Rams' rookie camp begins today

Sam Bradford looks good in horns, does he not?

Photo courtesy of Stltoday.com.

Ottawa Senators Season Post-Mortem - Part 1 - The Heatley Saga

What a long, strange season it’s been…

The Ottawa Senators 2009/10 campaign came to a sudden halt on Saturday night when Pascal Dupuis whipped a one-timer past Pascale Leclaire at 10:04 of OT, giving the defending champion Penguins a six game series win over a scrappy and undermanned Senators squad.

The season story began to take form in auspicious fashion during the off-season with star winger Dany Heatley’s demand to be traded. The circumstances that motivated his request remain a mystery, but the fact that the demand was made public coupled with Heatley’s no trade clause left Sens GM Bryan Murray in a completely untenable position in seeking an equitable return for Heatley.

Murray’s objective was to move Heatley by the time the free agency signing period opened on July 1st, ideally at the entry draft in June. His reasoning was twofold. Firstly, it would allow him to immediately pursue a replacement when free agency opened and, secondly, Heatley was due a $4M advance on his 09/10 salary at midnight on July 1st. There was much speculation that Heatley would be traded on draft day, but it wasn’t to be. As the clock struck noon on July 1st and the free agent frenzy began, Heatley remained a Sen while other teams snapped up the prized FA’s.

As the day wore on, word broke that the Sens had a deal in place with the Oilers. The trade, announced by several media outlets (complete with player names), was pending Heatley’s approval. At literally the 11th hour, he decided to sleep on it, stating that it wouldn’t be fair for his new team to absorb the $4M “bonus” he was owed from the Senators. So from that point on, the Senators were on the hook for half of his salary for the coming season.

Of course, Heatley never did waive his NTC for Edmonton. Bryan Murray was informed that the expectation had been that Heatley would be offered several options and would choose the one that suited him best. Rumours ran rampant over the course of the summer, but Heatley remained a Sen. With the free agent pool thinned considerably, Murray and owner Eugene Melnyk finally entered the fray, inking uber skilled but enigmatic Russian winger Alex Kovalev to a two year $10M deal. In the meantime, Heatley had become persona non grata not only in Ottawa, but with fanbases throughout the NHL. The heavy handed tactics of he and his agents culminated in Heatley being booed at the Team Canada Olympic orientation camp held in his hometown of Calgary in August.

With the off-season drawing to a close, and still no deal in place, Heatley was obligated to report to training camp in Sept. It proved to be a short-lived stay. Following a heated meeting with Bryan Murray, Heatley was shipped to the San Jose Sharks the next day in exchange for forwards Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo, and a 2nd round draft pick. It was far from the return that Sens fans had dreamed of all summer, but the team was finally in a position to structure its roster for the long season that lay ahead.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!!!

My lovely wife turns 40 today and I want to wish her the happiest of birthdays.  Barb, you make my life so much better, so much more meaningful and so much more complete.  Here's to many more birthdays together.  I love you!!!

Sam The Ram

A good night with the NFL draft

The Rams did what everyone expected and selected Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford with the first overall pick.  This is the player I wanted the Rams to pick so I am happy.  Best of all I got to spend the evening with my brother Doug, who is also a draftnik.  We had a great time predicting and analyzing the picks and trying to figure out who may be there for the Rams next selection.  Since he runs his own business we don't see a lot of each other, so it was really nice to get to spend the evening with him.  Now it's on to rounds 2 & 3 tomorrow.  The Rams may do a little dealing down with their first pick in order to stockpile some more, which is a good strategy as long as they still will be able to get one of the players they have targeted in round 2.  We'll see tomorrow.

Kroenke breaks his silence: Rams would remain in St. Louis

Bernie Miklasz is the finest sports reporter in St. Louis.  He is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and I shudder to think what the sports coverage in the area would be like without him.  He digs deep and is relentless in breaking the big stories that matter to the St. Louis sports fan.  If you have been a reader of Memory Almost Full for a while, you may recall that Miklasz was the first to break the story that the Rams had hired Steve Spagnuolo as their new head coach, despite the fact that no one else thought it was happening and that several other "sources" had already reported that Dallas assistant Jason Garrett had the job.

I mention this because Miklasz has done it again.  At a time when virtually every Rams' fan in St. Louis was in a serious panic over the silence of Stan Kroenke and what that might mean to the future of the Rams in St. Louis, Miklasz was the one who was able to get "Silent" Stan to open up and put our worries to rest.  Trust me when I say this was no easy feat; Kroenke is notorious for remaining in the shadows and staying out of the spotlight.  The fact that he had not mentioned St. Louis at all in his press release announcing that he intended to to become the majority owner of the Rams created high anxiety all over the region and his subsequent silence during the following week had people virtually certain he was plotting a Rams' move to Los Angeles.  With the draft coming Thursday and the Rams owning the 1st pick overall, it was all a huge rain cloud on what should have been a time when Rams' fans were gearing up for a fresh start and a new era.  With the help of Mr. Miklasz, that cloud has been lifted.

The following is an excerpt from Miklasz's column.  Click anywhere on the excerpt to be taken to the full article:

If Stan Kroenke gains NFL approval in his quest to purchase the Rams, he vows to do everything he can to secure the team's long-term future in St. Louis.

In his first interview since announcing that he'd exercised an option to match businessman Shahid Khan's bid for the available 60 percent of the team, Kroenke broke his customary silence in an attempt to reassure Rams fans of his positive intentions.

"I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis," Kroenke said in a phone interview Tuesday night. "Just as I did everything that I could to bring the team to St. Louis in 1995. I believe my actions speak for themselves."


Kroenke said, "I'll do my damnedest," to secure the Rams' future in St. Louis.

During our interview, Kroenke's passion was striking. Kroenke doesn't speak out often — but in this instance, his words carried weight.

Been a little busy...

Sorry the blogging has flagged as of late.  I have had my hands full with stuff at home both mundane and meaningful.  As I posted earlier, we got our son Zach off to basic training in the Air Force.  He has called a couple of times but just to relay that he arrived and to leave his address.  It is very strange knowing he is there and wondering what he is going through.  He is on our minds constantly.  We are really looking forward to attending his graduation when that arrives sometime in June.  In the meantime, he is in our thoughts and prayers and we hope this is a good path that he has chosen.

I would also like to thank Barb and Jess for all they have done lately.  They threw me one heck of a birthday party and they have just been terrific.  Barb has earned major kudos at work.  She is doing an exceptional job and that has been recognized.  I am tremendously proud of her for everything she does, here and at work.  You're the best, Sweetie!

I am in the midst of deciding on a home theater surround sound system.  I have been doing a lot of searching and I have settled upon what I want.  It's just that it is not available yet and may not be until mid June.  In the meantime there is almost an identical system available that I seriously tempted with.  Both support HDMI 1.4 so if that becomes the new standard with 3D TVs and such I will be all set.  The yet-to-arrive-model is a 7.1 system while the other is 5.1.  Honestly, 5.1 would be fine by me.  Even if I get the 7.1 system, I may only set it up as 5.1 given the size of my theater room.  The real reason I am holding out (so far) is that the system that is already available has only 3 HDMI inputs while the other has 4.  Currently I only need 3 (Xbox 360, PS3 and Digital HD cable TV) but I'd like to have an extra just in case the need would ever arise.  Maybe I am being silly there, I don't know.  The The yet-to-be-released set also comes with an iPod dock that works with iPhones, so that's cool as well.  We'll see how long I can hold out waiting for the other system to become available.

Gaming-wise I haven't been playing much.  When I do get time I have been playing Just Cause 2, which is too fun for words, and MLB 10: The Show.  Just Cause 2 is the ultimate sandbox game.  You can lay waste to anything and everything and then deal with the consequences.  It is by no means perfect but I am having more fun with this game than I ever had with a Grand Theft Auto title.  There is so much to do it is unreal.  In The Show meantime, little John Schmaltz is tearing it up in AA ball for the Red Sox affiliate.  He could get a call up to AAA at any time.  Once again, The Show is where it's at as far as baseball is concerned.

Lastly I have spent far too much time worrying about the St. Louis Rams.  Anyone that knows me know that I am a complete draft-aholic and I have been keeping up with all that as usual.  But just when it seemed as though the team was going to be sold to Shahid Khan, who is very keen on making things work in St. Louis, minority owner Stan Kroenke has decided to try to break NFL rules and buy the team outright.  The rules state that since Kroenke owns 2 other sports teams (the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche) in a city with an NFL team, he cannot own those 2 teams and and NFL team at the same time.  The thought is that he would be competing for the sports dollars in Denver against a fellow NFL owner.  It's a convoluted rule, but it has been in place for a while and there seemed no chance it was going to be lifted for Kroenke.  But he made the play anyway, so he must have something up his sleeve.

First of all, I feel very bad for Khan, who stepped up when this city needed him to.  Secondly, despite Kroenke owning 40% of the team since their arrival in St. Louis, there is no guarantee that he is committed to keeping the team here.  The stadium lease deal will likely be voided in 2014 (a long story) and Kroenke can do whatever he wants with the team.  When he announced he had matched the offer to buy the Rams, he made not a single mention of the city of St. Louis.  He is from Missouri, but he is a billionaire business man with homes all over the place, including Malibu, California.  Who says the city of Los Angeles doesn't get their massive stadium built and Kroenke is free to go wherever he wants after 2014, which would be right around the time the stadium is completed.  Sound crazy?  Perhaps, but even the local media is wary.

I am just sick to death of uncertain ownership issues (which couldn't have come at a worse time, right before the draft) and having to worry about whether this team will remain in St. Louis for the long haul.  There shouldn't be this sort of anxiety and uncertainty year in and year out for a team that has been welcomed here with open arms.  At the very least, Khan was hoping to be approved in May.  Now with this latest development, we won't know what's going to happen for a much longer time.  More uncertainty.  And even if Kroenke gets the team, the future may not be in St. Louis.

As someone who has been a die-hard Rams' fan since they arrived in St. Louis, I am just about fed up.  This is the most dysfunctional sports team I have ever seen, and I lived through the Blues era when they were thought to be moving to Saskatoon.  This team never gets anything right.  Other than a glorious 5 year run from 1999-2003, this has been the very worst NFL team in the league.  The last 3 years have set a new league record in futility with a 6-42 record.  Not only do we have to endure record-setting bad football, but all under the threat that the team could pick up and leave if that's what the owner wishes.

Rant off and good night!

Happy Birthday Jim!!!

For those of his loyal readers (either of you) not in the know, today is Jim’s birthday! I won’t reveal his age, but let’s just say he’s no longer in his “early” 40’s – roughly 6.3 dog years for the mathematicians in the crowd.

I don’t know what it is about Jim’s birth date that I find so difficult to remember. And it’s not like I don’t have a memory for numbers either – I can remember my dentist’s phone number for cryin’ out loud! Ever helpful, Jim once told me the easiest way to remember his birthday is that it’s the same date the Titanic sank and Lincoln was assassinated (though, as it turns out, those events occurred in completely different years). Perfect! Now that’s something I could remember. The next year when I couldn’t remember his birthday, I simply googled Titanic, only to learn that while it struck the iceberg on April 14th, it didn’t actually sink until the early hours of the 15th. Undaunted, I cross-referenced with Lincoln’s assassination and, you guessed it, dude was shot on the 14th and didn’t expire until the 15th. How freakin’ weird is that?! Apparently there’s a third indicator, but I couldn’t remember it then, and still can’t. Anyhow, I was a day late with Jim’s birthday wishes that year. I obviously finally have it straight (thanks to the birthday calendar hanging in our bathroom), but it was waaaay more complicated than it needed to be.

Jim would have you believe that my dysfunctional memory is a by-product of being kicked in the head by a mule at birth...in a manger no less. But since today isn’t about me, I’ll neither confirm nor deny. I prefer to deal in fact as opposed to rank speculation and/or outright fabrication anyway, so here’s a little tidbit that provides a glimpse into Jim’s “development”. In his younger days, Jim was an inquisitive lad, always eager to learn or try something new. One day, he wondered what would happen if he stuck his head in a bucket of swimming pool chlorine and inhaled deeply. It knocked him cold. He was only 36 years old at the time. Three years later, he emerged from the coma a changed man – the man we all know and love today. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Glory (Blu-ray)

Glory is one of those films that I consider a sentimental favourite. It doesn’t rank in the upper echelon of my all-time faves, but it’s a film that I like to revisit from time to time and enjoy thoroughly every time I watch it. Sure it treads perilously close to melodrama at times, aided and abetted by James Horner’s soaring score, but this is rare case where I allow myself to succumb to the emotional manipulations of the story, and it chokes me up every time. Highlighted by stellar performances from Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, exquisite cinematography, and the stirring story of the Civil War’s first all black regiment, Glory is essential viewing for any film lover.

I was really excited to discover that Glory was now available on Blu-ray and anxious about how great it might look and sound. Unfortunately, the news is not all good. The video transfer is generally quite good, but doesn’t come close to approaching the best the format has to offer. Bright scenes exhibit well saturated colour and fine detail. However, in many mid to lower lit sequences there is abundant grain, colours are sometimes washed out, and shadow detail is severely lacking. Fortunately, none of these issues infiltrate the climactic and spectacularly filmed assault on Ft. Wagner, much of which takes place at night, the action illuminated by flares and cannon fire.

