Summer is here and with it some of those great summer time songs. You know the ones that bring back the memories of care free days at the shore or the pool, relaxing with friends or partying on the patio. So here are some of my favorites:

Eric Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff”

Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime”

Wings “Silly Love Songs”

First Class “Beach Baby”

Yours welcomed at www.102themountain.com or through this blog.

Then bring back winter, please. The first couple of days of spring have been filled with some of the worst winter weather of the year. Where is that thaw? I know it’s staying lighter longer…but that only allows me to see the snow on the ground. I thought we were making some progress with the warm spell during the last few days of winter. But no, spring had to turn it around and bring us more snow, ice and sleet. Where is that groundhog named Phil hiding these days?

Yes it is that wonderful time of the year again when white baseballs are being hit and thrown against the green grass of Florida. I know the games don’t count…some players are working to make the team for the first time….others are hoping to stay for one more season…and everyone is 100% sure they will win it all this year….but I still enjoy watching it. Last year I friended Ike Davis the young first baseman for the Mets….and he recently posted LGM….I agree.

In case you missed in the world’s oldest teenager and beachcomer Jimmy Buffett is recovering from a fall from a stage. Finishing up a tour down under Jimmy went off the stage head or face first….ouch. By all accounts, while he was slightly injured, it appears he is on the road to recovery. Summer wouldn’t be the same without his concerts…

Maybe it was because of the great sax bit or just the longer intro that as a DJ you could talk over, when DJ’s did that kind of thing, but Baker Street was always one of my favorite songs, so much so I purchased the album just because of the single.

At the time I didn’t know that Gerry Rafferty was part of Steelers Wheel but I always liked Stuck in the Middle with You. Good song, not great…that took on a new life when it was used in the movie Resevoir Dogs, a flick I haven’t seem.

Well you know know Gerry died recently due to liver problems and many have written about his work. However a friend of mine, Andy Palumbo from WNEP, came up with the best line about Baker Street in his blog of Jan. 5th and I quote: “Do yourself a favor.  Get yourself a good copy of “Baker Street” and a great set of headphones.  I mean a quality pair.  “Baker Street” has to be one of the best headphone songs ever.”

Right on Andy.

Well you don’t need me to tell you the NFL season is winding down. So I thought it time to reflect on an earlier blog of mine concerning the Cleveland Browns. As things stand today they have won the same number of games as they did last year, five. With some luck and a 7-9 is possible and who knows if the Ravens don’t need that last game and rest some players we could even reach .500.

Ask any conductor how hard it is to stop a train heading down the wrong track. Well the same applies to a football team. You don’t stop on a dime and turn it around it takes steps and a couple of years. I think the Browns are heading in the right direction, they have a solid line, Peyton Hillis is a gift from Denver that just keeps on giving and last year’s draft gave the team a big lift in the secondary and their future QB in the 3rd round.

Somethings will need to be addressed….WR for one, more help on the line and what to do with the some of the coaches. I for one things Eric Mangini deserves to stay…they are a better team than when he arrived and are improving again this year.

If you had told me back in September that the Browns would beat the Saints and the Pats, btw they, the Pats, haven’t lost a game since then….I would have had you try to walk a straight line while counting down from 100 by 3’s. Remember this is a train they are trying to get back on track.

PS: the image is an old Browns logo thought the elf fits the holiday season.

The topic has been debated since the 60’s, which is better the Beatles or Stones. Consider these facts before you decide:

The Beatles have had more number one albums on the British charts, and held down the top spot longer, than any other musical act in the country’s musical history. Here is the US from 1962 to 1964 they were the only British band to have their songs reach number one of the charts, a streak broken by The Animals. In April 1963 they had 12 singles in the top 100. Add to that seven Grammy awards and the fact their music continues to air some four decades and let’s not forget that Rock Band thing.

The Rolling Stones or at least Keith and Mick have been together for nearly 50 years. During that span they have released over 90 singles, nearly 25 albums, 10 of which Billboard has honored in their list of 500 Greatest Rock Albums Ever list. In the 70’s they had a string of eight consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. The band started touring in 1963 and continued working until 2007.

So what say you, who is the better of these two giants of the music world?

Yes, it’s that time of year for those things that go bump in the night. I love how every October the movie stations bring out horror movies of all type. I know the new ones are very bloody but give me an old black and white any day. Nothing sends a chill up my spine like Dracula so what does it to you?

 Jim Rockford, Hannibel Smith, The Commish…shows like Riptide, The Greatest American Hero, Silk Stalkings, Wiseguy…all the work of TV producer Stephen J. Cannell. With over 40 TV shows to his credit there was a time in the 80’s when entire nights on Tv belonged to him. Remember the guy at the end of the credits pounding away on an IBM typewriter, throwing the paper in the air? He died recently at the age of 69.

In an area filled with Eagles, Steelers and Giants fans, it can be lonely being a Cleveland Browns fan. A What? Are you from Cleveland? How did this happen? Are you ill, do you need a doctor….those are just some of the comments I have heard over the years. No I not from Cleveland, in fact I have never been to the city. I am not ill, expect for the mental illness my wife believes I suffer from every Sunday in football season. My father was a Browns fan, his father was a Browns fan, and I grew up hearing about Otto, Jim Brown, Paul Brown and the other greats in the history of the team. The Browns were the Yankees of the football in the 50’s and early 60’s….winning championships year after year. Of course this is before the Super Bowl but still a champion is a champion. It’s been tough the past couple of decades, nothing really to cheer about since Bernie Kosar and those two damm games against Denver, but I’m better now. Believe it or not there are more of us, Browns fans, in NEPA than you might want to believe. Rocky of the KRZ Rocky and Sue for one, my friend from high school Frank and we even have a Browns Backers club in NEPA. A group of fellow Browns fans, that gather on Sundays to watch the team. We ran the table at the end of last year and it appears the schedule makers have the Browns set up for a couple of early wins. Who knows with a couple of breaks maybe 9-7 this year. One step at a time…..