The_Dan
Jan 28, 2007
11:42 AM This is a good concept Ed, good reads on both Mean and THE TRUTH. Excellent work guys; keep it up !

 You all can refer to me as Doctor during the sessions, thanks. It's a fun fantasy I play...

Clinch proceeds... And he answers on Super Bowl Sunday, no less! Impressive.

All right, blogmeisters and bloggerini afficionados! This is the third personalized "21 Questions" brought to you by yours truly...

I was intending on Dudski, next, but you know: The Dan happens...

Ready, set: Presto changjo! Andiamo valentini...

21 Questions to The Dan! Eh?

1. All right, for starters, a few disclaimers from the questioner: I have read most of your stuff but I do not have a photographic nor even nearly as accurate memory for retention as I would like, as the highly authoritative XRooster would verify for all...That AND I like the Canadian-ness issue, so no offense in these questions, OK? Letterman is from Indiana, The Paul Schafer is from Ontario, ya know? Do you get the CBS thaing?

OK, let's start with your folks: why Canada? When and where?  I live in a town about 15-20 minutes north of Toronto where I have resided since 1985.  My father was born here and my mother was born in Greece, moving here when she was 2.  Seeing that they met, got married and had kids, it makes sense that I'm here freezing my pants off every winter. 

2. The more that I think of your bio for your blog, the more I think this is a bad time to do this. That said, realize that there is no supreme hurry to answer these questions post-haste, but before Valentine's of this year would be nice. How busy are you during Super Bowl time? Professionally and socially? Well I'm dreading the next several weeks because professionally I relied on Football a lot when hosting my talk show, "Bring The Noise" (shameless plug: www.chevradioam.com weekdays from 9AM-Noon EST).  Once baseball is up and running I'll be ok.  As for my social life I keep it pretty consistent.  I'm not the guy that will party it up hard but knows how to have a good time.  As a young guy the code is to go hard as much as possible but that's just not me.  I have a great group of friends that keeps my social life more than satisfying.

3. Man, these are long winded questions thus far! My apologies. Speaking of 'begging pardon', do you say "sorry" differently than most Americans? Do you sometimes switch up your accent depending on the mood or audience? Well we Canadians have no idea that we have accents!  But its difficult to botch 'sorry' unless we develop a New York-Style accent overnight.  Our troubles are with words that have "ou" in it, such as "Doubt" or "About".  Those can be difficult with our 'accents'.  I have said our problem does not lie within us but rather within nature.  Try speaking when it's -15 degrees celcius with a windchill of -30.  There is no way our mouths can wrap around any word.  We then develop this habit and carry it around with us for life. 

4. Speaking of America, if you had to live in the Lower 48 or the Outer 2, where would it be? Which ones are you familiar with? Anywhere warm.  Hawaii would be nice but since I'm a sports freak I don't want to wake up really early to catch the Football games.  So I say a place like Arizona or California would be fine.  There you don't need to wake up super early for NFL games.  The great part of being on the west is the games are over by 10 and you have the rest of the night for other things such as the computer, working out, going out, sexual intercoarse, you name it.  Other places could be Texas, Florida or Las Vegas.  Places with huge hype on sports or attractions and when it gets cold I can easily tolerate it.  I'm Canadian afterall.

5. At what age did you know you were meant for sports talk and this type of investment in the world of athletics? Probably at 19 when I was in my first year of college.  In my senior year of high school I was reaching for something that I knew I could do well and enjoy so I applied to schools with Radio and Television backgrounds.  But it was at school when I felt that I could be a sports-talk show host or a play-by-play person.  I've loved sports for a long time and the school training helped me work on my skills in delivering how much I know about it.  Now back then my goals were to someday work for ESPN or Foxsports so if anyone is reading this from Fox I know I can kick some butt with you guys in the sports market.  

6. Do you think that soccer/football is becoming the US's fourth sport instead of hockey, and what are your views on Latino immigration? No the 4th sport has to be NASCAR or Golf right now instead of hockey.  Being in Canada hockey is like night and day compared to America.  Down there the game is not embraced like the other majors and up here its the only thing we can talk about.  There are too many people up here that are naive about the sport being ok because it certainly isn't.  We rely on America to keep the sport strong.  Soccer is not the 4th sport even with David Beckham in LA.  Soccer has a very long way to go to get the respect in North America as well as the popularity to become the 4th major.  As for Latino Immigration I have no view on it.  Do I think the immigration laws should be revisited?  Sure.  You just don't want any carelessness to be the reason any country lets a person in who may harm several people.  We've embraced several cultures in Canada and though we've had open arms to immigrants I know we've had them too wide open as we've allowed people in that have harmed your country.

