Let’s take a break from the local, gone national story of “Kids as Pets” and have some fun.

Had to mention I saw Sharon Reed walking to her “Brownstown” gig at the Stadium on Monday. Lemme say this, TV does not do her justice. Very beautiful woman. Her newscasts stink, but she’s incredible.

I did not attend the Browns game this week, so I don’t have much to say. The 3-4 defense obviously needs work, and once again, we cannot stop the run. Too many gaps in that pass defense, too. Offense looked OK in the first half, but fairly inept after the half. It’s gonna take some time. Lots of time.

Thought I would get back into the swing of posting with a recap of Cooperstown, which is basically in the middle of nowhere in the Adirondacks. Past Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. Even past Utica. I believe the closest bigger city is Albany. It’s about 7 hours from Cleveland, with a couple of short stops.

We stayed at a place called the Tunnicliff Inn. Our suite had two bedrooms and two baths, with individual TVs in each room. It’s located about 500 feet from the Hall. I could not stomach the summer prices, but since we arrived on Labor Day, the suite was 50% off, because of the off-peak season. The rooms were OK. They were clean, and had good air conditioning. However, my bathroom was right out of “Tiny House” from the GEICO commercial. I still have the bruises. But it’s in a great location to stay in the town, maybe the closest of any lodging.

The town itself is camped right next to Lake Otsego and it’s a gorgeous spot. And, of course, James Fenimore Cooper patrolled the area. I think I saw Daniel Day-Lewis and his left foot there. I already have my house picked out, which stands right on the lake, for when I become mayor of the town. The city, in addition to housing the Baseball Hall of Fame, is kind of a resort area during the summer. There remains this uneasy alliance between the outsiders and the townies, who I am sure, wish the visitors would leave quicker than they do. We arrived on Labor Day, which signals the end of the summer season.

The Hall of Fame itself is a neat place. They have a film presentation at the beginning, which is pretty cool. Then you advance chronologically through all of the memorabilia. They have a good mix of the old with the new. In a display of all of the current teams, they run a film of web gems from the current season, and there are a lot of great defensive plays on that one. Babe Ruth is probably the person featured most prominently in the exhibits. The Hall and town seem to be obsessed with “Who’s on First?” for some strange reason. I think the plaques need to be made better, because some guys didn’t even look like themselves. I’d say six to seven hours is probably enough time to get through the hall. We split that over two days, because if you show up two hours or less before closing, you do not have to pay for re-entry the next day.

Many people asked before I left, what else is there to do besides visit the Hall? Well, it’s strange that I would find this out, but they actually serve beer in several establishments around town. There are some local breweries pumping out some pretty good stuff. When we arrived, we went to a place called the LakeFront Motel which had an outdoor patio, near the lake. Really good view. By no means extravagant, they served cold beer. I had something called Witte which was pretty good. And I think I ate a bucketful of shrimp.

Breakfasts were very good. We ate at both the Doubleday Café and Cooperstown Diner. At the Doubleday, I had a broccoli, ham and pepper omelet and had pancakes at the Diner. The only day we were there for lunch, we ate at a place called the All-American Café. It was a strange location down an alley, behind many businesses with their air conditioning cranked. So, in addition to hearing many Abba songs and Hall and Oates greatest hits, you had the constant droning of this equipment. But I had a ribeye sandwich that was good.

In New York State, you cannot smoke inside of the bar. We found this out at a place called Cooney’s (or was it Cooley’s?) which just opened in 2004. Cheap beer for happy hour. Definitely a townie place at night, especially after Labor Day.

The problem with arriving on Labor Day is that it is really difficult to find place to eat at night. Sal’s Pizzeria does a nice job with a New York style. When the Hall closed at 9:00, Sal’s was maybe the only place that was open. The best place we found, however, was the Hoffman Lane Bistro. This was an oasis, compared to all the schlocky souvenir places and restaurants that were closed. Kind of an upscale feel, it definitely meets a niche market there. Nice outdoor patio and really good food. I went for the meat loaf. By far, the best place we went to. Yankee game on the tube, small bar and a chance to eat outside. Could not beat it.

I would recommend going. It might be better to fly to Albany and get a rental car. But the drive is straight out 90 on the Thruway to 28 South in New York. Lots of cops were out on Labor Day, but only saw one coming back on Wednesday. Gas was $3.45 in New York State at the time. Cooperstown is probably a place you could go to every year for a few days to do other stuff besides the Hall. They seem to be obsessed with apples and ice cream and “Who’s On First?”, if you favor that stuff. There are other things to do (Soccer HOF nearby) and places to eat in the general vicinity of Cooperstown, but we stayed local for this effort. I liked it, because it served its purpose as a nice getaway.

INXS

We are down to the Final Four. Brooke comes out wearing a skirt that barely covers her padonkadonk. Suzie kicks off the proceedings with a set consisting of an STP song and that damn “What’s Goin’ On?” tune, which I cannot stand. I guess she did OK. And, of course, she tried to hump Dave Navarro and any available guitarist during her set. But she did not cry live, only on tape, when she played the “woman” card. Ty got beat up for playing the race card, so she dropped a few notches in my eye with that one. J.D. came out and did his original song “Pretty Vegas” and I must say, I think he was channeling Hutchence with that tune. Really good job. J.D. also sang Pink Floyd’s “Money”. They had the cheesiest cash register effects that must have come from the “Transporter 2” set. But I thought his version was good.

Mahtee was next with his original tune, “Trees”. I kinda dig the lyrics on that one and it was an acoustic version with Dave. His next tune was “Creep” by Radiohead. No doubt, it was “a swing and a drive” and he definitely homered on that one. MiG finished up and I’m not sure if it was song selection or what. His arrangement and performance of “Paint It Black” was pretty bad. Then he sang a Seal song. Yes, a Seal song! You may as well tell the audience to fluff their pillows before you start that one. It was a buzzkill.

And the early voting proved it and I can’t disagree. Mahtee, J.D., Suzie, then MiG. I sense MiGgy won’t get out of fourth, unless Oz carries him. It may be the old Mark Burnett magic working here. I think MiG had to be considered a favorite coming into tonight’s show. The band gives him some tough choices, he doesn’t deliver, ends up in the bottom three and gets voted out tomorrow by the band, who doesn’t think he’s roit for our band. It could happen and I predict that it will.

For all the J.D. hate out there, he’s got great range. Suzie doesn’t have a prayer and is lucky to be this far. I have stirred the packet of Kool-Aid in a tall pitcher of water for Mahtee, but haven’t sipped it yet. That’s your final three.