Thoughts of a Common Man

Okay, let’s have a go at it. Last time I accurately picked the Super Bowl Champs was the year Brady led the Patriots to the title. So, I have some work to do. Let’s go with the NFC first: Division winners include: Eagles, Packers, Bucs and Rams.  Other playoff teams: Dallas, 49ers and Vikings. I often fall into the trap of believing that Rodgers can win a big game. I know Tommy can, but his o-line isn’t great, and Gronk didn’t come back - yet. The obvious pick might be the right pick here; Packers. In the AFC there will be a whole lot of competition: Bills, Ravens, Titans and Chargers will win their divisions. Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins will be playoff teams. And the trendy pick is, of course, the hometown Bills. They have the most talent. