Thoughts of a Common Man

Losing a bet is one thing. Losing a bet to a guy who never stops talking trash is just plain miserable. Poor Chuck. On his 51st birthday, no less, he invited us to dinner to pay off the season-long NFL bet. From what I gather Chuck led all season long, only to be overtaken late... ...and there was a price to pay. We gathered at the Dinosaur BBQ in downtown Buffalo to even things up. Chuck, Corinne, Me and Sam... ...but there was an added delight: Jake came along as well. Now you might remember that Jake took me to the woodshed this year at Red Lobster. He wanted in on this free meal because... ...my boys love their aunts and uncles. Corinne and Chuck really make them laugh. So we ordered. I went with the brisket, ribs and spicy shrimp. We also had a platter of fried green tomatoes, some wings, and assorted other BBQ items. Every bite of food was great. Sam chided (Hi Kim) Chuck at every turn. We laughed, ate and when the bill came, Chuck made the...

Back in college there were days when we didn't feel like doing much because we were worn out, completely, from the night before. "I'm like a dishrag," would be the rallying cry. Inevitably someone would try their best to get us upright by telling us that feeling better was just a beer away. "You'll be all right!" When I woke on Saturday morning... ...my back was hammering at me and my legs were just plain numb. "I feel like a dishrag," I told Melky. And the sad part is that I don't drink anymore! I had just slept a long while and was more tired than when I went to bed. A beer won't make me feel better either. I thought about the six days gone by. Four nearly all-day speaking engagements , a nagging cold, about thirty construction site visits, spinal decompression, hundreds of miles in the car, 'what's for dinner?', troubled sleep, massage, 'I can't feel my legs!', Bruce concert , endless cell ...

Chris Christie endorsed Donald Trump for president yesterday. You know Christie... he's the rotund governor of New Jersey. The guy who explained to the world that Trump was unfit to hold the highest office in the land. Christie claimed that Trump was lying when he said that Muslims were celebrating in New Jersey following the attacks on 9/11. Christie also defended Muslim-Americans when Trump talked deportation. I remember thinking that perhaps Christie had some real principles. I should've known better. Now I understand that Christie is a member of the Republican party. Trump, unbelievably looks like the winning candidate. Does Christie want to be on the ticket? Is that what it takes to abandon your principles? I also understand that all politicians are frauds of epic proportions... some more so than others... but don't most people stay true to themselves? I have a whole bunch of thoughts on a number of subjects. Ask anyone who knows me. I never...

My ears are ringing. My back and legs are sore. 34 songs. The River played to perfection. Independence Day was explained. A son and his dad having a conversation. A son finally seeing, for the first time, the sacrifices that his father made for him that took away some of the life that the Dad had lived. (Amazing thought - simply amazing - A son telling his Dad that he appreciates the compromises that were made). I saw it from my Dad's point of view and from the point of view of my boys. When Bruce sang the last line: "I never meant to take those things away." It really, really, really hit me hard. That was the first half hour into the show! But then...there was the rock and roll. One song after another. No one sitting down. The crowd singing most of the songs right along with Bruce and Steven. Just incredible. And I texted my family...who shares the love and Pops and the Cataldo family and all the people I know who have shared the p...

I know that the first song is going to be the great River outtake: Meet Me In The City ... ...I've never seen that one performed live so SCORE! Right off the bat!! And then Bruce and the Band are going to play the entire River record. It's a great record. I've seen them perform all the huge hits off of that record like the title song, Hungry Heart, Ramrod, The Ties that Bind, Two Hearts and even Drive All Night. It's the other ones that are going to really get my full attention. (I may be at full attention for the ones I've already heard). But I'm thinking Jackson Cage and The Price You Pay . I love those songs. This will be the 33rd time that I've seen Springsteen play live. There's nothing like the first time and I will remember that night back in 1984 until they put me in the grave... ...but I've witnessed a whole bunch of great shows. In fact... ... the first 32 were the best. Fenway Park. Washington D.C. Mo...

John Rigas and his two sons were the toast of Buffalo about 15 years ago... ...they saved the Sabres and they made a bid to do a whole bunch of work downtown. Then the bottom fell out. Like a whole bunch of other rich big shots they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. It was alleged that they were using the hard-earned money of their very employees to supplement their rich boy ways. They were convicted of it. Two out of three of them went to prison. Including John Rigas... ...who just received a compassionate release as he is 91 years old and in failing health. I'm not sure how I feel about that. You see, the thing that aggravates me more than anything else in this world are the really rich guys who do everything they can not to pay their fair share. Minimum wage is held down. Retirement, health care, time off of work have all been denied. Millions of people aren't making a living wage!!! And yet... ...the very top takes all they can an...

