Ramble On ...

The countdown clock is ticking down for today's (December 10, 2007) reunion of Led Zeppelin. The concert will take place at London's 02 Arena. Some interesting marketing by the band, as they release their material in digital form. Led Zep, highly popular in my grammar and high school years - circa '70-'77 - have a dedicated channel on XM radio (XM Led on XM 59) where the new re-issued soundtrack of "The Song Remains the Same" debuted in America.

The new Led Zep website features the cover story from Rolling Stone magazine, highlighting the reunion.

There is talk of a full-blown Led Zep tour, to start this summer but AEG execs, the host of the 02 show, state that the talk of a tour is just rumor.

"The reality is Zeppelin has not agreed to a tour," said Randy Phillips, the high-ranking AEG concert promoter to the LA Times. "They want to play this show and see how it goes, how it feels, and then go from there. There's nothing firm yet, but maybe afterward."

The LA Times noted: Zeppelin is the bestselling heavy-metal act ever, with nearly 110 million albums shipped, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. The group hasn't toured since 1980 (the year Bonham died), and their last full concert dates in the U.S. were in 1977. (The surviving members did perform a short set at the industry banquet for their 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

How much appetite is there for a Zeppelin reunion? Industry sources compare the likely box office to the recent record-setting road-runs by the Rolling Stones or U2, but it may be even more: Organizers of the online ticket lottery for the Ertegun tribute said 20 million requests came in for a show with 16,000 seats.

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Nine days after the Led Zep tour rolls through London, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play at the 02. Seems like the 02 Arena will be the center of the rock n roll universe.

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Away from the concert trail and back to my beloved St. John's Basketball team. The Johnnies will host a special "100 Years of St. John's Basketball Symposium" on December 15, a few hours before the St. John's vs Niagara basketball game. I plan to attend and will file a report if the spirit moves me.

According to the St. John's issued press material: The symposium will include discussion of "The Early Days,” “Classic Times” and “The Modern Era" moderated by Phil Pepe and featuring Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, AP sportswriter and St. John's grad Jim O'Connell and former players Frank Alagia (1972-76), Carmine Calzonetti (1966-69), Mel Davis (1970-72), Gerry Houston (1962-65), George Johnson (1974-78), Gerry Lawrence (1953-56), Dick McGuire (1943-49), Bill Shea (1944-45), Tarik Turner (1994-98) and other special guests.

Stay tuned for a blog next weekend.

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Just in case you missed it, Minnesota's Al Jefferson had 32 and 20 in a 100-93 win over Phoenix on Saturday night. Add the four steals and you've got some serious Al Jefferson "Tommy Points."

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David Granger does a great job with Esquire Magazine. The current issue (Jan 08), The Meaning of Life, has some terrific words of wisdom from tons of celebs. Ten Years of "What I've Learned" comments are worth the news stand price. Johnny Depp is on the cover. Buy it.

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This item clipped from a blog about the Boston Celtics. I plan to tune in.

Since joining the Boston Globe staff as the Celtics beat writer, on the heels of Kevin Garnett's signing, Marc Spears has quickly been accepted as one of the more conscientious and informed reporters.

As welcome as the game reports he so copiously presents is his nose for the interesting side stories.

From his article in the Dec. 7th Globe , he quotes Garnett on his thoughts of someday coaching in the league.......

"I don't have the patience, man," Garnett said. "Doc has great patience. He's very motivating every game. It's not the same, 'Oh, let's go out here and win one for the Gipper.' He's very inspiring. I think he understands players. There are so many dynamics that go into coaching. Strategy. Personnel. I love teaching. Motivating and will to be the best. I can't take the ego and everything else that comes with some players. I just don't have the patience.

....with a wonderful anecdote from Magic Johnson thrown in for good measure.

Magic Johnson is widely considered one of the top five players in NBA history. But when it came to coaching, the three-time MVP lasted only 16 games (five wins).

"Kevin Garnett would have a migraine," Johnson said. "He knows what a guy is supposed to be doing, but they won't be doing it. I'll give you an example just to bring it home for Kevin. I'm on the bench and I got Michael Cooper, my guy, as an assistant. Our point guard, Nick Van Exel, he's on the break and I'm like, 'Pass it, pass it to him! He's open!' I'm screaming.

"So I hit Coop and say, 'Why didn't he pass it to him?' He said, 'Earvin, he can't see that. Only you can see that. You saw it before the play broke open.' 'Well, why can't he see it?' 'He's not you.' "

Marc will be joining us Sunday night when the Celtics play the Bulls and James Posey is in town as the villain: Marc Spears ran down Posey's history with the Bulls in his Globe column of Dec. 8th... The first incident occurred during Game 3 of a first-round playoff series in 2006 when Posey was ejected after knocking Kirk Hinrich to the floor with a hard shoulder block that drew a flagrant-2 foul. In last season's opener, Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas sustained a broken nose when he was hit by Posey. And on Dec. 27, 2006, Posey was ejected for a flagrant-2 foul after hitting Luol Deng hard in midair. Deng underwent wrist surgery afterward.

Celticsstuff Live - The Ultimate, Toll Free, Call-In; Webcast, Talk Show & Blog.
Featuring: Jughead and JB and The Duke.

http://celticsBlog.com/ or http://celticsstufflive.com/

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Speaking of the Globe, Celtics beat reporter Marc Spears ran a note on the fact USA Basketball hosted the FIBA World Congress this weekend with meetings in Chicago.

The dates that USA Basketball is circling for next summer, according to Spears are:

USA's men's senior team is tentatively scheduled to conduct a mini-camp in Las Vegas from June 27-30, 2008, to determine the 12-man team, and it's uncertain how many players will be invited.

After going through Olympic processing in the SF, Bay Area, Team USA will head to Macao, China, where it is tentatively scheduled to train until the start of the Olympics Aug. 7.

Spears' colleague, Peter May, ran the following comment on the rising stock of the NBA's D-League:

Quite a development in D-League

Brandon Wallace's injury notwithstanding, the NBA's Developmental League is off to a rousing start. And the NBA is taking notice. So far, 11 teams have assigned players to their D-League affiliates a total of 14 times (Boston's Gabe Pruitt, for instance, was assigned twice). That's more than the previous two seasons combined for the same period. There were 44 players on NBA opening night rosters who had D-League experience - up from 35 a year ago - and, for the first time, an NBA head coach had a D-League link on his résumé (Sam Vincent of Charlotte, who coached in Roanoke and Fort Worth). In the league itself, attendance is up 30 percent (although there are more teams). This year two NBA teams actually own their D-League affiliate; the Lakers own the LA D-Fenders and the world champion Spurs own the Austin Toros.