Idle thought: As I see my daughters drag themselves out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and walk out the door at 7:05 to be at school for the 7:45 bell, I wonder who in the world thinks these gawd-awful hours are good for kids. So my queston is this: Why do we think it's wise to make kids begin their days at hours when a great deal of the working world remains idle? Or, to put it another way: Why do we ask more from our kids, who have every right to merely be kids and enjoy being kids, than we do from adults?

OK … I'm cheating … adding another question after four comments have been posted. But I have another school-related question.

My daughter's school, in its infinite wisdom, scheduled her for a first-period study hall. To even have study hall this early seems odd; do they actually want her to skip homework the night before and do it early in the morning? Of course not , the school says, she should "work ahead." Got it. Can't she just sleep in? Noooo. She's got to be there at the crack of dawn for study hall. So her experience this year started with a first period study hall on the first day. Get the picture? She had not had a class yet, but had a study hall to start the day. Administrators get Master's Degrees to make these kind of decisions. It would seem to me that a first-period study hall on day one would be a nice chance to let the kids relax, talk quietly, take it easy before actual class starts. But noooooooooooo. The teacher in charge actually yelled at the entire class because a couple kids were whispering to each other. YELLED at them. They were supposed to sit and not make a peep, which meant sit and be bored to tears for 45 minutes because THEY HAD NOT HAD A CLASS YET. I ask: What is up with that?

Oh … my other daughter. She lucked out. She got second-period study hall.

Did you ever think what life must look like from the point of view of a spider?

Marla Ridenour talked to the boss, and they decided it would be a good idea for me to cover the Brett Favre news conference. Sweet of her. Every reporter in the greater New York-New Jersey-New Philadelphia area was there, and he spoke in a room smaller than his walk-in closets. No matter, since Marla figured it was a good idea, I did as well. So I took the elevator down to where Favre was speaking and ran across Brett Reynolds, the Browns vice president for sales and marketing. For a second, it seemed like a good idea to interview this Brett since it'd be less crowded, but then it didn't seem like people would be that interested in Brett Reynolds. At the room, we were informed that the Jets had picked the New York and national folks who would be allowed in. The Beacon Journal did not make the cut — neither did most of the Cleveland media, or Adriana Lima. So we shuffled around outside the room until Favre appeared. When he did, it seemed like the world might be interested in seeing what we saw.

Here, Favre arrives.

Here he holds up his new Jets jersey.

Here a female photographer sits on the shoulders of another female to get the photo. The reporter in front seems a bit more concerned with what is happening there than what Favre is saying.

Finally, this is what the hallway outside looked like.

At this point, it seemed like a good time to head up to the press box.

So I crossed paths with my friend Frank. Online that is. This is an example of journalism of the zeroes. Instant messages, that kind of thing.

Anyway, Frank is quite the sports guy. He probably knows more than I do about this stuff, which really isn’t saying much. He’s also a top-notch smart aleck, which you’ll find out soon enough. Frank’s not his real name. It’s been changed to protect the innocent.

At any rate, we both watched a healthy portion of the All-Star game (not together), and we had this conversation online Wednesday about the Game. For some reason I found it interesting.

In addition, there’s really not a lot going on in sports right now. It’s that midseason baseball lull, when there are no games, football has yet to start and ESPN is close to showing the ESPYs, the greatest waste of time in our generation.

Me: Quite the midseason classic eh?
Frank: I was hoping for a tie
Me: Game 7 (of the World Series) on a neutral site?
Frank: Could have it here
Me: Sure.
Me: League Park?
Frank: Rubber bowl. It would be a sellout with CC pitching for the Brewers.
Me: He'll pack 'em in … and probably win with 14 Ks
Frank: Game winning homer too.
Me: Second and third RBIs.
Frank: Whiffs Manny to end game
Me: After knocking him down.
Me: In his postgame he does an Art Modell and thanks the city of Cleveland.
Frank: Modell blows. … A friend of mine wants to know why you hate CC so much
Me: I don’t hate him. I like him. He just wants the money. His words that he loved it here were a sham. And … I don't believe you have a friend.
Frank: Well, this guy isn't really a friend. Let's say he's a guy I know. … I don't remember CC using the words ‘I love it here.’
Me: He said it in spring training … ‘Everybody knows how much I love it here.’ Something like that. So there.
Frank: I must have been sleeping when he said that
Me: That’s not surprising … I heard some talk show guys last night saying that the Indians can get back in the race … be down five by end of August .
Frank: Five behind KC?
Me: Matt LaPorta will be on the Olympic team
Frank: He'll be the star
Me: Until he tears his Achilles.
Frank: He'll still be back before Hafner
Me: I’d like to talk with Jake.
Frank: Westbrook?
Me: Yea. The pitcher who got hurt.
Frank: He'll be back before Hafner, Time to go cut the grass

Yes, it may be lame. But For some reason that conversation seems to sum up the feeling of the fan base these days.

Today's blog is presented by Larry King, the multi-married talk-show host …

The Indians won two in a row! … Must let the lovely Dyan Cannon know of that. … She’s a huge Tribe fan. … Jack looked great last night, didn’t he? … But who was the guy with the hat and sunglasses? … With two in a row, it could be time for the Indians to get themselves untracked. … Lot of injuries though. … Two pitchers, three and four hitters hurt or hurting. …. Yikes. … My good friend Mark Shapiro will address the media today. … Mark remains a baseball bright light. … Still, nobody in Dubuque will send him any sympathy cards. … Love those valet parking commercials on the NBA Finals. … “Let me get warm here. You are HOT.” … Not quite as good as the E*Trade baby who answers the Blackberry and says, “Hey girl. Can I hit you back?” … Every time Tim Donaghy opens his mouth, NBA folks must cringe. … Donaghy has some fiery claims in his latest court filing. Specifically that a 2002 playoff series between the Lakers and Sacramento was … umm …affected by calls. … Fans have cried conspiracy in the NBA for years. … Don’t think my dear friend David Stern would allow that though. … That being said, the news is enough to make a person scratch his forehead. … And think about those phantom calls that affected a game. … That’s the problem with a crook like Donaghy – his actions smear others just by association. … Not sure about you, but I’ll take Caribou over Starbucks any day of the week. … Clutch game by Paul Pierce eh? … AC in the car was out recently when it was in the 90s and will be fixed today when it’s 72 and lovely. … Great timing there eh? … Felt for all the folks who were within noseshot when the car door opened over the weekend. … Said the parking lot guy: “You were like a zombie!” … Kind of cracks me up. … Memo to ask Jack: What exactly makes you a fan? … LeCharles, love ya and the comeback. … But it still seems like a long road ahead. … Wouldn’t it be great to have The Thing from the Addams Family reside in the house? … If the Indians are to get going, now is the time to do it. … They play Minnesota (31-34), San Diego (28-38) and Colorado (29-39), the Dodgers (31-33), San Francisco (29-36) and Cincinnati (31-35) the next few series. … That’s six teams, all below .500. … They don’t come out of it by the end of this stretch, which coincidentally is June 30, it’s time to start making some serious decisions. … Time to go look for wife number seven to complete marriage number eight. … Oh gosh, forgot I’m not even divorced yet. … Angie, you look beautiful on that Vanity Fair cover. … Call me. … Who in the world gets married seven times to six different women? … See ya around.