Strike? No Strike? Tune In Later Tonight!

So… is there going to be a strike tonight or not? Hell, I don’t know. All signs pointed to yes this morning, then later in the day the tide seemed to turn the other day, and now it seems like there’s going to be a strike again. So why guess? We’ll all know in a few hours anyway.

I may have some things up late tonight if there is a strike, but if you’re that much of a mediaholic that you really must know immediately, then PW’s own Steve Volk will be covering it on (what else) a blog. He will be updating non-stop, I’m sure, so you can head over there for more strike coverage. I’ll also continue to keep posting Guild memos, funny management emails and the like.

The blog is called The Daily Strike, etc. etc. The latest Guild memo is after the jump.

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Leftovers: Albert Pujols, Septuagenarian

• Albert Pujols told reporters in the Dominican Republic that he should have won the MVP — instead of Ryan Howard — because he led his team to the playoffs even though the Cardinals won two fewer games than the Phillies. I think we should go easy on Pujols. Look: Sometimes as people get older — say, in their mid-30s — they begin to get a little senile and say stupid things. [AP/ESPN.com]

• Oh, and, yes, you guessed it: Albert Pujols is a candidate for Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Probably because he always puts the team in front of himself, so much so that he hit .200 in the World Series so his teammates could get all the glory. Yeah. I’m sure that’s why he did it. [SI.com]

• I’ll just quote the reader who sent this in: “I had to read this about four times before I figured out that he wasn’t talking about Amish people in the title.” [Craigslist]

• An Annapolis paper on our city’s fine mayor, John Street: “Sporting a hairstyle not dissimilar to that of Don King, the flamboyant Philadelphia mayor sounded somewhat like the famous boxing promoter when he declared the city was prepared to make an effort to keep the Army-Navy game ‘for all-time.’” Awesome. [The 700 Level]

‘PW’ Reading Tonight At Writers House

Hey, time for a little shameless self-promotion. Myself and three other Philadelphia Weekly writers — Cassidy Hartmann, Steve Volk and Liz Spikol — will be reading tonight at Kelly Writers House. (If you clicked that link and are wondering, Cassidy Hartmann is indeed a woman.)

I was thinking about going up and just holding up pictures of cute puppies or re-enacting the dancing scene from Charlie Chaplain’s The Great Dictator, but since Writers House was nice enough to invite me to speak I’m going to read something from the Weekly instead.

It’s at 6 p.m. at Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk in West Philly. And it’s just in two and a half hours! Shit, I need to get ready!

Calendar: November 30 [Writers House]
3805 Locust Walk [Google Maps]

Nobody Puts Milton Street In A Corner

Last night, Milton Street sat down with NBC 10’s Tim Lake for an interview about his recent indictment and all that jazz.

Tim Lake didn’t ask the “Are you guilty?” question straight-up, but Street still trotted out with his confusing “If you come to court, all that will be unraveled in court” response he was using on the day of the indictment. It’s like he’s going to be selling tickets and food at the courthouse. Perhaps he’ll be vending popcorn outside the trial!

There were some ridiculous exchanges, though, of course:

Lake: What’s the plan tomorrow? It’s your understanding that you have turn yourself in.

Milton Street: Tim, you know what the plan is. Why are you asking me this? I’m going down to 6th Street like everyone else, Mariano and everybody else. We’ll see what charges are aired. I’m going to do the same thing.

Lake: If your attorney has suggested you not speak out on it, has he recommended you not?

Milton Street: No body tells me what to do.

Lake: I understand that.

Milton Street: Why would you ask me that question?

There’s a full transcript at video over at NBC 10. It’s good stuff.

Milton Street Denies Charges In Exclusive Interview [NBC 10]

Llama Doctors Are Known For Being Great Athletes

We’re rapidly approaching the end of 2006, and all the magazines, newspapers and blogs are getting ready for their year-end awards or something like it. (I’m going to have something here, too. More on that later.)

One of the major magazine “awards” handed out annually is the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, and a bunch of SI writers have listed their own personal choices for the award. Grant Wahl is the only one with a good choice, going with Zinédine Zidane — that’d be awesome — and most of the other choices are so banal it’s not even worth making fun of. (The BALCO reporters? Phil Mickelson? Lamar Odom? Some blind dude who ran a marathon? Daisuke Matsuzaka? What drugs are you on, Tom Verducci, because I’d like to get some of that!)

But, hands down, the best choice is longtime SI writer Franz Lidz, who chose Dr. Dean Richardson as his Sportsman of the Year. Dr. Dean Richardson! As you may remember, Richardson is the doctor who treated Barbaro, who captured our nation’s attention by winning that one horse race and then nearly dying in another one. Whoo!