Jake was adamant about it. I had to go see the movie Dead Pool with him. He'd watched the movie the week before. "It's the funniest movie I've ever seen," he said. I didn't know a whole lot about the movie, but had heard an interview with Ryan Reynolds. We planned it out. Saturday night at 7:45. My sister Corinne and brother-in-law Chuck were in too, but Chuck 'never laughs at funny stuff' as Sam said. (That stems from the boys and Chuck's disagreement on Ted and Superbad). At the last minute... ...Sam bowed out. So it was just me and Jake... ...and he'd already seen it. I could've skipped out. But Jake was adamant. So the verdict? It was really funny... ...there was also a plot line that was interesting all the way through. Like other Superhero movies there was a lot of crap blown up. It deserved the R-rating though. As we headed out of the theatre Jake got his props... ...he'd chosen a movie t...

Trying to get some feeling back into my legs after a long week is pretty much the goal of every weekend. The pins and needles were really pronounced as the week wore down on Friday, but luckily my beautiful wife had set me up with a prime massage appointment. 7 p.m. on a Friday. Maria was the lucky lady who was tasked with the chore of getting the blood flowing in my sometimes useless legs. She'd worked on me before so she knew that it's in the hip and don't touch the nerve endings that I call feet. We started chatting. About everything, really. The Donald and the Pope. The fact that February blows for people in their 50's. Then she told me about the hearty stock of her family. Her great-grandfather had lived to 99! "And you know how he died?" She asked. Usually on an open-ended question like that I'll chime in with something witty and brilliant. I simply waited for it. "He got ran over by a car." I almost laughed. ...

I have kids running around here projecting about their future. Worrying about it. Wondering what they're going to do to set themselves up to live the sort of life that they've experienced at Camp Clifford . I'm of the mindset that they can stay as long as they want. Live here until you're 50! We like having you around. But that's not quite how it works, right? A former baseball player, Tony Phillips died of a heart attack this week. He was just fifty-seven. When I read the news I thought back... ...not too far back... May 20, 1986. The Yankees were in Oakland to play the A's. Ron Guidry was pitching for the Yankees. The Gator was one of my favorites. I was 21 years old. My Dad, who was watching the game with me on that day, was 48. Tony Phillips, who was 27, was a real pain in the ass that day. Good D. Always a tough at-bat. He could play anywhere. The game was tied into the 9th inning. Guidry was still in there. I was d...

I really hate this month. I know that you aren't supposed to wish time away, but tell me one good thing about February. The weather blows. I really can't do the cold. My feet always get wet no matter how much I try to guard against it. The other day I walked out onto a job site with a phone that was at 82%. I left the phone in the top pocket of my jacket. The wind was blowing. It was about 8 degrees. I finished the sideview and got back into the car. My phone was at 6%! Did you know that the cold drains the battery? Even my phone hates February. Baseball is teasing me. The pitchers and catchers are reporting. There aren't any games being played. The predictions are coming out. I read them, but they are nothing but a tease! I want baseball...and they're making me wait. Also, this is the month of the year where all the contractors I work with want training for their employees. I don't mind the training. I enjoy being in a warm r...

This presidential election is really something. There is a whole bunch of nastiness going on every single day. It is certainly more so pronounced on the GOP side where The Donald says something noteworthy (I guess) every single day. He pissed off the Pope yesterday. But this is not a Donald post. This one is about Jeb. Poor Jeb. I'm really, really, really feeling bad for the guy... ...and I'm not a fan of any of the Bush clan. But Jeb just looks so uncomfortable to me. Like his skin just doesn't fit. Trump isn't doing him any favors whatsoever, but Bush has just stepped into one pile of poop after another. He debated Trump about how nastiness couldn't win you the presidency. Trump said: "I'm at 42% and you're at 3% so it's working so far." Jeb looked lost completely after those words sunk in. Then he brought his Mom out to stump for him. He tried to look like a normal guy and mentioned that he was happy bec...

Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors. Beach Music is in the top ten of my favorite books. There were a few others that were nearly as good. Conroy always made me think a lot and he wrote classic characters who were deep thinkers themselves. All the while the plot move forward. Great stuff. We actually both received awards from the New England Book Festival - - one year apart. I missed his speech for having the best overall book of that year. I showed up the next year. Still pissed I missed it. But I read the sad news a few days ago. Conroy has pancreatic cancer. There wasn't any discussion on his diagnosis or prognosis or any other kind of -osis. He simply said that he owed his fans a novel and that he would finish it. Then there was another quote. (I'm paraphrasing). He said that he spent a whole lot of time considering his life in an attempt to figure out what it meant...and that he was no closer to a solution than when he first started...

