Dave learned something just before coming out tonight . . . what the people really want to see is Dave on Celebrity Dancing.

The Country Music Association Awards were held at the New York City's Madison Square Garden tonight. It's a really big event. If the biggest city in the United States actually had a country music radio station, it would be even bigger! My dad liked the country music after returning from the Korean War, influenced by his fellow men in camouflage (at least that's the way I remember hearing it), and I became turned on to the C&W after spending a week in Arizona about 15 years ago. Unfortunately, there's no more country in New York City. We have a lot of Zoo-FM's, but no country.

It's Tuesday night and we head over to Rupert's. Before going in, we get a look at the Hello Deli marquee. It covers the old one. What was the Hello Deli before it was the Hello Deli? Look under the marquee and you would see the sign, Preview Sandwich Shop.
Dave greets Rupert and talks Jets football. The Jets problem? They've been plagued by injuries. Dave sends Rupert outside to get a contestant. Meanwhile we have a show to put on.

There was a lot of excitement at tonight's Country Music Association Awards. But like any award show, the telecast also had its sober moments. We see the CMA "In Memoriam" clip.
-Merle Kilgore - singer-songwriter
-Jimmy Martin - bluegrass legend
-Bert Caldwell - first guy to use the word "dang"

And though many people find award shows to be dull, the CMAs was chock-full of exciting entertainment.
Announcer:

"Coming up next on the 39th annual CMA Awards: Performances by Garth Brooks, Gretchen Wilson, and an all-star salute to chaw! Stay with us!"

Back to Rupert. We find with him contestant Julie Andrews of Des Moines, Iowa. Asks Dave, "And what does Des Moines mean?" Uh oh. I scramble for my big blue encyclopedia back in the shack. A Stangel starts Googling. Julie says she's not sure but thinks it was named after a Fort. Julie is in town for the Country Music Association Awards, though she wasn't able to garner a ticket for the 20,000-seat auditorium at the Garden. Tix are going for $2,500, says Julie. Wow. at that price I hope you get to sit with the drummer.
Tonight we're playing "What's On The iPod?: CMA Edition." Rupert will listen to a CMA nominated song on his iPod and sing along. Julie will have 30 seconds to guess the song. Rupert puts the iPod earpiece into his ear and listens . . . . and then begins to sing. I tried to play along but it was hard to tell what Rupert was singing since his singing sounded like a truck had just ran over his foot. But remember, Julie is a country music fan. Within seconds she blurts, "Toby Keith." Whoa! That's right! I don't think we were expecting this. A little more singing from Rupert and she says, "As Good As I Once Was." Ta da! Julie Andrews is right! We have a winner! The song Rupert was destroying was Toby Keith's "As Good As I Once Was." Congratulations, Julie. Julie wins some kind of vacuum and a Hello Deli deli platter. If the show had a decent budget, we would have thrown in a couple tickets to the CMA's.
And that's how we play "What's on the iPod: CMA Edition"

TOP TEN: Least Amazing Inventions - "Time" Magazine has come out with its list of the most amazing inventions of 2005. On my Top Ten info blue card, I stated the above and added:
#1. Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog. Dave didn't mention it.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX: Joaquin is a first-time home owner and is congratulated by Dave on the big move. Owning a home is one sign of becoming a responsible adult. Dave is enthused for Joaquin, which was good since Joaquin showed no enthusiasm at all. He was not at all impressed with owning a home. It's just a place to live. He has two stories about his new home; one involving a rat and the other involving a contractor. The contractor was more frightening. Joaquin had the house painted which ended up taking 3 months and costing more than the house itself. Joaquin says that every bad story you hear about contractors is true. The rat story, not the contractor, took place in his kitchen. Joaquin came home one night and saw this huge rat in the kitchen. Joaquin was startled. The rat was not. The rat calmly continued to do what it was doing, then moseyed on into the master bedroom. Joaquin has been relegated to the 2nd bedroom.
Joaquin stars as Johnny Cash in the new film, "Walk The Line" along with Reese Witherspoon. Dave is hyped for the film, raving about it ever since Reese was on the show last month. Joaquin says he knew nothing about music or singing before doing the film, having to start from scratch. From all I've heard, Joaquin does a great job as Johnny Cash and "Walk The Line" is one movie that's on my list to go see if I actually went to go see movies.
"Walk the Line" - it opens Friday.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: He's the 2005 Champ Car World Series Champion! And a driver for Newman/Haas Racing Team; Newman of course, being Paul Newman. Sebastien is one of only a few drivers ever to repeat as Champ Car Champ; Bobby Rahal, Rich Mears, Alex Zanardi, and Gil de Ferran the others.
In Las Vegas back in September, Sebastien had a run-in with driver Paul Tracy. They've made contact in previous races but it came to a head in Vegas. We see a clip of the "tap" and the resulting spinout and crash. Upon seeing the clip, Dave describes what he saw, "Oh, I see, you just bumped him out of the way." Sebastien offers a bit of the back story of what led up to the "nudge." It's all part of racing.
Dave reaches behind the desk and shows a box of Paul Newman's Newman's Own Popcorn. I think we're all familiar with Mr. Newman's popcorn. But Dave also has his own brand of popcorn, the increasingly popular "Explod-O-Pop" popcorn.
Dave shows the box to his popcorn. Then Dave pulls out two bowls of popcorn for a taste test; one of Newman's Own; one of Explod-O-Pop, the world's only atomic popping corn. Sebastien tastes each and says they taste the same. Sorry, Sebastien, but you're not getting off that easy. Try again and give an answer. Sebastien takes another handful from each bowl and opts for Bowl B, the second bowl. And which popcorn was Bowl B? Dave uncovers the label and it is . . . . NEWMAN'S OWN!