7. Who have been your favorite friends over the years and why? The friends I have currently because we've been friends since high school, some of them even public school.  I am a likeable guy so I'm not a hard person to get along with so the relationships that have sustained over the years have to be my favorites.  I even consider my parents and brother friends as well. 

8. Which blogger do you think might share most of your style/interests/flair with you? Or why none of the above? Are you really The Dan (Unique and one of a kind, a true North American original who broke the mold)?  You know there are some great writers here on the site and I try to seek their blogs from time to time.  I know there are bloggers that see my blogs every single day and comment which I appreciate a lot, yet even if I miss a post in which I didn't comment does not mean I didn't like the write-up.  Therefore I try to get to as many posts as possible.  Having said that, I think my writing style and flair is different from everyone elses.  I can say my writing is distinct from others.  Not necessarily great or better, but distinct.  We can tell Dudski is different from Burger who's different from Shooter who's different from MeanDovine who's different from...  I think a lot of us have similar interests but one reputation I have is I talk a wide variety which means I may not have another blogger who will write as many different posts with the same flair as me.  But the similar interests of many other writers is why I stuck around, despite my ineligibilty for the NGS competitions.

9. Definite articles. I vaguely recall others from your family being referred to as The Mom, The Brother, etc...Do you have a The Dog and other items named as such, even inanimate objects? Like, get The Phone! Or, who is on The TV? It all started with The Mom and The Dad.  One day I was eating an amazing dish my mom cooked and I said to her, "You're not my mom, you're not A mom, you are THE Mom."  She was trying to brush it off as if the dinner was not good but she had some magic hands or something.  Then my dad would drop some sick lines, dirty jokes and such.  He was raised in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Toronto so there is an edge to him.  My friends all love my dad so I call him THE Dad.  When I signed up to become a blogger I wanted something to half-hide my identity at the time so The Dan was what I'd go with.  With that said, The brother had to be named to round out the family.

10. Note to interviewer (myself): Too glib, maybe, let's get more serious...WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? What is your destiny? The Destiny? (See, I slipped into the flippant again!) No idea.  We don't know where life is going to take us but one thing I am learning right now is I have to take some risks and pursue your dreams or else life is going to push you around.  So my purpose is to maximize my potential which I feel can lead me to bigger and better things.  I was absolutely serious when I said I wanted to someday work for either ESPN or Foxsports, either doing a sports radio show or being on TV.  I know I have the talent to do it, I need to make the opportunity happen.

11. Does life get better as you age?  No life's easier when you're younger.  You don't realize how easy life is when you are young until you carry more responsibilities and more independence over your life.  I didn't realize how easy school was until after I left.  If I had to do it all over again I would have gone to university for Radio and TV after college and would be in 4th year currently.  A place where I can continue learning, improving and having fun would be the best place to be.

12. Do certain things get harder (of course I mean more difficult; I get innuendo and occasionally slip into it, but overall the vulgarians are not too welcome in these sessions, thanks)  and other things easier? Which ones? Are you a quick study? Are you what we might call meticulous?  I think it depends on your situation.  I remember as a coach winning our first provincial title and the whole notion is it's harder to win a second title.  We went back to back but to motivate and keep the kids hungry was very tough to do the second time around.  But then there are situations where you have nothing to lose and it get's easier.  As for me being a quick study, that I am not.  I absorb sports information well but anything else I really have to repeat a lot.  As an athlete I really had to work harder than everyone else because I never got things down right off the bat.  I try to carry that with me when talking sports as a broadcastor to stay hungry and never allow myself to think things have gotten so easy when I know it's just the beginning.

13. Would a superstar athletictress be attracted to you? Why or why not? Could your personality and charm keep her once she fell for you?   I think they'd be attracted in a friendship kind of way and we'd hit it off at the get-go but I doubt I could swing a relationship, at least not at first.  I have a personality and I can be charming but there are even bigger factors involved in relationships that would make or break the chances of going beyond friendship.  Odds are, we'd be friends and maybe down the road something would happen.  It takes a while for women to get to know me and while for me to completely get a read on them.  But once all of that happens, watch out! 

