By Writer Keith

If you haven’t heard yet, Morning Express with Robin Meade has a new Facebook page. And I can tell you one thing: Writer Keith likes this. It’s a great way for us, the entire show team, to hear from you as the morning goes on. Plus, it gives you a way to hear what is going on in the world of news, sports, and entertainment. It’s a way for you to talk with other viewers and many mornings your comments could make it on TV. You can even see if Robin is coming to your city to sign her new book (which actually comes out on my birthday, September 10th. Coincidence? I think so.)

Please keep your status updates to things like 'Making spaghetti for the kids.'

Now I am sure many of you have already signed up for Facebook. It’s a great way to catch up with old friends you may not have seen in years. I’ve found all sorts of people I had forgotten about from high school and from middle school (more on that in a bit). If you are still on the fence and are reading this blog, why not join? It don’t cost nothing. So if you are new to the site or an old pro that needs some reminders, I wanted to go over some stuff I’ve noticed about what people post on their “wall” and other benefits of the site. Some good, some not so good.

1) Please do not post status updates that are WAYYYYY too personal

Sure, posting stuff on the site can be fun. “Alyssa is making pizza,” “O’B is driving to New Hampshire,” “Max is cruising the freshman dorms.” But sometimes, people seem to air a lot of dirty laundry on there. Do I really need to know about all of the problems you are having with your significant other? “John says he knows why divorce is so expensive ... it’s worth every penny.” “Mary thinks her boyfriend better sleep with one eye open. I know about your affair and I know where the crazy glue is.” I have had to block some people off of my list because of them venting about divorce, break-ups, infidelity, everything. Folks, let’s just keep it to making spaghetti. And please don't write about how drunk you are. Your employer, or future employer, will see it.

2) Old pictures: It’s a two-way street

Many of us have had the moment: Looking at old pictures and cringing because of the crazy hairstyles and fashion. Well now they can be posted for the entire world to see on people’s Facebook photo album. At first I thought it was funny. I saw some old pics of classmates from St. John’s elementary and middle school. The amount of big hair and claw hairstyles (that big poof that teenage girls used to do with their bangs) made me laugh out loud. But then a picture from my junior prom hit the web. Now the fashion wasn’t too bad (except that I weighed about 110 pounds and had the same 7 ½ hat size), but I thought I had all pictures of me destroyed from that dance. I had fun, but my prom date was a disaster. To put it in perspective, the prom was the same night as the OJ Bronco chase. OJ had a better night.

3) Do you really need to do that many polls or invite me to a game?

Many people like to do these polls or top 5 lists. Who are your favorite bands, do you agree with such and such policy. These are fun…every once in a while. There are some people who do 10 of these a day, clogging up your wall. Do you need to spend that amount of time every day letting people know that you would choose King Kong Bundy and Courtney Love as your body guard? And please: No more invites for fantasy games. If I want to join something I will. Please don’t ask me to hide a body from your Mafia War fantasy world.

4) Tips from other people and keeping up with things back home

Facebook has been a great help for me with getting tips for my new baby. It seems about 800 people on my friends list have had a kid within the past 3 months. In fact, three of the women from my high school class and two guys from college had a baby the same month as mine. So we all get to watch our kids grow at the same rate and give advice and empathize with each other.

It can also help out with tough times back home. Things you may have never heard about, you’ll hear about. A classmate of mine from high school recently passed away. I won’t go into the details, but it is always tough to lose someone you know at such a young age. Thanks to the website, I was able to keep up with the details and send thoughts and prayers to those who were closer to my classmate than I was. I am not sure if it helped, but I know it didn’t hurt.

Well that’s it. What are some of things you like/dislike about Facebook. You can post your comments on the blog or on our fancy new show Facebook group.

From Baby Gwen, Morning Express Infant Correspondent (as told to Writer Keith)

Hey all … hope all is going well as you are getting ready for a few off days. I have to tell you being a newborn is tough. The eating, the constant visits, the burping. So far all I can eat is formula which as of now only comes in one flavor. Would it kill these people to make something in strawberry or butter pecan? This milk taste is getting old.

