored a goal. Instead of congratulations from his teammate, a fight broke out because quote, "He took MY BALL from me!!!!!!!!"

I also can't forget about the time that during another, "practice" the Blue Sharks found a pile of dog poop on the sidelines. NOTHING can get a cluster of five year old boys more distracted or laughing hysterically like a good old fashioned pile of dog poop. Before I could get over to the sideline and break up the party, one of them used his finger to smear a stripe of dog poop down his nose and started wildly chasing his screaming teammates. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I had to halt a few practices and get on them a lot more than I would have liked. I would never have yelled at them for anything, but I had to calmly call a huddle and lay the law a few times. I didn't enjoy it, but it had to be done in order to teach them something. We hadn't even played a game yet, and I wondered how I was going to get this group through a 12 week season. Standing there in the August heat watching the chaos, November sure seemed a long way away.

As trying as the Blue Sharks were at times, I really liked all of them..... a lot. I wasn't 100% sure, but I was starting to think that just maybe they were starting to like their coach too.

I was very nervous in the days that led up our first game. My biggest fear was that someone from the other team would make a nice play or score a goal and one of my guys would congratulate him by dumping him on the seat of his pants or clanging a shoe off the side of his head. But when the game started something unbelievable happened. Not only did they show the sportsmanship that I had been preaching incessantly, but they played really well. I was absolutely floored..... all of this time they actually were listening to me..... I did get through to them. It just took a real game for it all to, "click." It was seriously one of the proudest moments of my life.

We don't keep an official score at the 5 year old level because it's not about winning and losing. It's about learning how to be part of team and just having some fun. Having said that, my Blue Sharks have been a little soccer machine. Not only do they score a lot of goals, but more importantly my message to respect the other team and be a good teammate got through.

You've got the '27 Yankees, the '78 Steelers..... and now the '06 Blue Sharks.

After a recent practice one of my little guys came up to me with a big grin on his face, I stuck my hand out to give him my requisite high five punctuated with a, "see you later buddy!" Instead of slapping me five, he jumped up and wrapped his little arms around my neck and gave me a gigantic, spontaneous, and sweaty hug. With his arms around me he said, "I love you Coach Steve!" It totally caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say. I was surprised by my own reaction, and I had to bite down on my bottom lip for a split second to keep back some real emotion.

Our season is winding down now, and it has been a roaring success. Back in the dog days of our August practices I thought it might take forever to get to November, now I don't know where the time has gone. Our last game is this Saturday and I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to my Blue Sharks, in fact I'm dreading it. But to everything there comes a time, and I guess it's time for them to move on to Thanksgiving, the Holidays, and all things that go with being a kindergartner.

The other day on my way to work I started thinking about our upcoming final game. I started pondering what I want my last words to them to be in our final huddle when our last game is over and it's time to say goodbye. I found myself having to bite my bottom lip again just thinking about it.

Christopher, Gage, Julian, Jack, Henry and Donovon....... long live the Blue Sharks!

Some might call it brainwashing.....

2006-09-30T00:19:00Z

But it my world it is merely good parenting.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Denver Broncos. I've been a Bronco fan since I was old enough to care about football. I was raised right here in Central Pennsylvania, but my parents are both natives of Denver and I still have a lot of family that lives in Colorado.

I was raised to be a Bronco fan, and now I'm passing it on to my two boys. Thanks to our satellite dish, we never miss a Bronco game at our house. My good friends know to not even bother trying to call me on Sundays in the Fall, there is zero chance anyone will answer. Things are most intense when the Broncos play the Oakland Raiders. The Broncos and Raiders are storied and bitter rivals that date back to the days of the old AFL. Nothing gets our house rocking more than the two times a year when the Broncos and Raiders renew hostilities.

Raider fans have been using a lot of these lately....

Well, this lifetime Denver Bronco fan recently had his proudest moment to date as a father, and I just had to share.....