In the middle of a crowded restaurant in Brunswick, Maine, I sat alone with my copy of the USA Today. I've never felt weird eating by myself. It's part of the gig. I ordered. Nothing, fancy. I was in Maine so I had a lobster roll, but it wasn't overly expensive. In fact, it didn't cost me a dime! I have to take you back a little bit. As I entered the restaurant I walked by a table that was occupied by two thirty-something women. One of them waved at me. I wondered if there was something wrong with her. I was wearing the fleece I had checked the construction jobs along with a pair of jeans that are pretty worn. As I was eating my salad, one of the women turned and laughed. They were a good three tables away, so while it was curious, I didn't give it a second thought. I was reading about the NBA All-Star game. I never looked up again. They left. A little while later, I was getting agitated. "Can I get the check?" "T...

The news of Supreme Court Judge Scalia's death came down on Saturday afternoon. There was a bit of shock at first. I was watching a movie at the time and was clicking on social media sites. The shock gave way to one or two messages: Those who were glad the man was dead! and Those who believed that he was murdered by 'libtards'. I continued to scroll. Soon enough those two folks met on a message board... ...almost every single message board! The hate. Pure, simple, bitter, nasty, vile... ...hate. The man hadn't been dead for even ten hours. And yet this was where the battle went. Then it came down to people wondering about who Obama might pick. Someone suggested that Obama shouldn't be allowed to pick. (Even though that doesn't actually jive with the constitution). Others argued that so and so might nominate someone or the other. I wonder... ...Has it always been this way? Has there always been this much division? I d...

I have long conversations with Mom at least a couple of times a week. They are great conversations about what is going on in the world and slowly but surely she has opened the window into a lot of what went on in the days when we were all growing up. "You kids drove us nuts..you were always battling back and forth," she told me one day. So...it would stand to reason that they needed to blow off some steam from time to time. Of course they did. They came in third place in the Scotch Doubles Bowling Tournament. What's funny is that I recognized nearly every single couple on the leader board - small-town life is awesome - and I also recall the nights when they would head out to compete. Because we would have a babysitter... ...whom we would terrorize... ...with our Fuzzy-ness . (I don't know what they were being paid for an hour of their time, but it wasn't worth it!). I also remember the trophy. They received a trophy for their lofty finish....

There won't be any Valentine's exchanged here at Camp Clifford . Neither of us really care about such things. (At least that's what my beautiful wife told me to say). But actually, it is true. Flowers? "Waste of money," she'd say. Candy? "I can buy my own candy." Love doesn't have to stand on such ceremony... ...especially this many years in. But there will be Valentine's consideration. I'll make breakfast and dinner. "Your freaking breakfast is ready," will be how I call my love to the table. We will clean up, prepare for the week ahead and catch a movie or a few shows. The idea of exchanging Valentine's is probably for those who are still trying to impress one another. I think that the longer it goes... ...the less you work on the impressing one another aspects of all of it. Besides, after a certain amount of time... ...you've kind of already bought all the gifts possible. But then...

Was listening to Opie & Jim Norton the other morning and they were talking about dropping garbage off at the dumps on a weekly basis. My heart skipped a beat. Now, dumping garbage shouldn't cause a heart to skip a beat, but it did for me. The Dumps! As kids we had to load up the truck so that we could take the considerable Fazzolari garbage and toss it out into the field. We usually made the trip on Saturday afternoons. Dad driving all of us up Shirley Road. I tried to think of the exact location of the dump...but couldn't actually recall what street it was on. Is it still there? Dad was creative during those trips. He'd sit one of us on his lap and let us steer home. Sometimes he'd coast down the road... ...sometimes we'd ride in the back of the truck. I distinctly remember the yellow Ford pickup truck. But there were a lot of different vehicles over the years. The dumps also played another important role in my life. It was where...

The concert tour is in full swing. I have always been a fan of The River , of course and I'm looking forward to a couple of songs that I've never seen played live: The Price You Pay and Jackson Cage . Along with the other 18 great songs on that record. Of course, they're playing about 15 more songs after that...so I better get a nap on the day of the show. Then, news broke on Thursday that Bruce has finished his autobiography. It's due out in September. That's incredible. Through the years there's been very little news about Bruce's personal life. Somehow he stays out of the news... ...nary a parking ticket. But what interests me most is that he will most likely let us in on the creative process. I am looking forward to that most of all. He will most likely talk about all the members of the band and his two marriages. Interesting, for sure. How did he battle depression? What about that tough relationship with his Dad? But i...