I am telling you ... eating, burping, sleeping and writing for the Morning Express blog can take a lot out of a little girl.

I am somewhat of a night owl. On any given night, I’ll be up from midnight to 5am. My parents don’t seem to mind. Unfortunately, the only things on tv are infomercials and re-runs of “B.J. & The Bear.”

Speaking of TV, my dad likes to watch of this new show called “Beverly Hills, 90210” with me. It’s on 4 times a day. I have no idea how they can crank out new shows every day. What a dedicated cast. However, I do not like the one the call “Donna.” She couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag.

When we were at the hospital, I got to see my first Red Sox-Yankees game with dad. Every time the one called “A-Rod” came up to bat, we both tensed up. I think daddy got tense because he really doesn’t like him. For me, I think it was gas.

People keep asking me what my opinion is of the president’s plans for revamping the health care system. I give everyone the same answer: “What the heck do you want from me? I’m only 4 weeks old.”

I’ve met a lot of people since I’ve been born. These people who have trouble pronouncing the letter “R” flew down to see me for a few days. They are my “Boston grandparents.” My uncle Danny did a great job of feeding me. Plus my godparents are expecting to have my cousin sometime in January. My godmother told us when we were in the hospital that she was pregnant. Daddy said he knew already because how scared my godfather looked when he held me for the first time.

Daddy says he really misses his car. Before I came home, the doctor told him and mommy that they were forbidden from the three-letter word that brought us to the hospital.

I have these diapers that start out yellow, but turn blue when I need a changing. It’s like wearing a Ziplock bag.

I am only a month old, but I already have a security guard. My dog Barrett stood right in front of me right after he smelled me. He also growled at anyone that tried to get near me. That was nice.

I had my first photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. They were primping and prodding me. Hey: I’ll smile when I want to, bub. And what is with the props like angel wings? What am I? Carrot Top?

When we go for rides, mommy and daddy play classical music because they think it will make me smarter. For God’s sake, I am already writing a blog for a major news organization. At this rate, I’ll be doing math by next month. Can’t a girl get some Skynard or some Grand Funk when we are going around town?

Well that’s it for now. Hope you have a nice weekend.

From Writer Keith

We just got news this morning that Patriots safety Rodney Harrison will be retiring today to continue his career as an analyst on NBC to add to their pre-game team that now includes Tiki Barber, Salem barber Dick Simard, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Paul Lynde, Carrot Top, Charles Nelson Reilly, Dick Butkus, Merlin Olson, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson, and Orko from the “He-Man” series.

Harrison, #37, goes in for a big hit.

As a lifelong Patriots fan I have a few simple words. Thank you, Rodney Harrison. Sure, lots of people thought you may have been a “dirty player” every time you hit some wide receiver out of his shoes. They were just jealous. It’s like you were the basketball equivalent of Danny Ainge.

Everyone hated him unless he was on your team. I’d rather have 52 players with Harrison’s heart than some of these primadonnas. It’s like one sports radio person said: Would you rather have one T.O. or 2 Wes Welker’s? Personally, I’d rather have the guy who will give his all than the guy who cares about himself.

And that is Rodney Harrison. He won a Super Bowl in 2003 and 2004. His first Super Bowl win, he broke his arm and returned to the field to see the last plays. Trainers begged him to stay off of the field, but to heck with that: Rodney would be on the field.

Did he hit a little bit hard in certain situations? Sure he did. But what would you rather have … a safety that pulled back or a guy that would knock the numbers off of someone?

So thank you Rodney Harrison. You’ve helped the most dominant stand in Boston sports history.

By Writer Keith

So in four weeks or, if my wife had her way, tomorrow my baby daughter will make her debut into the world. Just to set the record straight since there are so many rumors going around: my wife and I conceived our child naturally. We did not use the same woman’s fertility drugs as Manny Ramirez, or as many of us call him now “Octo-Manny.” As for right now, we are as ready as we can be.

I don't want this face to be one of the first my baby sees.