ACT 5: It's time for a Late Show Family Fitness Challenge Update.
Six months ago, the Myers family from Dayton, Ohio wrote in and asked us to help them lose weight. Our training staff sprung into action and challenged Lou, Debbie, and the kids to exercise regularly and improve their diet. How'd they do? They failed! The Myers Family is fatter and unhappier than ever! Better luck next time, guys! This has been a Late Show Family Fitness challenge Update.

TRISHA YEARWOOD: From her CD, "Jasper County," Trisha performed the lovely "Trying To Love You."

And that was our show for Tuesday, November 15, 2005. Wahoo EXTRA!

I poured myself a cup of coffee this morning at work. As I shook my sugar packets, I decided today was the day I start drinking my coffee black. It's been something I've wanted to do for awhile. I don't really like the taste of coffee anyway, so if I'm going to drink it, I may as well look cool doing it.

I got gas today in Jersey: $2.19 a gallon.

Yesterday we did something called "Word Never Before Said By A U.S. President." We then saw a shot of George W. Bush saying the word "Matlock." I found it oddly amusing, but before the show I did a quick Google check on "Reagan" and "Matlock," figuring there might be a match since "Matlock" was popular during the Reagan Administration (I think) and with Reagan's Hollywood background, I suspected Ronnie may have said "Matlock" at least once during his Presidency. I did a Google just for the fun of it. I found that a John Matlock worked closely with President Reagan covering our relations with the Soviet Union. I had a match. I showed the Stangels, saying I hoped this wasn't a problem. They laughed when they read it.

Then I received this from Wahoo reader Bruce Alter of Fairfax Station, Virginia:

"It probably wasn't even the first time THIS President Bush said the word, 'Matlock.' On April 4, 2004, he spoke at a 'Discussion on Job Training and the National Economy' in El Dorado, Arkansas. Another speaker, whom the President introduced, was Kathy Matlock, president of South Arkansas Community College." 40 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. pps. 551-560 (Apr. 12, 2004).

Congratulations to BostonBill on his website achieving its 2000th hit. To enjoy photos and still shots from previous Late Show episodes, check out his site at:
http://community-2.webtv.net/bostonbill41/
Will you be the visitor who matches the hit count with the Late Show show number? Wednesday's show is #2461

Following my football rant yesterday, two kindly Wahoo readers directed me to Gregg Easterrook's column at NFL.com. The link:
http://www.nfl.com/writers/easterbrook
He is in my corner on many topics discussed here about NFL football coverage, although he would probably rightly say that it is I who is in his corner. So I checked out his column for this week and hey!, he wrote something about the Cortland State/Ithaca game. Go Red Dragons. Cortland football has come a long way since I was there. Back then Cortland fans would just sit on their hands and simply wait for Brockport to show up later in the season. It's different now. C-State plays the good football these days.

And in honor of the CMA Awards, here are some of my favorite Country song titles.
- You're Going To Ruin My Bad Reputation
- What Made Milwaukee Famous has Made a Loser Out of Me
- She's Acting Single...I'm Drinking Doubles
- She Got the Ring and I Got The Finger
- She Got the Gold Mine and I Got The Shaft
- My John Deere Was Breaking Your Field While Your Dear John Was Breaking My Heart
- I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home.
- If You See Me Getting Smaller, It's Cause I'm Leaving' You
- If The Phone Don't Ring, Baby, You'll Know It's Me
- If I Were In Your Shoes, I'd Walk Right Back To Me
- If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now
- I'm so Miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
- I'll Marry You Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight
- I Wanted You To Leave Until You Left Me
- I Want a Beer As Cold As My Ex-Wife's Heart
- I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
- I Keep Forgetting I Forgot About you
- I Gave Her My Heart and a Diamond and She Clubbed Me With a Spade
- I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself or Go Bowling
- I Changed Her Oil, She Changed My Life
- I Been Roped and Thrown By Jesus in the Holy Ghost Corral
- Hold On To Your Me, 'Cause She's Single Again
- Did I Shave My Legs For This?
- At The Gas Station of Love, I Got The Self Service Pump
- How Can I Miss You If You Won't Got Away
- Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye
- I Can't Get Over You, So Why Don't You Get Under Me?