Can you smell it?

Fire up the fryers. Plug in the pizza ovens. Start simmering the soup. Stock up on soda.

Football is here.

We welcome aboard Tim Demko for netcast play-by-play, and Chuck Kutz as an analyst on our broadcast games.

Don't forget that the netcasts are archived for playback anytime afterwards.

Then, hear all the scores on Goal Line on Friday nights at 9:45PM, then on Sports Saturday at 9:00AM on WPPA and WPPAradio.com.

Oh yeah, TD Tips is back at 5:45PM on Fridays on WPPA... Herbie won last year for the umpteenth time. C'mon guys... do I have to come back so that someone can beat him?

Now for my predictions... for entertainment purposes only.

Wyomissing vs. Pottsville: I don't mind if I'm wrong on this one... Wyomissing 14, Pottsville 12

Tri-Valley vs. Schuylkill Haven: Tough game to open with... TV 20, Haven 17

Whitehall vs. Blue Mountain: BM will finish with a winning record, but this is a tough first test... Whitehall 26, BM 13

Minersville vs. Williams Valley: Miners will improve this year... WV can run. WV 21, Miners 14

Shenandoah Valley vs. North Schuylkill: New QB's on both sides... NS 23, SV 6

Panther Valley vs. Mahanoy Area: I see another deep playoff run for PV this year... PV 29, Mahanoy Area 14

Tamaqua vs. Jim Thorpe: I'm interested to see how both teams reload... this was a dandy last year. Tamaqua 28, JT 20

Marian vs. Lehighton: Marian is hungry... Marian 30, Lehighton 19

Northern Lebanon vs. Pine Grove: PG needs to establish an offense early... PG 14, NL 7

Nativity vs. Freedom Village: Back to St. Clair for the Green Wave... Nativity 21, FV 13

Penn State vs. Youngstown State: Bundle up, only gonna be 70 on Curtin Road... PSU 45, YSU 10

Please help my friends at WVIA...

Every Tuesday in April, go to Wendy's between 5-8pm, and 10% of the proceeds go to WVIA.

This fundraiser is held at the Wendy's in Pottsville, Shamokin, Bloomsburg, Danville, Drums, Hazleton, Hummels Wharf, Lewisburg, and Wilkes-Barre. It is also being held at Wendy's in Clarks Summit, Dallas, Dickson City, Dunmore, East Stroudsburg, Edwardsville, Honesdale, Lock Haven, Matamoras, Montoursville, Mount Pocono, Pittston, Scranton, Towanda, and Williamsport.

Thanks for helping my dear friends at WVIA.

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Big Ben, stay home. Club it up all you want after you retire.

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Phil Mickelson is better than Tiger Woods, in more ways than one. This past weekend proved it.

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The Phillies won their opener and their home opener. Too bad they don't play the Nationals every other series the rest of the year.

Buckle up,
TS

I goofed...

Daylight Time begins on March 14th, not March 7th like I had printed in the T102 calendars.

And yes, March has 31 days.

I shoulda hadda V8.

Buckle up,
TS

The newest inductee into the Apology Hall of Fame

MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann has an Apology Hall of Fame... filled with inductees ranging from all walks of life... from Mark McGwire to Eliot Spitzer.

Enter, Eldrick.

I'm sorry that T-102 thankfully didn't participate in what I'm calling, "I'm Sorry Friday." Everywhere I turned on TV today was the teaser for Tiger's apology. Just about everyone was boasting of its coverage of this made-for-TV event.

I didn't watch it... when I saw it on a TV here in the building, I turned away. I already knew what the message was going to be. I've seen it all-too-often, and I've said those same things all-too-often. Trust me, I'm no angel.

Can we trust Tiger like he was? I dunno. When you see Kobe Bryant on TV, do you think of his run-in with something similar 7 years ago? When you see Ray Lewis on TV, do you think of what he went through the year before he won the Super Bowl MVP? When you see Eliot Spitzer on CNBC, or former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey, do you think about their escapades in the headlines?

Only time will tell how Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public perceive Tiger from here on in. There will be those who want to hear every sordid, tedious detail. There will be the crowd who will tell him what Dr. Phil likes to say, "You choose the behavior, you choose the consequences." When he decides to return to the PGA, there will be rowdy fans who will remind him of his transgressions.

