Ramble On...

As a big fan of the STARBUCKS (and SBUX) brand, I am happy to see former Seattle SuperSonics team owner Howard Schultz back at the CEO spot for the Seattle-based coffee giant. The SBUX stock tumbled in '07 but rebounded +9% on the news of Schultz' reinstatement.

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What is more newsworthy -- the fact that Jim Rice earned 392 votes, 14 shy of the 406 he needed for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame or the fact that Chuck Knoblauch got one vote?

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When Harvard basketball players 'walk through that locker door' they are inspired by the following words on a small sign:

Defend
Box Out
Sprint
Unselfish
Have Fun

Tommy Amaker keeps it simple, just as Coach K does at Duke.

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I provided some insight into the great "Hot Stove, Cool Music" weekend, but here's the official Boston.com review:

Rocking music and baseball talk fan the flames of Hot Stove
By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | January 8, 2008

Still basking in the glow of the Red Sox 2007 World Series championship, the eighth-annual winter edition of the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert at the Paradise Sunday night kicked off 2008 with the same winning team attitude.

The epic, collegial five-hour show featured a potpourri of musicians sitting in on one another's sets resulting in a mess of good vibes, good music, good humor, and a little baseball talk, courtesy of event cofounder/ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons and part-time rocker/Sox general manager Theo Epstein. (The latter also graciously fielded nonbaseball questions from the sold-out crowd, and for the record, on Sunday night, it was boxers.)

The Elan Trotman band got things off to a spirited start with extended instrumental funk and rock workouts of tunes like Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Murder Capital of the World followed with a dose of power pop, including a take on T. Rex's "20th Century Boy."

Fluffy of hair and grungy of inclination, former Sox ace Bronson Arroyo showed off, appropriately, his excellent pitch and a willingness to experiment during his set of Fray and Pearl Jam covers with the aid of a string quartet.

Lori McKenna and her top-notch band injected a little twang into the proceedings and welcomed Kay Hanley, Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, and others onto the stage for a soaring rendition of the Band's "It Makes No Difference," which was one of the night's highlights.

A raucous set from Gammons's Hot Stove All-Stars proved the most eclectic and electric treat of the evening, as a huge band, including J. Geils Band keyboardist Seth Justman, Epstein on guitar, Red Sox front-of-house guy Zack Scott on harmonica, the True Loves horns, and the rhythm section from the Gentlemen Pete Caldes and Ed Valauskas all converging on stage.

Among the peaks was Gammons's scathing new rocker about the Mitchell Report, Paul Barrere of Little Feat blazing through that band's sprawling "Dixie Chicken," and Janovitz contributing sizzling takes on Neil Young's "Powderfinger" and the Stones's "Happy" with guest tambourine player Tiffany Ortiz. (She reported that her hubby, David "Big Papi" Ortiz, is recovering nicely from surgery.) And Mighty Mighty Bosstones mouthpiece Dicky Barrett fronted the crew for a run-through of Geils's "Give It to Me."

Boston Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck's band, French Lick, dashed genially through good-time covers like "I Saw Her Standing There." Fresh off the "Hannah Montana" tour, Hanley sounded tough and true in her own set, which included the Letters to Cleo chestnut "Veda Very Shining." Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves kept the energy going with their classic soul and blues routine.

Dear Leader capped the night in grandiose form with singer Aaron Perrino belting out intelligent rock anthems in his best high-dudgeon wail.

Emcee Mike O'Malley gets better and better at the difficult task of keeping the show flowing by interviewing the participants and serving as auctioneer during set breaks.

In addition to the stage auctions, which racked up more than $20,000, the Paradise Lounge was set up with silent-auction items, raffles, and opportunities for patrons to get their picture snapped with the 2007 World Series trophy. More than $200,000 was raised from the weekend festivities to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Epstein's Foundation to be Named Later.

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I was very impressed with the "Hot Stove" concept and was equally impressed with Paul Epstein, known to so many as, "Theo's brother." I like the fact I am getting to know him as "Paul Epstein," husband, father, proud native of Boston who is giving back to the community. The guy is as sharp as they come and has a very open, natural, first-class way about him. Class act, all the way. The "Foundation to be Named Laster" is in very good hands. And, one other note: Peter Gammons can play. He deserves some serious credit.

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Last bit on the Hot Stove, Cool Music these are the lyrics of a song performed by Gammons:

It is called, "THE MITCHELL REPORT"

"I was a Winnipeg Goldeye for two grand a year
Riding high pollutin' buses to Shaumburg, Illinois
I weighed one sixty three, batted two eighty five
Supporting three kids in Topeka and two ex-wives
Workin' winter midnights, dreamed of getting jacked
Tryin' to hit the ball to the warning track
Bought me a Bowflex, drank thousands of shakes
Got a tryout with a scout who said, "it's only talent you lack."
Talent I lacked

Chorus
"Canseco told Mitchell while on the Exxon Valdez
'I can make you millions, help you throw 93
'Bob Heise'd been Jim Rice if he knew what I know'
And there's never been a low as low as Canseco."

"Met a street corner agent made a dive for my dime
Gave me 30 pounds of muscle in ten weeks time
Winstrol, Anadrol, no holds barred
And a T-shirt readin' "hammer like a porn star"
Ten bombs in training camp got me Triple-A
Eight more in April brought me big league quail
One custom Hummer, three dozen suits
With my agent-- now a trainer-- along for the hoot
Along for the hoot

Chorus
Canseco told Mitchell while on the Exxon Valdez
'I can make you millions, help you throw 93
'Bob Heise'd been Jim Rice if he knew what I know'
And there's never been a low as low as Canseco."


"Then one day I got a call from Mitchell's henchmen
Seems my name showed up where it shouldn't have been
Now I'm back at the Wal-Mart working midnight to nine
Playing beer league softball in lieu of ten years time
In lieu of ten years time
Chorus
Canseco told Mitchell while on the Exxon Valdez
'I can make you millions, help you throw 93
'Bob Heise'd been Jim Rice if he knew what I know'
And there's never been a low as low as Canseco."

Words and music by Peter Gammons...

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Christmas is over and it's time for the Minnesota Wild to get new uniforms.

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If MSG gets a tax break, I should get a tax break.

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In case you missed it the other night against Denver, the Phoenix Suns shot 20-31 from three-point range and beat the Nuggets 137-115. Shawn Marion blocked six shots.

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The candidates are trying to compete in the various primaries and must stay fit. Here's how Barack Obama does it, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Ex-Duke athlete and 'good people person' Reggie Love helps keep senator fit, fed and hydrated on trail
By John McCormick

Reggie Love makes sure the water bottle is always full, the PowerBars are stocked and that the boss gets out of bed on time for his daily exercise regimen.

The former football and basketball player at Duke University is what presidential campaigns call a "body man."

Every major candidate has one. Love, 25, has walked -- literally -- in Sen. Barack Obama's shadow since February, acting as something of a traveling valet to make sure the Illinois Democrat's personal needs are met.

He snaps photos when supporters ask that their picture be taken with the candidate, makes sure there is always a Sharpie marker at the ready for autographs and keeps the candidate's favorite music loaded on the iPod.

Love also plays basketball with the candidate whenever they can squeeze in a game. And no, he says, he never lets the boss win on purpose.

"There is nothing worse than losing to Barack Obama," Love said Wednesday as he waited for Obama to finish a fundraiser at a home in Tiburon. "You never hear the end of it."

A top receiver on Duke's football team and a member of its 2001 national championship basketball team, Love does not fit the stereotype of the young Washington geek who typically fills the body man role.

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