The 5.1 HD Audio track is a similarly mixed bag. Glory is a surprisingly dialogue intensive war film, and the center channel track is much thinner and weaker than it should be. Things wake up a little as the mains and surrounds kick in, but the overall presentation lacks the clarity and separation that I’ve become accustomed to with BD’s. The three battle scenes are suitably cacophonic with immersive surround activity, though bass response is not nearly as solid or extended as I expected it to be, and that ranks as a real disappointment given all the cannon fire involved.

It’s easy to recommend Glory as a film, but much harder to recommend this Blu-ray release. It stands as a worthwhile upgrade for the dedicated fan, but not nearly as good as it could have been.

Swart AST Pro - First Impressions

Well, my Swart AST Pro has arrived. Picked it up in NY yesterday AM and spent the afternoon playing it in tandem with the Tone King Meteor.

It's pretty much as advertised - good reverb and trem, not much headroom, a base tone that's woody/smokey, very much in the Fender tweed camp.

I started by replacing the stock tubes with NOS across the board. Stuck with a 5AR4 rectifier and 6V6GT's. It wasn't long before I pulled the 6V6's for a pair of NOS Tung Sol 5881's (lower power 6L6's). That added a little more headroom but still not too much, and I dialed it in from there, fussing with settings and inputs as I went along.

You really have to work to get nice clean tones at any kind of volume. My go to pedal combo to emulate Blackface cleans is the Keeley Java Boost -> Catalinbread Silver Kiss, and it usually works incredibly well, but less so here. This little amp just wants to overdrive, and I quickly discovered that it's best to just let it go, that's where the real magic is.

The Swart really excels when it comes to crunchy rhythms and soaring leads. The sustain is effortless, it's just a matter of getting the high end dialed in just right, which I'm finding a little tricky at times (some interactivity going on here, I think). It responds well to all three pickup positions of my G&L Bluesboy, and every pedal I threw at it (the Greer Ghetto Stomp is an especially good match). It's a ton of fun to play when you're rocking out.

The sound is surprisingly big for a 1x12 in such a small enclosure, but the overall tonality is still a little boxy (one of the main knocks against the original AST). It's not so much noticable on its own, but became quite evident when I switched over to the Meteor sitting beside it. It's simply no contest - the Meteor sounds huge and far more open in comparison. Likewise, the much heralded Swart reverb doesn't hold a candle to the TK, though the trem fares much better head to head.

Comparisons aside, these two amps sound fantastic together, either seperately for rhythm and lead, or together. Running the Meteor clean or with just a bit of grit with the Swart overdriiving beside it sounds glorious, especially for edge of break up rhythm stuff.

Those are just first impressions based on a couple hours of play time, and there's lots of experimenting left to do. I'd like to try the 6V6's again, but this time matched with a 5Y3 rectifier (the traditional Tweed Deluxe setup). I have a 5751 sitting in V1, and may try another in V2 to see if that provides more headroom and open things up a little more. I also want to try the amp up off the floor where it has more room to breathe, and upstairs where there are more reflective surfaces to see how it sounds in that environment (I'm hoping to use it at kitchen and deck parties, which may also require a Swart Night Light attenuator).

The idea behind getting the Swart was as a very portable grab and go with onboard reverb and trem, and as a lead amp to complement the TK. It will certainly fill the bill as the latter, and I'm pretty sure that it will be well suited to the former as well.

Saying goodbye to Zach

Our oldest son Zach came by today for a belated Easter lunch.  My parents came over as well and we did the Easter egg hunt for the little kids.  Most important, it was the last time we will see Zach for quite a while.  He leaves today at 6 PM for a trip downtown where he will be sworn in as an Air Force recruit for the 2nd time.  He will spend the night in a hotel, then leave at 4:30 AM for boot camp in Texas.  Typically boot camp lasts 8 and 1/2 weeks, so we will not see him until he graduates at that time.  It was very hard saying goodbye.  Tears were shed not only for ourselves, but also for little John, who doesn't understand that his "Coco" is not going to be around anymore.

There is no doubt that Zach is doing the right thing for himself.  He is on his way to becoming a man and seeing what real life is all about.  We are very, very proud of him and will miss him very much.  I am looking so forward to his graduation and hearing stories about boot camp and his job training.

We love you with all of our hearts, Zach.  Make us proud, but more importantly, do yourself proud.

Love,
Dad, Mom, Jessica, Laurel & John