The other day I picked my 6 year old son Christopher up after kindergarten. As Christopher was getting into the back of the car, he took notice of a, "20 something" Dad that was there picking up his daughter. Christopher was eyeballing him because not only was the other Dad slapped together at about 6'8" and 270 pounds of muscle, but he was also wearing a black Oakland Raiders t-shirt. Just before ducking into the back seat, Christopher stuck his head up above a car, looked the other Dad dead in the eye and shouted, "Raiders Stink Dude!!!"

I hastily issued an apology to the gentleman in the Raiders t-shirt, and to make it look good I also scolded Christopher loud enough for all in the parking lot to hear.

After we were safely in the car and pulling away, I explained to Christopher that while it is true that the Raiders do in fact stink, it's not a good idea to let everyone wearing Raider colors know that upon sight. Especially when the Raider fan in question could easily kick his Daddy's tail!

Well, the kid gloves are officially off....

2006-09-03T19:26:00Z

I just love to observe politics. On a typical Sunday morning, I usually watch "Meet the Press" at 10, and then at 11 I flip over to NASCAR on the Speed Channel. Strange bedfellows indeed, but that's nothing unusual for me. I voted for George W. Bush, twice in fact..... Mr. Conservative, that's me.... But I can also count Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, and Ozzy Osbourne among the live acts that I've seen during his Presidency. I guess that's an entirely different story, for an entirely different blog.

So where was I? Oh yeah, the point of this blog.... the debate.

I just watched Rick Santorum and Bob Casey Jr. square off in their first debate. Adding to the drama was that the debate was in front of a National audience on "Meet the Press" and moderated by the ultra-savvy Tim Russert. Gear up folks, because if this debate was any indication, what we saw today was merely round 1 in what is sure to be a bare knuckle fist fight for 15 hard fought rounds.

Honestly, you can forget about the Governors race, apologies to the Swann folks.... but it's over, and deep down they have to know it.

But our little Senate race here in the Commonwealth is already drawing huge National attention, and I suspect that so far it is nothing compared to what we will see in the coming weeks.

Santorum is a deeply entrenched incumbent, and the number three man in the U.S. Senate. Whether or not you agree with where he stands on the issues, the guy is tenured and has a lot of power within the halls of Congress. Power that only comes with time spent in Washington. More importantly, it's the kind of power that has delivered a huge amount of Federal dollars to Pennsylvania. Federal dollars that the Commonwealth desperately needs.

Don't believe me? Well, just ask our Democratic Governor... and I quote,

“Rick Santorum has proven that he gets the job done. Time and time again he has come through”

“I will eventually campaign with Casey. But, no, you won’t see me attack Santorum. I work well with him … . When it comes to Pennsylvania, Santorum delivers.”

- Ed Rendell, August 2006

Oops.

The Casey folks have been practicing the art of damage control since that statement was made. For me, all of this just adds to the intrigue.

Throw in the fact that there have been whispers in some Republican circles that Santorum may even some day be Presidential material and you have a very interesting fight brewing.

Santorum is by his own admission a staunch conservative. He is just about as far to the right as the right goes. And as the Casey campaign is quick to point out, he's been a tremendous ally to the President by helping to push forward Mr. Bush's agenda.

The bottom line is that in the political world, Rick Santorum is a heavyweight, a heavyweight that the Democrats are salivating over taking down. It's doable, and the Democrats know it.

It's amazing to me just how bitter the political climate in this country has become, and that's why this race is going to keep getting so much National attention. Did you ever think that you would live to see the day where showing a picture of a United States Senator sitting with the President of the United States could be skillfully used as part of a negative campaign ad? The Casey campaign is doing that, and given the current job approval ratings for the President, in my estimation it is a smart political move.

This is a mid-term election and one that is going to be seen by many not just in Pennsylvania, but across the country as a referendum on the war in Iraq, the President, and in a broader sense, the Republican party as a whole. A party and an administration that in my opinion does have several things to answer for before I hand them another one of my votes. Personally, right now this registered Republican is undecided between Santorum and Casey, and in my mind I'm already building cases for both candidates.

