Time for my end of year recap.....

2007 was one of the best years ever to be a Boston sports fan. The Sox won the World Series (again!!!), the Patriots went 16-0 and are the odds on favorite to win the Superbowl, the Celtics are the best team in the NBA and BC had a great football team. When I tell my kids that we were the city of losers for years, they find it hard to believe. Oh yeah, then there's the Bruins who are falling apart right on cue....

Personally I had a good year, not great. I didn't achieve some of the goals I'd set for myself such as getting both books out into paperback nor did I manage to sell a screenplay (that one might have been a bit optimistic). Work went well however and I expect 2008 to be better not only on the writing but the work front.

I had a great year musically with some really fun gigs; though as I'd written before, I've left the band and moved in a different direction. After the new year, I'm gearing up to start jamming with some friends and see there's potential there.

The biggest and best news of all was everyone in the family remained healthy, despite pulling that damn trapezious muscle in my back again and the wife and kids getting into a bad accident totaling our car. No one was seriously hurt and I am now and forever a huge fan of Toyota for how safe that car was.

Can you believe this accident happened at under twenty-miles an hour?

We also added Boomer, a toy fox terrier, to the family. He's quickly made himself at home and likes to give Ginger a run for her money.

So what's on tap for 2008? Well, first thing is finding a new publisher for my books, finishing the third "Ronan Marino" novel, and seriously think about marketing my old screenplays. Musically I want to get into a new band and perhaps even get back to Florida to work on the originals.

For work, I'm hoping to make the big leap to the next level and to complete the senior level Air Force leadership course I've been taking since this past summer. I'll be traveling a lot more too after the holidays are over.

Family wise, we hope to be moving into a house where we can start to entertain; i.e. have a real back yard and hopefully a garage. That will most likely preclude any big vacations.

Yeah, there's plenty of more things I'm hoping to do but I won't bore you with the details....

Asterisks Fever!

Ever since Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's homerun record, America has been gripped by asterisks fever. While Bonds certainly doesn't deserve the record, in my opinion, people now want an asterisk on everything they don't like.

Take for instance the New England Patriots going 16-0. Many pundits claim they deserve an asterisks because of the whole "Spygate" controversey. You mean to tell me that because a team violates an NFL rule for eight minutes of their first game, it negates everything they've done for an entire season? Even stupider are the morons who claim the Superbowl victories deserve an asterisk. One clown of a Steelers fan even hired a plane to fly a banner over Gillette Stadium to proclaim that very same argument.

Personally, I think the league overreacted and the penalty against the Pats was excessive compared to past issues. For instance, when the Denver Broncos were found to have cheated on the salary cap to pay their two biggest stars, QB John Elway and running back Terrel Davis, the league fined them a second round pick. That clearly led to their being able to win the Superbowl but no one talks about an asterisk.

What about the 1972 Miami Dolphins? Did they not get fined by the league for tampering with then Baltimore coach Don Shula the previous season? Don't they too deserve an asterisk?

Hmmm, who else deserves the asterisk? How about the 2003 New York Yankees? Perhaps they should have an asterisk behind their AL pennant stolen from the Boston Red Sox. Don't we know now that Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens and Andy Petite were all using steroids? After all, Giambi did hit two homeruns in Game Seven of the ALCS that year...a game they won by one run.

How about the 1986 Mets? Weren't they all found to be coked up? Perhaps that allowed them to play at a higher level....Buckner's error aside.

I could go on all day. The point is, this asterisks thing is ridiculous especially in the case of the Patriots. Enough with it all ready.

As for Bonds, if he's found guilty in federal court for lying to a grand jury, I doubt the league will do anything to the record books. His punishment should be never being allowed to enter the Hall of Fame without a paid admission.

Okay, it's been a while but let's start to recap the past year:

I had a great run with The Work'in Stiffs, but they decided to move in a different direction and I could not personally commit to playing out every weekend. When it's more than two or three times a month it stops being fun and more like a part time job. Funny thing is they haven't been able to book gigs every weekend, but either way, they have a new guy and I'm getting ready to start another band.

I voided my contract with Chippewa Publishing for failure to publish the paperback of "Two Redheads and a Dead Blonde." Shortly after, they closed up shop anyway. I'm pretty positive after the holidays I'll find another publisher to pick it up and give it the push I believe it deserves. The next book in the series is ready to go.

Did I mention I'm sick of the snow? I have about an eight foot mound of snow on the side of my yard from the plows. The worst part is I set up a few of those inflatable holiday decorations and they are long gone. I hope to see them again by April.

Like last year around this time, I injured the trapezious muscle in my back and it's very painful. I've been on heavy pain meds for the past four days. The doctor can't tell if it's a tear or pull but since it happened last year, they are leaning towards tear. So much for all the work around the house I planned for my vacation.

It's a great time to be a fan of New England sports teams. What more really needs to be said?

My phone has been ringing off the hook non-stop for weeks from presidential candidates. Funny thing is, it's all Democrats. The Republicans never call my house and I'm registered as an independent. I think I'm leaning towards Obama for the primary...hopefully to beat Hillary Clinton. That's probably not how'd I'd vote in a general election but Hillary must be stopped.

Promising to blog more in 2008 as the .