Since I last updated the blog, we have had two baby showers. One with my family in Boston, one with my wife’s family here in Atlanta. For those guys out there who may be expecting a kid soon, a word of advice: AVOID THE SHOWER AT ALL COSTS! Go somewhere else, do something else. I stayed for the beginning, shook hands, thanked people for coming, then got the heck out of Dodge.

I mean I honestly considered paying money to watch “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” to escape. It’s not a rational time. There’s quiche involved, ribbons, flowers, lots of oohing and ahhing over everything. At the one here in Atlanta, they played a game where the women had hairpins on ribbons and if you said the word “baby” you lost a hairpin. Check please! We got a lot of great things from both families, and I truly appreciate the efforts and the help, but my time was spent beating my brother-in-law Kyle in Madden then coming back later and loading up the truck.

But thanks to these showers we are starting to run out of room in the house. My daughter already has more clothes than me. This is not a good sign because her mother is a clothes horse too. Our biggest concern with the clothes is if the ultra-sounds were wrong and we are having a boy. That’s a lot of pink outfits for a boy.

We also have all of the bouncy seats, playmats, pack and plays, and travel systems we can handle. You may look at Consumer Reports for safety and customer satisfaction for these things. I look for which baby on the box looks like they are having a better time. Big smile on the kid, we’re getting it.

On the “how healthy is the baby” front, everything has been quiet…which is good. Everything is going to plan. My wife has been having some aches, pains and swelling but her doctors say it’s normal. My main concern is that she works on the 17th floor of an office building. I’d prefer she take the stairs up to work, but she insists on using the elevator. I am not a sadists but I have seen enough teen comedies/dramas on TV to fear that my kid will be delivered by some random teenager in an elevator. I don’t want Zack Morris delivering my kid. Brandon Walsh maybe, but not Zack Morris.

Speaking of health, we got quite a special gift from my brother Danny during the Boston shower. My brother gave my baby one of those special “Build-A-Bears” you can get at most any malls. It’s a pink and white bear that is decked out in a New England Patriots cheerleader outfit. When he was building the bear, he had to take the bears “heart”, rub it on his chest and make a wish. He wished that the baby came out healthy. It may sound corny to you, but it meant a lot to us. Hopefully our daughter grows up to appreciate it.

Now we have to pack the overnight bag for the hospital and what we are planning to do when we get there. My wife is treating me like a bouncer. When she is finally ready to “download our tricycle motor” she only wants me and the medical staff in the room. I’m not saying I’m going to have to physically toss people out of the room, but I am buying those velvet ropes they have outside of nightclubs. I have a list, a suit, and I am trying to lift enough weights that I won’t have a neck.

So that’s it for now. My next “baby blog” will probably be about the arrival. Wish us luck.

Writer Keith

Living in the south puts me in a hotbed for college sports. Within a two-hour drive, I can see some of the top colleges from the SEC and ACC in both hoops and football at any time I want. Most Saturday's I need to beg my local bartender to put on the Notre Dame football game instead of Clemson or Florida State. But today, I get a first. I get to ask the bartender to switch to the Franklin Pierce basketball game on ESPN. See, my alma mater has made it to the national championship for Division 2 Women's Basketball. This may seem pretty lame to you, but this may be the first and only team Franklin Pierce team I get to see on a national network.

We used to run beer pong tournaments on my old college TV show "Bravvas Weekly," but we were never close to going national (well except for the people who want to put my old show on YouTube, which may or may not get me fired). When I went to college, our women's soccer team won several national championships. But this is different. It's on TV. I mean seriously: a small liberal arts school in the foothills of Mount Monadnock will be on television. The same team that had its star point guard bust out in laughter when I belted out a "You Can Do It" during a game in 1999.

Back in the day, our biggest support went to our hockey team. It was quite convenient, since there was a bar next to the rink. We actually had one student who got arrested and was banned from the games for foul language. He came to the next game wearing a red bandanna on his face and called himself "El Hockito Bandito." I have absolutely no idea about the team that made it to the finals. According to reports, some of our top scorers include Johannah Leedham and her sister Jennifer. I really don't care. For the first time in my life I can watch my own school on national TV. So let's go Ravens! WACAW, WACAW!!!!!!

By Writer Keith

It's one of the best days of the year.

