God, my wife is a good cook!

How is a guy supposed to stay at his optimum weight when she cooks like that?

The Mayor and company beat No. 5 Kansas!

How ’bout them Cyclones?

I swear this guy could still play first base for the Dodgers

Mr. Dodger Steve Garvey in a recent photo. He holds the National League record with 1,207 consecutive games played. Garvey played in four World Series for the Dodgers.

Blast from the past

My best buddy Al and I used to listen to this song all the time when we lived on 80th Place in Urbandale …

“Say ‘What?’ “

Maisa needed a nap yesterday on the way to daycare. Her exhaustion led to a screaming fit. I ignored it and kept driving. Her reaction to my non-reaction nearly brought me to laughter, though:

DADDDDDY!!!!

DADDDDDY!!!

DADDDDDY!!!

TALK TO ME!!!

TALK TO ME!!!

DADDY SAY, ‘WHAT?’ !!!!!

DADDY SAY, ‘WHAT?’ !!!!!

Time for a movie?

Jill and I are wondering when we ought to take Maisa to her first movie.

We can’t decide if Maisa would be able to sit still for 75 to 90 minutes while Disney characters sing and dance on the silver screen. Sometimes I think she would, sometimes I don’t.

For now, Maisa’s only movie experiences are on TV. We recorded “Tangled” a couple of months ago, and she absolutely loves that movie. It’s Disney’s take on the Rapunzel fairy tale. She has watched it several times and likes to sing the songs around the house. I have to admit — it’s an entertaining film even for a 35-year-old Dad.

Lakers, Uclans and the President

Not that I should be interested in watching them, after their lackluster performance last night in Miami, but the Lakers are on TV again tonight. Seven o’clock on ESPN vs. Orlando.

Isn’t it amazing that this is Kobe Bryant’s 16th season in the NBA? It’s astonishing to think about that. And the guy is averaging 30.4 points per contest this season.

++++++++++++

UCLA also lost last night, against President Obama’s Oregon State Ducks.

OK, OK, they’re not actually Obama’s team. But his brother-in-law is the head coach, so you can bet one of the White House TVs was tuned into the game last night.

Surely they get DirecTV at the White House, right?

It’s the law: If the Lakers are playing, the game must be on TV

The best thing about being a Lakers fan is the fact that many (most?) of their games are on national TV. Just like the Yankees.

I watched the Lake Show beat Dallas a few nights ago. And L.A. is on TV again tonight, against Miami.

The UCLA men are on TV tonight, too. So it’s probably a good thing that I’ll be at work. Otherwise, I would just sit in my recliner and watch games and be totally unproductive.

3-pointer at the buzzer

A nice victory for the Iowa State men tonight.

Yankees pick up ex-Dodger Kuroda

I was somewhat saddened to see the Yankees sign Hiroki Kuroda, who was a very solid pitcher for the Dodgers the last four years.

Kuroda’s 41-46 record in four seasons is not indicative of the kind of pitcher he was for the Bums. His season ERAs were 3.73, 3.76, 3.39 and 3.07.

Kuroda’s teammates just could not score any runs for him, but he never let it bother him. He took the mound every fifth day and almost always kept the Dodgers in the game.

Kuroda was the winning pitcher in the Game 3 clincher of the 2008 NLDS against the Cubs. He threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings that night at Chavez Ravine.

I’ll remember Kuroda for his uncanny command of the strike zone, and his well-above-average sinking fastball.

Godspeed, Hiroki. You were a good soldier.