Ramble On ... literally

The Led Zep set list from 02 Arena in London:

Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time Of Dying
Your Life
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody's Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I've Been Loving You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway to Heaven
The Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir

Two encores:
Whole Lotta Love
Rock and Roll

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Call it an FBI PING, not an FBI Sting.

Three Arrested in North Carolina Golf Equipment Counterfeit Operation

Acushnet Company Cooperates with Authorities Investigating Illegal Products Being Sold On-line

FAIRHAVEN, MA --Two residents of Vass, North Carolina, were charged last week by North Carolina Secretary of State Trademark investigators following an investigation that state officials believe has uncovered a major product counterfeiting operation headquartered in Moore County. Acushnet Company, which is comprised of the Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra golf equipment brands, played an integral part in the arrests by working with the North Carolina authorities.

“Acushnet vigorously protects our brands and our Company’s intellectual property” said Lisa Rogan, Acushnet Company trademark manager. “We conduct daily monitoring of eBay and other auction sites, which often leads to criminal investigations. We fully support the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office in this investigation.” In this case, Acushnet observed counterfeit golf products in the market and conducted an internal investigation prior to presenting the matter to the N.C. Secretary of State’s Office.

A two-month investigation by state and federal officers resulted in allegations that Donald G. Fondrie and Warren E. Fondrie operated an Internet-based site that sold fake brand-name golfing gear, with the counterfeit brand name products being imported from Asia, and then being sold both domestically and internationally on a “store site” on eBay, the large on-line auction company. Postal authorities monitored shipping traffic connected to the case for some time prior to the search.

Thousands of fake golf products were seized, including counterfeit Titleist, Cobra and Scotty Cameron products. In addition, other alleged counterfeit products were seized, including fake Golf Pride® golf grips and goods bearing the trademarks of Cleveland Golf, Nike, PING, Callaway Golf and TaylorMade Golf.

Both men were charged with two felony counts of possessing counterfeit trademarked goods with intent to sell the counterfeit goods. They were also charged with resisting a public officer as was a third person, Pei-I Chou, a Taiwanese national who was present at the time of the search and seizure operation conducted by Secretary of State investigators and U.S. Postal Service inspectors.

Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra comprise the major golf brands of the Acushnet Company.

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Think an ESPN Ombudsman needs to teach the 'i before e rule' to Le Anne Schreiber?

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Here's some very intellegent commentary from a very good friend and blog reader in Australia:

Wow, the Mitchell Report was huge. CLEMENS! How big is that. But here is the thing I don’t get…

Why is it Bud Selig’s fault. I read so many columns where Bud gets the blame. The players, with the help of their union, take illegal substances. They do this knowing it is wrong. They get the injections, the cream, the clear etc. And this is Bud’s fault. Ridiculous. Just like when the idiot managers ran out of pitchers at the all star game…that was somehow Bud’s fault too. Didn’t realize he was responsible for pitching changes.

People need to be responsible for their own actions. The fault lies with the players that cheated and the union. What is the league or the team supposed to do? Challenge the player who says – how dare you ask me – and then he calls the union. Here is my solution for all drugs cheats – from Marion Jones to weightlifters to NFL and MLB players.

Anyone that tests positive for performance enhancing drugs has all records from the previous 5 years removed. Here’s why…if a sprinter wins gold in Sydney 2000, and fails a test in Athens 2004, they keep their Sydney medals. Under my plan, they would also lose any medals in previous 5 years, including prize money. Same in baseball. Bonds loses 5 years of HR etc.

Also, I don’t see how Clemens et al can get in HOF. Clearly cheated to gain advantage – breaking both the rules and the laws. Contrary to popular view baseball has banned steroids for many years, they just couldn’t test for it. It was still illegal.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents worth.

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Stay tuned for the big St. John's basketball - 100 years of SJU basketball symposium report.

After that? Here is some info from St. John's sports info:

When the Red Storm men’s basketball team participates in the Rainbow Classic from Dec. 19-22, St. John’s fans will almost feel like they are part of the action. RedStormSports.com, the official online home of St. John’s Athletics, will provide daily Internet postcards, photo galleries, game recaps, journal entries from the team, and live streaming Internet audio of all of the games.

Each day as St. John’s storms through paradise from Dec. 16-22, fans can check out the “Aloha From Hawaii” online feature for the daily update. The Red Storm team will play three games in The Rainbow Classic, tour Peal Harbor, hit the beaches and participate in a number of cultural activities while visiting the Aloha State for the first time in 31 years.

A seven-team field joins the Red Storm in the Rainbow Classic, including 1996 tournament champion Georgia and 11-time champion and host Hawaii. The Classic is celebrating its 44th year as the longest running eight-team tournament in the country.

The Red Storm opens the tournament on Dec. 19 with a 5 p.m. HST (10 p.m. EST) matchup against the Ohio Bobcats. Hawaii follows with a meeting against Louisiana-Lafayette. On Dec. 20, Tulane and Saint Mary's meet, followed by East Tennessee State and Georgia. The first-round winners advance to the tournament's championship rounds, Dec. 21-22, while the losers will play in the afternoon consolation rounds.