It's the kind of thing that as a political observer I just love to sit back and watch unfold, the fact that it is all taking place right here is Pennsylvania makes it all the more interesting.

In my opinion, score round 1 for Casey. While the debate was civil, it was also extremely heated at times. But that was nothing, like two skilled boxers they were just feeling each other out.

On November 7th we will all have the opportunity in this great democracy to go to the polls and decide the ultimate winner. But for me, just getting there will be half the fun.

Waves crest high.......

2006-08-01T14:07:00Z

but they also crash.

Last week the Knight clan set out for the summer family vacation. With a car stuffed to the gills and a credit card itching to be maxed we left for a week of sun and fun in the Outer Banks, just off the coast of North Carolina. We had our own lakeside rental house, complete with our own pool, game room, and home theater….. All within a 5 minute walk of the beach. Yep, it was setting up to be a good week.

I have two boys that are ages 5 and 3. Upon arrival, the vast expanse of things to do and see left them almost too excited for words. In addition to spending time playing on the beach and swimming in the pool, I took them surf fishing and we even went out crabbing on both the beach and by the lake. They both made short work of our trips to the pizza, french fry, and ice cream stands. Life for them was very good.

I tried hard not to constantly look at my watch and play the, "what would I be doing right now if I was at work?" vacation game. At one point I seriously had to think hard to myself about whether it was Tuesday or Wednesday. I did know that it was without a doubt the best time that I had ever had on a vacation. It was perfect.

And then the phone call came…..

We’ve had two dogs for over 10 years. Otis is our chocolate lab; he became a member of the family 11 years ago when we got him as a puppy. He’s just a big, lazy, and lovable dog. Our other dog Smokey became ours by circumstance. He was a stray dog that we took in 10 years ago. He was spotted as a puppy darting between cars in the Lemoyne bottleneck at the height of rush hour. After unsuccessful attempts through local signs and the newspaper to find his owner we decided to keep him on a "trail basis." That was over ten years ago. We’ve never been sure what kind of dog Smokey is, there’s some sheppard and collie in him, but he's mostly just a, "mutt." We think before we found him that he may have been abused; he was always a bit nervous and leery of other people and other dogs. From day one, he was a handful, but he was our handful. As those with pets know, they truly do become a member of the family.

Last Thursday night we were at our beach house just getting ready to sit down to a big dinner. Another day had been spent lazing by the beach and the pool, my kids were playing with their new hermit crab, my wife was just getting out of the shower, and I was putting the finishing touches on the salad when my cell phone rang. I stepped out to the deck to take the call. It was the girl from the kennel where we had boarded our dogs for the week. Suddenly, unexpectedly, somehow, our Smokey was gone. I hung up the phone and tried to grasp what was going on. Here I am standing on a deck at our beach house having the perfect family vacation, and now I have to go tell the family that our beloved family dog has suddenly died at the kennel, 500 miles away.

It was very hard on all of us, and needless to say our perfect family vacation wasn’t so perfect anymore. It’s one thing to lose your family dog, but to have it happen while you’re on your summer vacation, miles away and unable to control the situation is really rough. The only way for them to keep Smokey until we could come home to get him was to put him in a freezer. The thought of that was horrible, but logistically there was no other way.

As you can imagine, the 8 ½ hour ride home was much more somber than the festive mood of the ride down. Coming home from your summer vacation is always hard. We were coming home to pick up and bury our family dog that was being kept in a freezer.

Our 3 year old son was able to somewhat understand what happened. He understands the basics that Smokey is gone and he isn’t coming home, but much of it thankfully went over his head. If nothing else, our 5 year old son got his first lesson about life and death. When I told him that Smokey had died, he cried on my shoulder for about 15 minutes and asked me a lot of questions. The kind of questions asked by a 5 year old trying to grasp the concept of death. When through tears he told me that he didn’t ever want me to die, it was a bittersweet moment for me.

