My Personal Blog

We have reached the fourth quarter in the 40 til 40 series of blog entries leading up to my 40th birthday on July 10.  This series is about anything and everything relevant to the number 40.  This entry is about my 40 favorite television game shows of all time. 40. Winning Lines 39. Deal or No Deal 38. Nickelodeon Arcade 37. Debt 36. Now You See It 35. High Rollers: I’m talking about the Alex Trebek-hosted versions. 34. Scattergories 33. Blockbusters 32. I’ve Got a Secret 31. Body Language 30. Remote Control 29. Double Dare:  I’m talking about the one with Marc Summers. 28. The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime:  The first nationally televised game show with a seven figure top prize. 27. To Tell The Truth 26. Shop ’Til You Drop 25. Let’s Make a Deal 24. What’s My Line? 23. Born Lucky 22. Password 21. Twenty-One:  It’s the only reason why I got an autograph from Maury Povich in 2001 at Nevillewood. 20. Scrabble:  I’m talking about the Chuck Woolery-hosted vers...

This is day number 30 of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries leading to July 10 and my 40th birthday.  In my last entry I talked about the 1940 Stanley Cup Finals.  Today I’m going to explain the Curse of 1940, a curse that affected the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League for 54 years. The Curse of 1940 was a superstitious explanation as to why the New York Rangers failed to win the Stanley Cup between 1940 and 1994. Before I get to the origins of the curse, let me tell you about the New York Rangers.  The team began play in 1926 and in their second season, won their first Stanley Cup over the Montreal Maroons.  In 1933 and 1940, they won two more Stanley Cups, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in both. During the 1939-40 season, the mortgage on Madison Square Garden was fully paid off.  Following the Rangers’ victory in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Madison Square Garden management burned the mortgage papers in the bowl of the Stanley Cup.  This ...

On this 29th day of the 40 til 40 blog entry series leading to my 40th birthday on July 10, I’m going to talk about the 1940 Stanley Cup finals between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The New York Rangers defeated the Boston Bruins in six games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, while the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings, each in two game sweeps. The best of seven Stanley Cup Finals began at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 1940, where the New York Rangers won 2-1 in sudden death overtime with Alf Pike scoring the winning goal.  The next day, the Rangers won game two 6-2 with Bryan Hextall scoring a hat trick.  The series shifted to Maple Leaf Gardens where the Maple Leafs won game three 2-1 and game four 3-0 with Turk Broda pitching a shutout.  Game five was won by the New York Rangers 2-1 when Muzz Patrick scored in the second extra period, then the New York Rangers won game six on April 13 with Bryan He...

This is day number 28 in the 40 til 40 blog entry series leading to my 40th birthday on July 10.  Today I’m going to take you on a journey to the 40th state to ratify the United States constitution, South Dakota. South Dakota is a part of the Great Plains and is named for the Dakota Sioux tribe, which comprises a majority of the state’s population.  Its capital is Pierre (pronounced peer), and Sioux Falls is its largest city.  Six states border South Dakota:  North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. On November 2, 1889, South Dakota was admitted as the 40th U.S. state during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison.  Legend has it that president Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that nobody could tell whether North Dakota or South Dakota came first. The area where South Dakota is now located was first settled around 5000 BC.  In 1803, president Thomas Jefferson signed off on the Louisiana Purchase, which included ...

Welcome to day 27 of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading to my 40th birthday on July 10.  The last entry talked about my 40 favorite movies of all time.  This one focuses on the 40 greatest NFL draft steals of all time.  I have also included those who went undrafted. 40.  Grady Jarrett 39.  T.Y. Hilton 38.  Clyde Simmons 37.  Richard Dent 36.  Joe Schmidt 35.  Jahri Evans 34.  Rod Smith 33.  Kurt Warner 32.  Roosevelt Brown:  The greatest “sleeper” draft pick of all time, Roosevelt Brown had to wait until the 27th round in 1953 for the New York Giants to take him. 31.  Priest Holmes 30.  Steve Smith 29.  Rod Martin 28.  Aeneas Williams 27.  Zach Thomas 26.  Wes Welker 25.  London Fletcher 24.  L.C. Greenwood 23.  Matt Birk 22.  Andy Russell  21.  Will Shields 20.  Andre Reed 19.  Kevin Gree...