Jimmy Connors and Gloria Connors

I've been meaning to note the passing of Jimmy Connors mother, Gloria Connors, on Monday, January 8, 2007...The St. Louis Post Dispatch had a very nice obituary in their Jan. 10 editions, which you can access by clicking here...I have nothing but admiration for Jimmy Connors, based upon the two years I worked as publicist for his Champions Tennis Tour (June 1995 through January 1997)...Others have their own opinions, but he was always great in his dealings with me, and I am sorry for his loss...

Ernest Borgnine

I've always been amazed at how many memorable (to me) movies Ernest Borgnine has been in...Believe it or not, last week he celebrated his 90th birthday...The Associated Press did a great interview with Borgnine that you can read here...Just off the top of my head, here's a few of the movies I enjoyed Borgnine in -- Disney's The Black Hole...the original Poseideon Adventure...Bad Day at Black Rock...From Here to Eternity...Marty...A Catered Affair (with Bette Davis, believe it or not)...Most of the time he was "the heavy," or the bad guy, never very sympathetic (kind of like the late Jack Palance, come to think of it)...Glad to see he's still working...Rumor has it he owns a home in Chester County, PA near my old Malvern stomping grounds (because his wife is on QVC a lot)...Happy Birthday, Ernie!

Philly Sports Writers Assoc. Dinner

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, yours truly was a regular attendee of the annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Banquet...I even helped nominate a couple award winners along the way, and always looked forward to the yearly gathering of top pro, college and high school athletes along with the sports media people I had come to know...In 1995, when I left Villanova Athletics in the wake of my two-year servitude to the Carpetbagger, I continued to attend, and continued to remain active as a member...In the late 1990s, though, as my world continued to evolve, and in the early 21st Century with my marriage, the dinner and the association seemed to fall away from my mind...Until recently...Earlier this month, I attended the first regular membership meeting of the group in many, many moons, and tonight I went to the banquet, along with my lovely bride, a fellow Wildcat alumnus of my acquaintance, and a current JHD Enterprises client and friend...What a nice time, and how thrilling it was to re-acquaint myself with some of the great people I've met through the years...Scott Palmer (now with the Phillies)...Tom Burgoyne, the Phillies Phanatics best friend...Mike Kern and Bill Fleishman of the Philadelphia Daily News...Ron Corbin and Jeff Asch of KYW Newsradio...Joe Juliano of the Inquirer...Larry Shenk of the Phillies...Key Ex-VU SID's Jim Murray and Ted Wolff...Former Villanova trainer Fran Raggazzino...St. Joseph's AD Dom DiJulia...and "Uncle Marty" Stern, the great Wildcat track coach I worked so closely with during the late 80s and early 1990s...As I write this, I've been home about two hours, but I'm still thrilled to have seen so many old friends...and even more thrilled that I was able to introduce them to my wife!...It was also great to see and hear Harry Kalas, Joe Conklin, Ryan Howard, Chris Coste and others in attendance to receive awards, and see a room fill up with fans and friends of all the great teams in the region...Didn't get to say hi to Howard Eskin, but he saw us a few weeks ago in Rittenhouse Square so he's probably sick of us...I definitely plan on going back next year, and maybe resuming what had been an annual tradition for me that went from the mid-80s to the mid-90s...And just think, pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater February 15th! Wah-hoo!

Lucky at Cards by Lawrence Block

Coming on sale January 30th is the newest Hard Case Crime Paperback, "Lucky at Cards" by Lawrence Block...I cannot resist the Hard Case Crime Paperback series, with their incredible cover artwork and amazing writing...This one, which was a gift to me from the publisher's before Christmas as a contest prize, is a doozy...A gambler who's a bit down on his luck lands in a small town, starts winning at small-time poker games, meets a "dame," gets a job, and then gets embroiled in a scheme cooked up by his boss's wife...Sex, murder, cards, alcohol...Who could ask for more? Lawrence Block is a classic writer -- this book is being published again for the 1st time in 40 years...I encourage you to spend the approximately $7 and a few hours and pick up this book...For more info, check out http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk28.

I've bought all the books published over the past two years (I'm missing two!) and am always on the lookout for the next book -- I can't wait for February! My other favorites so far include: The Peddler by Richard Prather; Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas; and Grave Descend by John Lange (who is really Michael Crichton!). The cover artwork is beautiful, reminiscent of those crime paperbacks we used to sneak peeks at at the drugstore in Trenton -- in my case, Robbin's Pharmacy or Lee's Pharmacy -- and sometimes were lucky enough to find in the stacks at the Mercer County Library...It was only later in life, when I was on the road with basketball, etc., that I started picking up Mickey Spillane paperbacks to keep me company when I would have dinner by myself...Now that I'm a happily married man, I don't read much over dinner (!) but I do enjoy the Hard Case Crime books intensely...Which my wife smilingly indulges (Thank you!).

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I remember when the congressional motions to dedicate the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a National holiday were at their height, with the promises that his birthday would never be trivialized...Which strikes me as all the more remarkable when you hear radio and television advertising (especially in Philadelphia, with a blessedly ethnically diverse population) for Martin Luther King Day Weekend Sales at car dealers, carpet stores, clothing and furniture stores...Is it only a matter of time before we see actors portraying Dr. King, a la those who portray George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on commercials for President's Day Weekend, pushing cars, furniture, carpets and other essentials that can only be appreciated during a three-day weekend...

Thursday's on NBC

Once again, Thursday night's NBC lineup is starting to keep me smiling -- at least until 10 p.m. when I turn the TV off..."My Name is Earl" was a little too predictable this time out -- I was hoping for "My Name is Tim Stack, TV's Notch Johnson" somewhere along the way..."The Office" shook up the lineup a little bit by making us worry about Dwight (!)...And "30 Rock" just gets funnier and funnier...With just a trace of the kind of thing we loved about "Arrested Development"...Switch out the "Tracy Jordan Meat Machine" for "George Bluth's Cornballer" and you wonder if a GE subsidiary was working with the Bluth Company...Now if only Jeffrey Tambor could get a show that might stick around!

DeLorenzo's Dugout The Next Generation

It had to happen sooner or later -- so here we are -- January 11 2007, the start of the DeLorenzo's Dugout web log (God, I hate the "buzzword" -- BLOG!). This will give me an opportunity to update the Dugout on a more timely basis without losing the past 10 years of activity and content on the Dugout. Think of it as Dugout 3.0 -- 1.0 was my original Dugout on America Online (!) that I started in 1996...2.0 was the launch of the DeLorenzo's Dugout web site in 1997-1998, and the variations since then...Thank you for visiting, and I promise more to come. Until Brian Westbrook gets a post-dated Heisman Trophy for his Villanova University college football career, I'll see you in the stands!