My in-laws live in a remote area of Dauphin County, and they allowed us to bury Smokey there. I used a shovel and a pick axe to dig a hole near the woods, fighting back the tears and sweat as I did it. I took on the task of picking Smokey up from the kennel. Wrapped in a blanket I carried him from the car to the hole that I had dug. We had a small family ceremony where we passed around pictures and talked about all of the good memories. I then reluctantly grabbed the shovel and began to cover him up. My 5 year old son, in tears, placed a special rock from his rock collection on the grave.

For those of you that have never had a family dog and don't understand our sorrow, I understand. For many people a dog is just that..... A dog, and I get that. But for those of you that have ever had or lost a family dog, you know exactly where I'm coming from. They truly do become a part of the family, and their loss, especially compounded by these circumstances, is hard.

The good news is that I know that the Knight summer vacation of 2007 will end much better than this one. This one couldn't have ended much worse.

Mike Love is older than my Dad.....

2006-07-06T01:34:00Z

That’s saying something, because as I close in on my 36th year, I’m no longer a spring chicken myself. For those of you who don’t know, Mike Love is the lead singer for the Beach Boys. At 65 years old he is the last original Beach Boy that is currently still on tour. Give the guy credit, he can still pull it off. Just ask the estimated crowd of 15,000 at Riverfront Park in Harrisburg if they had fun watching Love and the rest of his band run through the vast catalogue of Beach Boy hits. I mean really...? Who doesn’t like at least a few Beach Boys tunes? Thanks to a slight nudge from Governor Rendell, a friend of the band, Harrisburg was actually able to have the Beach Boys play our area on the 4th. This was a pretty big coup for the ‘Burg, the Beach Boys have a tradition of playing on the mall in Washington DC on the 4th. Kudos to the Guv and Hizzoner Steven Reed for convincing them to spend their Fourth entertaining thousands along the bank of the Susquehanna River.

Personally, I’m just glad that the event actually went off as scheduled. As you probably know, weather was once again an issue, and after a strong line of storms went through earlier in the afternoon the concert was looking a bit iffy. If I would have had to come in to work on Wednesday morning and talk about Musicfest postponements, fireworks postponements, revised schedules, and an ongoing closure on Front Street, I'm sure that I would have lost it. I know sometimes the viewers get tired of a long ongoing story such as the recent flooding, but I’ll let you in on a little secret.... We get tired of it too! But when the Governor declares an emergency in your entire viewing area, you cover it, THOROUGHLY. It’s a matter of public safety. That doesn’t mean that after days on end of talking about flooded roads that I don’t get tired of it. By last Friday I had more than had my fill. Sorry folks, but after almost all of the roads had re-opened by Friday afternoon, it actually felt good to just be talking about a good old fashioned 3 mile backlog on I-81 north approaching the I-83 split. Ahhhhhhh... A return to the normalcy of 3 mile backlogs... It was bliss.

Anyway, it was a refreshing change to see the concert and fireworks get squeezed in before MORE RAIN arrived overnight. Mike Love was quoted at Musicfest as saying, "Everybody's in good spirits. We're here to spread good vibrations and brotherly love." Hmmmmm.... How ironic that at roughly the same time Love was uttering those words North Korea was testing their so-called long range, "missiles" over the Sea of Japan. Unfortunately this turn of events will give North Korean leader Kim Jong Il all of the attention that he so desperately craves. For those of you who don’t know, North Korea is an embarrassment. Kim Jong Il makes Josef Stalin look disinterested. This little missile test could be good in that the world spotlight will finally focus its glare on what has been going on in North Korea for decades.