14. What are the pros and cons of booze, both in general and in your personal affairs...?  The pros is if you are a guy who loves to get with women can use alcohal [sic] to entice them to loosen up.  The cons are that its bad for you, you could hurt someone or yourself and even cause a death if you decide to drive while drunk.  I have never used alcohol to take any pain away because it really doesn't.  Whether I had injury pain or emotional pain I worked through it without alcohol.  Perhaps it was because you wanted to show people that nothing can affect you when they are thinking you are affect by whatever went down with you.  But if we are honest with ourselves we know booze has more negatives than positives. 

15. If you could travel the globe X number of days/weeks per year, what would be that variable? Where would you go? I would only travel for 2 weeks and it would be in America.  I want to stay in touch with my realities without being lost when I get back plus I'm not high on going to Europe and being screwed up on the hour difference.  I'd travel to Arizona since I've never been there, drive to Vegas and then make my way into LA and then call it a trip.  I'd try to catch as many sporting events as possible.

16. What percent of stats make a story good, and what kind of an article or argument are statistics the most compelling and relevant in? Stats don't make a story good, a story that sends a message with some stats in it makes for a good story.  You can say that "x% of games played with Stephon Marbury playing less than 30 minutes resulted in a Knicks win" which could validate a reason as to why Marbury should be benched or traded.  But that stat alone can't make it a great story, you need to be a good writer with great points to back up your arguments.  As for stats that compells me the most I would have to say wins and losses.  That's the ultimate statistic there is in sports and whe you see a team with great players who can't win, it compells you to dig deep to answer why they can't win games.

17. Your highlights of the educational process? I mean age 1 to your latest classes/training/Socratic mentorships...? Winning 3 provincial titles as an assistant coach to my brother, winning high school MVP's and driving in the go-ahead run to help qualify for the provincial high school baseball championships.  My other highlights are having my family there to witness everything because without them I would not be here.

18. Best and worst experiences with dining and food? Please mention a few personal tastes... Love Olive Garden which isn't in Canada anymore.  Best experience eating out is probably with sports teammates or friends being able to joke around and talk without disturbing anyone else and have fun at the same time.  Worst experience had to be the time in high school when we had a food fight at McDonalds.  Thankfully I was not doused with anything but I got some kids badly.  Don't mess with the best high school player in the school or else you'll find a heater coming your way. 

19. Outlook on life and personal aspirations? My outlook is to simplify everything for myself so that I can come up with the best way to live it.  My personal aspirations have been outlined above as I know in the near future I will be sending my best work to Fox and ESPN and hope my dreams come true.  Perhaps I'll get married and have kids but that is the furthest from my mind right now.  

20. The coolest thing that you would like to say about yourself? The funniest? The most regular or boring? The coolest thing is that anyone that approaches me and strikes up a conversation will get my attention and I'll be as friendly as possible.  I never shy away from good people and sometimes you know right away if a person is decent or just a total jerk.  I consider myself very regular, conservative yet passionate who at times wears his heart on his sleeve.  I can be funny sometimes.  A different kind of funny but sometimes I can make you pee yourself. 

21. OKAY: Please give us the most important thing for us to know, about you and The Life? Most important thing about me is I have a loyalty and I feel strongly about having integrity and will.  My life right now is steadily improving everyday but my goals are set and I want to acheive every one of them.  Someday I want to be one of the Fox employees that bloggers diss on this very blog.  That's when I know The Dan has hit The life. 

 Very nice. I just finished this at half time of the Super Bowl. I suppose that makes The Doctor a multi-tasker. Good job, your Canadian-ness!

All right, this was interview number three! Thanks for bothering during this crucial Peyton Grossman, I mean Rex Manning time in all our lives...

As always, feel free to embellish on the original queries and take liberties, i.e. guide your responses to make the questions seem even better than they actually were! Feel the magic!

Enjoy, everyone, I am looking forward to the results.

Again, if you are new to this, anyone is free to answer ONE posed question from above; The Dan must comply with all Tweny One!

See you in the transparent/public comments below, my northern friend! Go Senators! Whoops, that reminds me that I forgot to ask about (aboot, haha) Parliamentary elections, PMs, Newfies, Nunavut, RMCPs, and the border, not to mention Quebecois independence and Metis cuisine, not to mention the BC Olympics! Man! Maybe another time.

Yours truly, Clinch, aka The Doctor.

PS: You really can take your time on these, the end result is more important than the expediency, especially with the big Miami stuff going down...Colts 35, Bears 28?

Halftime update: Vinatieri misses! Colts 16, Bears 14.