Cam Newton says that his poor loser behavior is just who he is: "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser," he said. Yeah, well: Show me a poor loser ... and you're still a loser ...but now everyone knows you're a crybaby loser . Show up in gold cleats with MVP on them and dance every time you make a 3-yard gain and you have to be man enough to stand and face the questions when you lose. You have to! I thought the Super Bowl was a colossal bore anyway...the game was pathetic...looked like two teams playing a pre-season Thursday night game. But now there is news that Beyonce was doing a Black Power play as she danced half-naked and chanted something. The response to her message has been underwhelming in some circles. I kinda' missed the message all together. I was emptying the dishwasher as the halftime show was going on. Emptying the dishwasher was the highlight of the game. (Right up until I gave up completely two minutes into th...

Paris loses her mind when one of us says: Uh-Oh!! The poor dog knows that something bad has happened and she jumps in your lap in an effort to calm things down for you. The thing about bad things happening in this day and age is that we know about them before the dust even clears. I received a notification with the above-photo on Friday. A crane had toppled in New York City. "That's a bad day," I thought as I scrambled to read the details. Now for full disclosure I have had to help investigate three instances of crane tip-overs. They aren't pretty scenes. There's a lot of blaming going on. At one of them the people involved were offering up every excuse in the book. I think one of the guys even said: "The glove didn't fit." But there are a couple of universal truths that I know going in to an investigation. 1). It's usually human error and 2). People lie. Not some people. Not a few people. All people. In a d...

Why do we worry so much? I really find myself doing it way too much these days when the kids are out of the house. "Did you text Jake?" I'll ask. I know, for sure, that it's a by-product of my lunatic wife and my slightly neurotic mother-in-law, but I am caught up in the whirlwind of their nervousness. I find that I'll text Sam or Jake a joke... ...just so they respond when they're out and about. There are even times when I'll go to bed without knowing exactly when they will be home. When I wake in the morning I'll look at the phone and seeing it come up blank I'll know that nothing happened. Then I stop worrying. My friend Kim posted a meme about worrying last week...how it's like sitting in a rocking chair...it passes the time, but you don't get anywhere. It's true. "What are you worried about?" Worrying takes you out of the moment. It tears down your mood. It keeps you from the task at hand. A...

I did a little acting back in college. I may have told the story before, but I was the lead in a couple of one-act plays. My beautiful wife remembers the story because the lead actress was really cute and I purchased tickets to go to a real show (not easy to do on a college budget) and I held them out to the pretty girl and asked if she wanted to catch the play down at the Erie Playhouse. She took both tickets from my hand and said: "Thank you so much! My boyfriend will be so excited!!" (Yeah. I was that much of an idiot). (Hope they've had a long, miserable life together). Anywhoha... During one of the plays we were gathered around a kitchen table where we were supposed to banter back and forth. We had food from McDonald's in front of us and we were supposed to eat it as we talked. 1). The french fries were ice cold! I almost spit it out onto the table at the start of the act. and 2). There was nothing in my drink cup! "We don't wa...

Super Bowl Sunday. A downright holiday now...right? Despite the head injuries, the bad behavior, the greed. Okay... ...For one day I'll drop the crusade, and instead, think about the past Super Bowls. What if Scott Norwood's kick had been true? Would the Bills had won more than just one? Would life had changed at all? It's an interesting question, I suppose, but I honestly believe that it changes absolutely nothing! The ESPN 30 for 30 on the Bills was on during the day on Saturday. The documentary covers them all the way through the years and the aftermath of what were some great careers. Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas are Buffalo mainstays these days. Seeing them on television is like seeing a member of the family in some ways as they are so familiar to us all. Buffalo fans are pretty defensive about those losses and the stars of those teams. "This is pretty sad," Jake said as he entered the room. They were at the point in the documen...

Saw an old friend's picture in the paper on Friday night. I had worked with Paul in a two-man office about 20 years ago. When I met him, Paul had a reputation of being a man who was difficult to get along with. In fact my boss, the owner of the crane company said: "Just do your best, Paul means well." I smiled when I saw Paul's photo in the paper... ...even though he was in the obituary section. My friend Paul was a lot of things. He had a fiery temper. He swore better than anyone I'd ever met. He was quick to anger but just as quick to forgive. You couldn't win an argument with him because he was really smart...one of the smartest guys I ever knew. My favorite part of my friendship with Paul? He showed up for work every single day. And he never complained.... ... even though he had polio. He had never been able to walk. Paul never once whined about struggling to get up the stairs, or out to his car. It would take Paul more ...