Pubs and bars will be filled with people dressed in green tipping back a pint or some whiskey pretending that they are living like the Irish. I don't just feel this way because I am of Irish descent. I say it because that in our oversensitive, PC society it's the one day that people poke fun at negative stereotypes and no one protests.

Make sure your St. Patrick's Day doesn't get ugly ... or as bad as it got in A-Tower at Franklin Pierce College in 1999.

I am guessing outside my favorite Irish pub today (The Black Rose in Boston) you are going to see people waiting to get in and no one holding a protest sign because the bar is promoting Irish stereotypes of drinking and violence. And if that person was there, they'd probably get punched by some guy named Sully.

No other holiday, maybe aside from Cinco de Mayo, does this. And that's what makes this article so tough to write. As I told people at work, it's real hard to say "What if we did this or that on (insert holiday)?" without offending someone. So I'll stick with what I know: Giving you some advice on how to have a good time.

The Food:
The traditional fare: a boiled dinner of corned beef and cabbage, usually with carrots and potatoes. You dump it all into a pot, add water and spices, boil, eat. It's pretty simple.

To be honest, Irish food has made giant leaps in the past 10 years but before then the spiciest thing we'd eat is salt. Now there are two types of corned beef. The red and the grey. The grey is considered New England-style corned beef. Now when I moved to Atlanta, I used to call butcher shops looking for the grey and was given the same response: Doesn't that mean it's spoiled? Nope it's just brined.

Starting this past Saturday, I bought a roast, a gallon of water, and a pound of Kosher salt. Dumped it into a stockpot and left it in the kitchen. Now that's good eating. There is also Irish soda bread. It's called that because it uses baking soda instead of yeast to rise. And speaking of rising: nothing will ever top my friend Danielle swiping a loaf from our college cafeteria to bring to the feast at my apartment. GO FPC RAVENS!!!

Read the rest of this entry »

Writer Keith

This past Monday, I woke up a wreck. I was sweating worse than Patrick Ewing in the 4th quarter. I was sick as a dog. I would have called in sick to work, but it was too late, so I toughed it out. My wife even offered to drive me to work. I made it on my own, but I did manage to boot up most of my last meal in the parking lot.

Thanks to the blog, I've got a Chia Pet and a baby bouncer. Here's the hat that is keeping me sane.

So after working my shift, I came home and downed a bottle of NyQuil. I was knocked out for about 7 hours. When I woke up, I was feeling a bit better, but something alarming. I had 8 missed calls on my cell phone. They were from my 6 months pregnant wife from the doctors office. She had to make an emergency visit to see if she had gone into pre-mature labor.

It came at a time when it was just setting in that this whole pregnancy was for real. We took a tour of our hospital and basically went through a dry run of the whole delivery. Compared to the hospital that we originally went to, it was a huge improvement, like getting upgraded to a four-star hotel when you had planned to go to one of those hourly-rate places.

We were also starting to price a bigger family car. My current car was ok, but it wasn't for a family. We have upgraded to what I glowingly refer to as "The Family Truckster."

So I finally got a hold of my wife. The details at first were sketchy. They had done tests to see if she was actually going to have the baby months too early. She told me she was on the way home to tell me more. I panicked. I went on the internet to get some info on pre-mature births. I found out it happens in 1 in 10 pregnancies. I also learned that the earlier that a child is born pre-mature, the more problems a baby has. We were at 27 weeks. Not a good sign.

I will be honest with you. I started crying my eyes out. I was fearing the worst. It had just hit me that this was real, and it went from real into real real. My wife came home and found me blubbering. She had to console me even though she was carrying our daughter. We had to wait about 24 hours for results to tell us what was going on.

But then I got the hat. My godparents Donnie and Maria (a huge Morning Express fan) had sent me that day an infant Boston Red Sox bucket hat complete with my daughter's soon-to-be best friend "Wally The Green Monster." I wiped away my tears and thought positive. My little girl was going to fit into this hat when she is born hopefully at full term.