But Lidz isn’t choosing Richardson as his SotY due to Barbaro. No, he’s using more personal reasons:

What makes Richardson my Sportsman candidate has less to do with a horse named Barbaro than a llama named Ogar. In the interests of full disclosure, I must reveal that Richardson is my neighbor, and Ogar is one of my pet llamas.

With that line of reasoning, I’m nominating the two dudes who clean the hallway in my building for Sportsmen of the Year. They always do a pretty good job and say “Hello” to me when I pass, and while they haven’t competed in any sporting events this year that I know of, that didn’t stop half of the nominees!

My Sportsman: Dr. Dean Richardson [SI.com]

We Talkin’ ‘Bout BOWLING!

Last night, the 76ers held an event for sponsors and premium-seat ticketholders at Lucky Strike Lanes on Chestnut Street. The entire team showed up, chatted with fans, played pool and presumably even bowled a little.

Oh, I’m sorry, one player didn’t show up. Was it Steve Smith? Kyle Korver? Another player with double initials? No, Allen Iverson. Oh, now why would the fans want to see him?

Iverson didn’t just miss the Lucky Strike charity event, though. Phil Jasner writers in the Daily News:

A source said Iverson was upset when he left practice earlier in the day, less than an hour after the 11 a.m. start at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

After practice, Cheeks said Iverson had left early because he “was a little fatigued.” Asked whether Iverson had been upset, Cheeks said, “Whatever happened between him and me, I’d like to keep that private.”

Iverson is going to be fined for missing bowling. I prefer to think of his absence as a protest of Lucky Strike’s high prices. Yeah, that must be it.

A.I. faces fine for skipping team function; leaves practice early, too [Daily News]

Papers’ Other Unions Extend Talks, To Cross Picket Lines?

Nine of the 10 unions that represent workers at Philadelphia Media Holdings — the parent company of the Inquirer and Daily News — have extended talks again, moving the expiration date of contracts back to Saturday, Dec. 9. The Newspaper Guild is right now still planning to walk at midnight.

But here’s the real news, from the Associated Press:

“We think a strike is really going to hurt us,” said Joe Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, which represents nine of 10 unions at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. “Whatever direction they’re going, we totally disagree with that.”

Asked if that means the unions, including the drivers, would cross picket lines, Lyons said: “If we have to, we will.”

Are you ready for a scab Daily News and Inquirer? Either way, it looks like you’re going to get it.

9 unions at Philly papers extend talks, prepare to cross lines [AP/Philly.com]

Exclusive: Last Night’s Newspaper Guild Meeting

Yeah, it was closed to anyone but Guild members, but I worked my magic to get some footage from last night’s Newspaper Guild meeting:

Okay, maybe not. But this was last night’s 6 p.m. Simpsons episode, and I have only this to say: Best. Coincidence. Ever.

Eagles Make Desparate Attempt To Save Season

Tuesday, the Eagles learned that Mike Bartrum, the team’s long-snapper since 2000, was done for the season with a possibly career-ending neck injury he suffered against the Colts Sunday night. (Apparently getting your neck crashed into several times a game for 13 seasons isn’t the best thing.)

The Eagles signed a replacement yesterday in Jon Dorenbos, who played parts of two seasons with the Bills and a half-season with the Titans.

Dorenbos’ job while he was out of the NFL? A professional magician, of course! Yes, the Eagles — mired at 5-6 after starting 4-1 — have turned to a magician to help turn their season around.

Hey, if Dorenbos can pull a rabbit out of a hat or make a deck of cards disappear, I’m sure he can help the Eagles defense learn to tackle again. We can hope, at last.

Eagles Notes | Dorenbos signed to be long snapper [Inquirer]

Ex-Con With Heart Of Gold Arrested

When we last saw Joseph Mammana, the ex-con-turned-crime fighter was attempting to help Natalee Holloway’s family find her killers or her or whatever.

And now, he’s been arrested. Authorities from the FBI and IRS searched Mammana’s Yardley residence and North Philly egg factory (ha!) to find tax records when they found a revolver. NBC 10 reports:

Because his previous felony convictions carried more than a year jail sentence, it is illegal for him to possess a firearm in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce. The investigation found that the gun was registered to his father, who died in 1979, and that the gun was manufactured and was operable outside of Pennsylvania, which made it illegal for Mammana to possess it.

I’m not really interested in Mammana’s arrest. I’m more excited about this new technology that can render a gun operable in only one state! How cool is that?

Anti-Crime Champion Arrested On Gun Charges [NBC 10]
Nov. 11, 2005: City Council is Aruba’d out