I didn't watch a whole lot of Cam Newton through the year. Part of that was because I watched a whole lot less football this year, but also, there wasn't much by way of Panthers football here in AFC East country. People were raving about his performance though...my boys included...and there was a lot of talk about how much fun he was having. Celebrating just about everything! Now I'm not much into the bat flipping and showing up of opponents, but there has been a lot of talk about how confident the Panthers have been all week and how business-like the Broncos have been. Watch out Panthers! The Bills thought they would have an easy time with the Giants in the Bowl 25 years ago...and we remember how that played out. There are some real similarities. Anywhoha... This isn't just about football... ...it's about confidence! Confidence is a tricky thing. Some people might think you're being arrogant. I remember guys always saying...back a long...

Seriously, does anyone even care? The following NFL players have been posthumously diagnosed with CTE - which is chronic traumatic encephalopathy: Andre Waters Mike Webster Junior Seau Kenny Stabler Justin Strzelczyk Dave Duerson Most of these men died well before they reached the average life-span for man. They died violently in some cases. They say that Waters brain was so badly damaged that it belonged in the head of a 90-year-old man. Now the experts are saying that O.J. Simpson probably had CTE when he butchered his wife and Ron Goldman. Does anyone care? Is football that important? I can probably answer those two questions with the following two answers: Hell no! and Of course football is that important! We are willing to allow men to scramble their brains for our entertainment! Of course we are!! They knew the risks! Stabler pulled himself away from the game in his last few years. He did so because he didn't want his grandkids play...

The social event in North Collins when I was in the 7th and 8th grades was most certainly: Roller skating at the American Legion!!! I saw a photo of a pair of woman's roller skates on Twitter and my mind clicked back. Probably because I wore woman's roller skates to those Friday night events. My cousin Carol had passed her roller skates down to me and I was happy to have them! The female version of roller skates being that they lace up higher. Once I pulled the jean legs over them no one actually knew that I was wearing women's skates. I used to go to a secluded area to take them on or off. And I was an okay skater. Which is all you have to be really...just don't fall down when your brother rolls by and punches you. But what I most remember about those nights was the music: Silly Love Songs by McCartney ... ...I used to love when that song came up and through the speakers. I remember the Paul Simon song 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover too. Who co...

The presidential candidates aren't the most physically attractive of people, are they? (I know, Pops, that hurts coming from me). But we've seen Hilary looking haggard. We've seen Donald's hair askew...and Bernie's too, for that matter. We've seen the candidates stand for photos looking their best...and looking their worst... ...and Ted Cruz looks like Eddie Munster. Good thing it ain't a beauty contest. (I'm thinking...is that mean? Ahh...who cares?) The groundhog said that spring is coming early. I won't say that it's been a mild Buffalo winter because as soon as I do it'll get nasty... ...but I don't believe in that crap... ...it's been a great winter! The Iowa races were certainly a surprise. Trump kept telling us that he was gonna' win and that if you don't finish first you're just a looser. So, guess what? He lost. Onto New Hampshire! What's really weird is that I will be in both s...

I have a great fear that 2016 is going to turn into a real mess and the divide is going to grow wider and wider between the two political parties in this land. There are a whole bunch of reasons why this seems to be likely. And the other morning I grabbed a bowl of cereal and listened to an interview with one of the candidates. Trump had decided not to participate in the Republican debate. I believe it was the Today Show where he was captured for the interview. 30 seconds into the interview I only had a single question. Really? Trump was basically shouting over the question of his interviewer. He was speaking of two things: How terrific he is. And How much of a loser the other people are. All through the day I thought about that interview. Is this the best we can do? (In full disclosure...none of the candidates has made me say...'that's my favorite'). But... Now I get the side of the people who are for the Make America Great portion of the argu...

I saw the ball swing around to the spot where my son Sam was standing. The score was tied. He caught the pass. "Shoot it," I whispered to myself. Sam did. Good form, no one near him. Nothing but net. A three. The people in the gym cheered. The applause sounded really loud to me. I saw Sam head back on D. He glanced in my direction, but looked away quickly. Matt and my beautiful wife and my wonderful mother-in-law were all cheering behind me. "'Bout time he did something," Matt said. Following the first half I went to the car to get my phone. When I re-entered the gym Sam was standing just inside the door, dribbling the ball. They were just finishing up their shoot-around before the second half started. "Give me it," I said to Sam. He passed me the ball. I was deep in the corner. I took aim. My heavy jacket was a minor concern, but I could hit this shot (from well behind the 3-point line) all day when I was young....