Ernie D

Man my kids were fired up on Sunday for the Bills opening game of the season. Sam was mentioning that they were going 13 and 3 and Jake was a bit more pragmatic choosing 10 and 6. Both were ready for the playoffs.

The game was a dud. I was even surprised by it. Yet I was watching the 27-Time World Champion Greatest Franchise Ever-First Place Yankees pummel the hapless Orioles 13 to 3 instead of watching football.

Still, I felt for the boys.

As you will note this article is entitled Ernie D.

For the uninitiated he was a basketball player who arrived on the Buffalo sports scene in 1972. He was 6-feet tall, Italian, and very popular in our house. I loved Ernie. My brothers loved Ernie. My Dad really loved Ernie.

And he was good!

And so were the Braves.

I saw the photo of Ernie in a Buffalo pizza shop on Monday morning and it got me thinking about how down the kids were about the Bills.

I remembered how down I was when the Braves traded Ernie out of town. What the hell was wrong with them?

Ernie's career didn't last long. He won the Rookie of the Year with the Braves but soon enough he was gone as were the Buffalo Braves.

A very sad day when the Braves left town. I couldn't understand it. They left for money when they sold every single seat. How can a kid understand that?

I texted a buddy of mine and sent him the shot of Ernie.

"Remember going to see him play?" my buddy asked. "You guys were waving an Italian flag."

We might have been.

I haven't heard much of Ernie these days. He must be 60 years old by now, but staring at his photo on the wall as I ate lunch I felt ten years old again.

The Bills can go 13 and 2 the rest of the way, boys.

Enjoy these days.