Thankfully, after tests, it just turns out that my wife was cramping up because of probable dehydration. Everything looks fine. But I am still scared to death. Who knows what is going to happen in the next couple of months. So that's why I take the hat with me everywhere. It gives me hope. It makes me think positive thoughts. The first time I put my girl to bed, the first time we go to Fenway Park, the first time I disapprove of a boyfriend, the first time she holds my hand, makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me crazy, makes me proud. I just pray she makes it through as a healthy child.

Writer Keith

Dear Atlanta Braves,

I was extremely excited this past Thursday to see that single game tickets for the home season were going on sale. I was looking forward to buying tickets for one of the games that my beloved Boston Red Sox were in town. See, I'd buy all three games but my daughter will most likely be two weeks old by the time the Sox hit town.

Don't worry about that booing, you have 5 more games to warm this crowd up.

So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that the only way to get Red Sox-Braves tickets was to buy a multi-game pack. I understand you can't sell out your ballpark for regular season games during the week, but holding customers that cheer for certain teams (Red Sox and Yankees) over the barrel is just flat out wrong.

This may be the first time since 1918 that Yankee fans and Red Sox fans see eye-to-eye. Well with the exception of agreeing that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez should never have been together.

As you may or may not know, the economy is in the toilet. I don't think it is that much of a stretch to say attendance at ballparks across the country is going to be down this year. Many families cannot afford to go to one Major League Baseball game, let alone six. So why would you put provisions on fans that are willing customers?

Along with that, think about how you may be hurting our local economy. Many people may have been looking to fly into our fair city to catch the series. What are they going to do with three sets of other tickets? I have flown to Baltimore in September to catch the Sox play the Orioles. With a team 20 games out of the lead, the fine people of Baltimore were happy to get money for their hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and bars seeing as Camden Yards would have been pretty much a graveyard for any other team.

I have been an Atlanta resident for nearly ten years. The only times I have seen Turner Field full is for three teams. Boston, the Yankees, and the Cubs. See, our fine town is filled with people from other places. I enjoy going to "the Ted" despite the fact that there is pretty much nothing to do around the stadium and that the ushers can be sometimes pushy. I was so much looking forward to see my Red Sox during Saturday afternoon’s matinee, but was given the facepalm by your ticketing policy.

Maybe it's me, but I'd rather have a sell-out for ten games then have a bunch of disinterested fans.

What about you? were you burned by the Braves' multi-game ticket plan? Any other baseball ticket policies that you find disappointing?

Writer Keith and Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel

With 200 reporters flanking Alex Rodriguez on Tuesday afternoon at his press conference, there was one question that needed to be asked:

"Mr. Rodriguez? What do you take us for?"

Alex Rodriguez, seen here in 2001.

A-Rod–in a moment of unintended irony–said he was there to "take his medicine" by calling a press conference since his admission of taking a banned substance. His hope was by doing this he could put it behind him. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect – he left us with more questions than answers.

A-Rod did admit that he and his cousin (who was never identified) injected each other with something called "Boli" or Primobolan, which he claims he bought over-the-counter from the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez called it "amateur hour" claiming the two didn't really know what they were doing or what it was supposed to do.

His reasoning for doing it? He was "young and stupid." Rodriguez pretty much stuck to that script using that excuse five times in his presser when asked repeatedly, "Why did you do it".

"I was young and stupid." He said this despite the fact that he was 18 when he came into the league and 25 when he allegedly starting taking the performance enhancers.

A-Rod also went on about not going to college as if that had something to do with it as well. He also talked about bench pressing 300 pounds in high school to get a letterman jacket. The point: I've always been strong.

He also mentioned that he felt pressure in Texas after signing his then record $252 million contract. If he felt pressure then, how is he not feeling pressure now after signing a bigger contract in the media capital of the world? There is no bigger amount of pressure than playing for George Steinbrenner. That's when he stopped?

At first it was jarring to see such a mega star twist in the wind like that. Big star athletes are not used to that. In fact, most superstars are used to getting what they want and doing what they want without repercussions. A-Rod's admission and media mea culpa was a first to witness.

But after letting it sink in, you realized, A-Rod didn't really answer a lot of the questions posed to him. When asked if it was cheating, he said, "that's not for me to determine."

