FDH Lounge Show #51: March 25, 2009

By Rick Morris

Last week, THE FDH LOUNGE (7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) celebrated its 50th episode. This week, the show where “nothing is off-topic” lives up to its slogan like never before for the 51st episode.

Prior to The Opening Statements from The Dignitaries of The FDH Lounge and our look at This Week In The FDH Lounge, we welcome in Philadelphia sportscaster Jim Jackson. He is the TV play-by-play announcer for the Flyers and radio pre-game and post-game host for the Phillies. We will discuss the NHL Eastern Conference playoff picture and the Phils’ chances of being the first team since the 2000 Yankees to repeat as World Series Champions.

From there, we move to Part One of our studio roundtable debate about the upcoming closure at Guantanamo Bay. In an atmosphere in which even this new liberal president has admitted that some detainees have been released only to rejoin the jihad, how do we strike a balance between properly protecting American interests at home and abroad and making sure that those who are incarcerated deserve to be?

At the top of Hour Two, we will speak with legendary pro wrestler Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. He’ll share his thoughts on the movie “The Wrestler,” his long career in the business including his present-day work and what life has been like as a participant in his close friend Hulk Hogan’s reality TV shows.

Our Beefcake chat is bookended by Part Two of our Gitmo discussion (are you getting whiplash yet?). Then we handicap in bullet form the chances for success for various parts of the Obama agenda this year: greater regulation of Wall Street, health care reorganization, the card check sop to the unions and the carbon tax.

At the top of Hour Three, we bring in one of the two most recognizable sports mascots in the world: the Phillie Phanatic. Of course, last year in Episode #27, we already interviewed the other one at that level, the industry pioneer himself, the San Diego Chicken. The Phanatic has an interesting story to tell and he now represents the world champions!

It takes a guest the caliber of the Phanatic to alter the course of the third hour, which is normally split down the middle between the show-within-a-show segments known as THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER and THE GOON SQUAD. Instead, each will be slightly truncated tonight. Our fantasy talk will revolve around important spring training notes and how to take our draft-oriented advice and apply it to your auctions. Of course, whatever the format of your league, you’re going in essentially naked if you do it without our free draft guide, FANTASY BASEBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2009! Then, our hockey discussions will revolve around the biggest controversy in the international media today – the Don Cherry/Alex Ovechkin back-and-forth – and the shape of the playoff picture as the league is now inside of the final dozen games on its schedule.

It’s going to be a great program and we hope you can be a part of our audience. As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here.