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation. They severely restrict freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of movement, both inside the country and abroad. Nobody gets in North Korea, and nobody is allowed to leave. Refugees have testified to the existence of detention camps with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates, and have reported torture, starvation, rape, murder and slave labor. During the 1990's, famine killed between 600,000 and 3.5 million people in North Korea. Kim Jong Il literally keeps his citizens in the dark and has brainwashed his people into thinking that he is great leader. Outside observers have called his leadership a form of a cult like religion, and because of his severe restrictions, his citizens have no idea of what the outside world is like. I don’t profess to have all the answers, and unfortunately because North Korea uses all of its resources to fuel its military machine while an estimated 10% of its population has starved to death in the last 15 years, they are going to have to be dealt with. I’m sure that logically speaking cooler heads need to prevail and that diplomacy must be the order of the day, but when Kim Jong Il starts sucking his thumb and shaking his rattle on the world stage... Well, to slightly paraphrase Toby Keith, let’s just put a boot in his diaper.

It's been 18 years.......

2006-06-15T21:41:00Z

Since I took my first job in broadcasting. Coincidentally, I had just turned 18 years old and was a recent graduate from Penn Manor High School in Millersville, PA. I was the new evening announcer (fancy way of saying nighttime disc jockey) for 1350AM in York. The station format was oldies, so there I was at 18 years of age playing all of this music that had come out before I was born, and failing miserably at displaying that I had any type of clue as to what I was doing. It was oldies on AM radio, needless to say, my friends weren’t impressed, but my parents on the other hand were thrilled.

The station had ONE computer and it sat in the Program Directors office. I was way down on the totem pole and I didn't have any access to it, but I didn’t really care either. What use did I have for it? Microsoft Windows? Not even close, it was all DOS. The internet? Still years away from becoming common place. I remember spending my downtime at work reading the newspaper. How archaic is that!

The station got a fax machine about 6 months after I started, and I remember the first day that they hooked it up we all sat huddled around it. We marveled at how it spit out messages on special crinkly paper through the phone line! Impossible!!

Fast forward 18 years, and here I sit at my desk in the Channel 21 traffic center typing my first station “blog.” Now I sit back and marvel at how much the world, and for that matter the business of broadcasting, has changed.

I want to use this space to talk a bit about what goes on behind the scenes here at WHP, maybe toss around some topics of the day, but most importantly, to just be myself. That’s right, just be myself.

Recently we conducted a viewer contest here at WHP where our viewers were asked to write in and, “tell us why they watch WHP CBS 21 News.” The response was humbling and I was really pleased to see how many folks commented on the fact that they really like that our broadcasters seem like, “real people.” We are real people. As I type this I have a 5 year old son at home that is sick with an ear infection, a car that I am hoping will get through its State inspection without costing me my entire paycheck, and no idea what we are having for dinner because like a big dope, I forgot to thaw anything out of the freezer this afternoon. This week I would have liked to have gotten a haircut, washed the car, gone to the gym, and worked on the overgrown back yard that I have been strategically putting off. I haven’t done any of it. Why? Because I haven’t had the time! I have a wife, active kids, a mortgage, car payments, bills, and groceries to buy. Sound familiar? Sound real? Um yeah, I’m a real person.

The management here at WHP has always allowed us to be ourselves. We’re all extremely professional, especially when the stories of the day dictate it. But we’re allowed to show the viewers another side. It’s a side that other stations don’t afford their air staff, and it’s just one of the many reasons why I enjoy working here at WHP. I don't feel like I have to be wooden or stiff on the air. We can all spot a phony, and it's a big turn off. In this business that means turning off our station, something we try to avoid our viewers from doing.

I see this as the next step. This is an even bigger chance to be myself and for the viewers to get to know all of us a little better. As a viewer, you make a personal choice to invite us into your homes. There is no reason why you shouldn’t get to know the people that you invite into your home a little better, and this is the perfect vehicle to do it with.

So who knows what is to come from this, my first professional blog space. I’m just really happy to have another outlet to be myself, the guy my friends and family know as just Steve.

See ya next time......

PS One shameless plug for our traffic alert emails. Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, I personally send out a traffic alert via email. Signing up is easy, just log on to our web channel at www.whptv.com Best of all…… it’s FREE!! :)