Mid-Week Musings

-I'm guessing Brad Lidge would rather see Charles Manson standing at home plate than Albert Pujols about now. Lidge doesn't even have the odds working for him in his confrontations with Sir Albert. What were the odds that Albert would even come up in last night's 9th inning...let alone deliver another game winning hit? It seems like it's just a matter of when and how A.P. will get that hit...not if...when Lidge is pitching. The Astros closer went into that prolonged slump earlier this year, which many attributed to the self-image after-effects of the Pujols moon-shot in last year's playoffs. You have to wonder how well Mr. Lidge slept in his St. Louis hotel room last night...and how, when, or if he will get his confidence back this time. We might start calling him Ledge...as in what he's about to jump off of.

-I see it only took about a week for Katie Couric's CBS Evening News to fall back into the number three spot in the ratings. It's not a surprise to me that a lot of people would sample Katie's broadcast...and then when they found that it's not that different from their former favorite...revert back to original habits. Katie is fine at what she does. But old habits die hard...especially when you're competing against old hands Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson. Just ask the Channel 4 people who have been trying to get St. Louisans out of their Channel 5 habit for the last umpty-three years.

-The ice is ready at The Mills. Blues training camp should be interesting. It starts Friday. Too bad that Vladimir Orszagh will have surgery on his troublesome knee. He figured to be a major part of the offense. But, John Davidson will bring in Radek Dvorak, another talented European, to fill the hole. Dvorak had 28 points in 64 regular-season games with the Edmonton Oilers last year. Not great numbers...but he's thought to be a good skills guy. I will be stopping by practice a few times and share my impressions here.

-Being a member of performers union AFTRA for my free-lance work, I have been asked, along with all members, to share my thoughts with our members of congress about the negative effects of ownership consolidation on the broadcast industry. Boy, where do I begin? Less jobs, lesser standards for on-air types, less service to the community of license...and that's just the beginning. My career experience taken me down all those roads. Even more relaxation in the rules of ownership by the FCC is potentially around the corner. Hard to believe anybody could believe that could be a good thing.

-Meredith Vieira debuted on the Today show this morning. She said it was like "her first day of school". As I recall, the first day of school was pretty exciting, interesting, and fun. I hope she realizes that her contract will require her to put in a "full school year". And, that 3am wake-up calls are not fun, no matter what school you're attending. I don't have any pre-conceived notions about how well Ms. Vieira will do on Today...but it's always difficult being the first to follow a legend. The second and third person to try to fill those shoes usually does a better job.

-A few weeks ago I expressed surprise at the fact that Jessica Simpson would go out with John Mayer. They didn't seem to be in the same league. Then, we hear that he dumped her allegedly because he thought she was using him to generate publicity for her new CD. Good for him if it's true. It does seem that he might have a better handle on reality than the young lady. I saw her perform on the Today show several days ago. Looked like she was high on something...and it wasn't life.