Dome Pondering

Welcome to the Dome Pondering Year in Review, 2011 edition! Much like every completed calendar year ( Dome Pondering - Year in Review 2010 ), the DP commemorates and reflects while celebrating the upcoming new year with the DP Year in Review - this blog's biggest post of the year.  The completion of 2011 marks yet another successful and exciting year for Dome Pondering. With this post, we've reached a full Major League Baseball season worth of posts for the year, 162, which is a new record. Also, the DP has seen a growth in hits, visitors, feedback, and overall interest more so than any other year. Not only have we been mentioned on 9.24, which DP devotees are familiar with, but we have been mentioned on 1050 ESPN radio during the Rucco and Lundberg Show this year. It's been a big year, and hopefully, 2012 will be even bigger. Thank you for your continued support, feedback, and overall interest. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the past year as much as I have, and I look...

What is it about? Three very different men deal with the ramifications and impact on their lives after they lose their jobs during corporate downsizing. Who is in it?  Ben Affleck - Bobby Walker Tommy Lee Jones - Gene McClary Chris Cooper - Phil Woodward

And we are back! Quite honestly, I didn't think we'd have NBA basketball this year. However, the sheer voice of my tag team partner in the morning urgently waking me up to the beautiful words of, "Heeeyyy, the NBA just announced they agreed to a deal, there is going to be a season", was a Christmas gift come early. Ahhh, like music to my ears. No offense to college basketball, which I do enjoy, and the National Hockey League, which still failed to grab my attention with no opportunity better than having an NBA lockout, but the NBA is my winter focus. When Roger Hornsby answered the question of what he does in the Winter when there is no baseball with the slight quip that he stares out the window and waits for Spring, I can understand and second that sentiment. Except, unlike Mr. Hornsby, I can't stare outside that long waiting for Spring, and the NBA gets me there much quicker, especially my oh so beloved New York Knicks.

In many ways, I've been very blessed in my life. Amongst many of them, is the city I grew up in - New York City - more specifically Brooklyn, NY. A borough, which stands alone at roughly over 2.5M people, has the ability to become the fourth largest city in the nation if separated from NYC. It is a city that is filled with every person, from every walk of life. A blend, mix, and "melting pot" if you will, that I was fortunate enough to be around everyday.  Growing up I had friends of all backgrounds. White, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Middle-Eastern, tall, short, fat, skinny, athletic, quiet, introvert, extrovert, Irish, Italian, Russian, Haitian, and the list can go on and on. We played together, and as kids do, we had our squabbles and feuds over block supremacy in the neighborhood, over boys, over girls, and just about all the other ridiculous things/drama kids and teenagers fight over. Yet, through it all, that difference never quite ph...

What is it about?   Dominic and the crew find themselves on the run again from a Brazilian mob and U.S. federal agents as they attempt to pull of one last job to secure their future freedom. Who is in it? Vin Diesel - Dominic Toretto Paul Walker - Brian O'Conner Jordana Brewster - Mia Toretto Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - Lou Hobbs

Courtesy: AP $254 Million for 10 years. It's not everyday someone receives a contract as enormous as that one - then again, it's not everyday a player the caliber of Albert Pujols comes around. Upon hearing the news that Albert Pujols will somehow take his talents to Long Beach, or some beach near Anaheim, it issued a specific type of feeling that we've seen and felt before. It seemed almost like a cross between Alex Rodriguez's blockbuster signing with Texas ten years ago, and the colossal trainwreck that was "The Decision" just last year. How can a man so beloved and revered in St. Louis pack up and head west to play for a team that no one had on the radar as a possible destination? Pujols was guaranteed a statue in front of New Busch Stadium when his playing days were over. Not very likely now.

The recent scandal that has shocked Syracuse University ,  the surrounding community, and its alumni and fans, has grown into a story that is down right disturbing. Fresh off the Penn State ordeal which saw the fall of a legendary coach, several horrifying testimonies, and a great concern in the crisis decision amongst our society, we are once again lambasted with the same characteristics of that scandal - a potential smear on the legacy of Basketball coach Jim Boeheim, unsettling evidence in a recorded phone conversation, and once again, a huge red flag in the constant disappearing decency amongst our society. Looking at the Penn State case, I found it very difficult to grasp an understanding the way of life in State College, PA . I mentioned in a previous post that a caller to a local sports radio show claimed that on the mantle in every State College home was a picture of their family, Jesus Christ, and Joe Paterno . It helped me understand a bit more about t...

Now that the calendar bears the month of December, the Christmas Season is upon us. It is a time of reflecting, a time of family, a time of peace and most importantly, a time of celebrating the birth of a savior amongst us all. However, with December and the season, we have seen this time morph into several forms which have become a farce of the true meaning of Christmas. as a society we have added, twisted, and taken away from the true meaning of the season ultimately creating a false Christmas Season. With that said, in the latest Pondering 10 list, let's examine the top ten most misguided things about the Christmas season.