I don't envy the guy one bit. He has more weight on his shoulders than every single government official and school board member combined. I do object to the timing of his statement today... some are overanalyzing how he's sticking it to Accenture ( a sponsor that dropped him as a spokesperson) by doing this during their sponsored event this week.

Yes, he should have done this much earlier. But, he's living his life now the way his uber-bloated PR machine wants him to. Must be nice. Boy, I wish had that machine with me every time I screwed up here at the station, or when I made my Mom angry.

I can't wait til the day that Tiger removes the veil of secrecy and gobs of red tape, and just opens totally up. I doubt that'll happen, but more of America would accept him as a human being, rather than someone who is more teflon than tin cup god. I remember back in 1999, when the Greaseman made an off-color remark on radio about African-Americans, got fired from his job in Washington DC, then went on local TV. I'll never forget the short clip I saw... it was the angriest I ever saw WRC-TV's Jim Vance, who is African-American. "What the hell were you thinkin'?" spewed Vance. Greaseman's answer was simple... "I wasn't." I'd love to see Vance interview Tiger one-on-one, no holds barred, no PR people... just Vance, Tiger, and a camera. I know it won't happen, but I can dream, can't I?

It'll be a good 36 hours before this news gets moved to the back burner. Then, he'll be front and center again when he returns, Masters or otherwise... and I'll be changing the channel.

Buckle up,
TS

"A thing of value"

Hello to you.

This may be one of the angriest blogs I've written. If you've had a bad day, read this later. It won't cheer you up.

If you've followed TV news, and the ever-increasing folly that is Luzerne County politics, you've seen a seemingly-endless parade of government officials get caught doing something illegal.

I haven't blogged about it, I just shook my head and put on WGAL... that way, I know I wouldn't have to watch any news about it.

Today, the biggest figure of all this (literally and figuratively) submitted a guilty plea. Former Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak admitted his guilt in illegally accepting "a thing of value, namely $5,000," quoting the charges. Simply put, bribery.

Have we finally reached the caboose of this crazy train? Beats me.

The count is somewhere above two dozen now... the number of people who are in trouble because of these illegal actions. You can also associate those people who replaced the resigned who are also in trouble, too... now we're somewhere around 30.

I know two of them.

Skrep is the most famous.

He graduated from GAR, my alma mater. I admired him as a great football player, and a kid who was full of potential. He was a starter at Michigan, then with the Raiders and Carolina Panthers. He came home, dabbled in local media and politics, and was ultimately elected Luzerne County Commissioner.

Sadly, there he is pleading guilty in a courtroom today. Ironically, his attorney was an altar boy with me back in the day.

I read the plea agreement and charges online... it sent a chill through my body when I saw his signature on the plea. It was the same signature that was part of my autograph collection.

Here's what pains me about all this, and angers me to a degree.

#1 How the hell do you think you could get away with it? You hold a public position, live in the public eye, and know that if you screw up, you're gonna get pounced on. There ain't any shoulder pads that can stand up to this amount of piling on.

#2 How did you break it to your family? All of these people have families. I could never face mine knowing that I let them down.

It hasn't been a easy 30-day stretch for me... one idol dies, another's going to the hooscow, two cousins passed away, a boyhood friend was seriously hurt in the Middle East, and a few other hardships among friends.

I'm thankful that my parents, teachers, friends and bosses molded me the way they did...

Bottom line... if it's illegal, don't do it, you'll get caught eventually.

I'm done ranting. I feel better. Always find an avenue to release your pent-up frustration... never leave it bottled up. There's always someone who will listen to you, whether you know them or not. Don't believe me? You probably don't know me, and you just read this. See, it works. Have a pleasant day.

Buckle up,
TS

A la carte, please, Comcast?

I'm not as happy as I used to be with the selection of channels I'm getting with my $57.80/month I pay to Comcast. I have no need for the digital package, even though I really miss Game Show Network and would like to watch NFL Network in the comfort of my home.

Last I saw I wasn't allowed to get a dish, so it's cable or nothing (rabbit ears don't work anymore).

Last month, we were stripped of Fox 29 without explanation. My guess is because Fox is threatening to charge cable systems for carrying their stations, instead of the long-running practice of offering free transmission of broadcast affiliates. It's something like what led Shen-Heights to not carry WBRE and WYOU because the station owners wanted transmission fees.

Here's what I would like offered to us on our cable menu...

1. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton stations: WNEP, WBRE, WYOU, WOLF, WSWB, WQMY, WVIA. I would also like to see WYLN Hazleton in there, too.