When asked about his numbers being stricken? Same response.

Did you do it to gain an advantage?

"I was young and stupid."

A fastball down the middle and he swung and missed.

Even Yankee GM Brian Cashman seconded that emotion saying "the one thing he could have said, I guess, is that he did this to make himself better on the baseball field. Maybe everybody just assumes that, but I don't think that Alex is very good at communicating to be honest. This is not something he's good at."

Ya think?

Perhaps watching A-Rod's fall from grace will have a positive effect on other kids and athletes and keep them from ever doing something like this as well.

For A-Rod, he just wants to get back to playing baseball. But this could still have a big effect on the Yankees season.

The media is not done with this story. If more and more comes out and his story breaks down, will the players who stood behind him at his presser, still back him up? According to Joe Torre's book, they didn't care for him before this story broke. Why are we to believe that what Rodriguez said yesterday was the whole truth? He gave a lot of double speak when answering tough questions.

Across the board, whether you're a fan of A-Rod's or not, the whole thing is a sad story. Many thought before this that A-Rod would be the guy to break Barry Bonds’ record for home runs and do it cleanly. Now, no one knows. See, baseball is a game of stats and nostalgia. Baseball fans compare players based on numbers. But given Rodriguez vagueness in recent interviews, the numbers to this story still don't add up.

Wait and see.

Let us know what you think; share your comments below.

By Writer Keith

Hey guys … I hate to break it to you, but Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

Many of you have probably already made plans to celebrate the patron saint of Hallmark, but if you haven’t by now you may be SOL (suddenly out of luck). But for those of you who realized that Valentine’s fell on the 14th this year, have fun. Fine dining, champagne, chocolate. My lady gets to supersize when I yell the order into the clown’s mouth. Extra fries and soda for my woman … that’s how I roll.

Hey buddy…it’s Friday. That letter isn’t getting there in time.

Speaking of my wife, she has been hard at work at her accounting firm during tax season, taking college courses online, and putting up with my day-to-day nonsense. She’s a pregnant triple threat.

Consider me not-on-board for the latest “stab my childhood in the heart” remake of “Friday the 13th.” If it’s a remake, how is Jason with the hockey mask in it? He didn’t show up slashing people with the mask until the third movie after he thankfully killed Shelly (the most annoying character in horror film history). As Crazy Ralph would say about this movie: “Doomed…You’re all dooooooomed!” I miss the days from college when me and my buddy O’B would stay up until 3 am drinking beer and watching old horror flicks making the same bad jokes. Someone gets stabbed… “hey you think he got the point?”

I am terrible with money. I’ve already spent the extra 13 bucks a week I am getting in my paycheck soon.

We’ve seen tons and tons of commercials beating it into men’s dumb heads that Valentine’s Day was coming up. Pajamas, flowers, teddy bears. But seriously, has any woman ever fallen head over heels with getting flannel pj’s for a gift. And what kind of guy wears a white undershirt to work and has a heart tattoo on his arm that says “love”?

OK, so A-Rod is now A-Roid. I actually interviewed him during one of the years he was allegedly taking the performance enhancing drugs. Nice guy, canned answers. Though he did sign the cast of one of the kids watching me talk with him.

Here’s the thing. When you are an elite athlete you know every single thing that goes into your body. I am also not buying that a senior writer from Sports Illustrated broke into his house. It’s Sports Illustrated not TMZ. Plus, no police report? Please remember that we here at the Morning Express are not “loosey goosey” when it comes to our show. The only performance enhancing drugs we take are Diet Coke and bagels.

I thought I saw the Dali Lama at the grocery store the other day. Turns out it was just a bald guy wearing a maroon Snuggie.

Nothing but the Grammys makes me realize how out of touch I am with today’s music. I kept telling myself “that doesn’t look like Jimmy Page” when I saw Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on stage.

I’ve finally become part of the “Facebook” community. That thing is worse than crack. It does have its benefits though. One of the people my wife grew up with is now the head chef at her favorite restaurant. That’s good eating.

So let me know what’s up with you heading into this weekend. We always love to hear from you.