2. No New York stations... aside from 10 or so Yankees games, do we need WWOR? We used to get Fox5 and WPIX, but they also got dropped along the way.

3. More Philly/Harrisburg stations... at least one more, and make it a CBS. We have 2 NBC, 2 ABC, 2 CW, and 2 MyNetwork affiliates. Why not another CBS, like KYW CBS3 Philly or WHP CBS21 Harrisburg? And if the WYOU brass complains, drop WYOU, because they no longer have local news. Definitely keep WGAL, MyPHL17 and WPVI. WLYH doesn't offer me much anymore.

4. I don't need 4 shopping channels.

5. Keep the government channels & news networks... we all need a good laugh every now and then. Keep Comedy Central and TVLand... we all need a good laugh every now and then.

6. If you're gonna put something on channel 11 (where Fox29 was), put WFMZ there. They do mention Schuylkill County in a lot of their newscasts.

7. Just about everything else is okay, but let me pick and choose what I want. I'm hardly home, and I stick to the staples when I watch... the local channels, ESPN, CNN, and the Weather Channel.

For my $57.80/month ($4 of which goes to local government), let me choose 40 channels, broadcast or cable, and I'll shut up and enjoy. I'll take four ESPNs (1,2,U, and Classic), CSN Philly, FSN Pittsburgh, MASN & MASN2, NFL, Weather Channel, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, Food Network, PCN, CSPAN 1 & 2, GSN, E!, CNBC, ABC Family, Nick, TV Land, Comedy Central, TVG, HRTV, and 14 locals... WNEP, WBRE, WOLF, WSWB, WQMY, WVIA, WGAL, WHP, KYW, WITF, WPVI, WFMZ, WYLN, and KDKA Pittsburgh.

Buckle up,
TS

Losing a career influence...

Depending on who and where you are, names mean different things to you. This is true especially when there a two prominent people with the same name. Perfect example is Adrian Peterson. One is the Vikings' running back, the other is the Bears' running back. There was a successful pro bowler, and a popular actor, both named Don Johnson.

When I say George Michael, you probably think of the lead singer of Wham! However, if you're from the Washington DC Metro, Philadelphia, New York City, or anybody in radio or TV, George Michael is an icon.

George was the #1 radio personality in Philadelphia at WFIL from 1966-1974. He replaced Cousin Bruce Morrow at WABC New York, and was #1 from 1974-1979. In the latter part of his time at WABC, he was also a weekend sportscaster at WABC-TV. He then moved to Washington DC's NBC affiliate, and had a magnificent 27-year run, as a sportscaster and host of "The George Michael Sports Machine."

I first saw him on the Sports Machine in 1984. While visiting my uncle's in 1989, I remember listening to Don & Mike on WAVA radio, and George did a sports segment every day. I watched him on his sports report and was captivated. Being the pack rat that I was/am, I taped his sportscasts any chance I got.

I had the privilege of being invited to an Orioles game in Baltimore in 1998, in a luxury box. When I found out the TV could pick up, George's sports report, I was glued to it.

I faithfully watched the Sports Machine, the last 8 years of which I watched on WGAL.

It pained me when NBC started slashing budgets and wanted to cut more than half of George's sports department. Instead of cutting those positions, including his wife's, he opted to step away. His last sportscast was 3/1/07.

One listen or one view of George Michael, and you knew he was on top of his game every single time. He was a legendary demander of perfection. He never settled for anything less than the best.

When I first learned that George was on radio before TV, and started to listen to tapes of his old show. I knew I wanted to be just like him. I never could replicate his signature voice or endless enthusiasm, but I've tried on a few occasions on the Party Zone.

I e-mailed George when he retired, wishing him luck, and showing him the blog post I made that day. Four months later, he replied. Some of his comments included, "I want to thank you for the very kind note... Thanks for the posting. What a memory trip! George Michael".

Now, it's my turn to say thank you for the memory trip.

George passed away yesterday morning. He had been quietly suffering from leukemia for the last two years. Radio and TV has lost a legend. I lost the guy who is a huge career influence. I repeat what a lot of my colleagues and fellow media members say... there will never be another George.

He lives on in our memories and in tapes and videos of his work. There are plenty of YouTube postings, as well as airchecks on MusicRadio77.com, Famous56.com, and Reelradio.com.

George leaves his wife, two children, and a large amount of fans... me and a few of us here at the station included.

God Bless You, George, and thank you.
TS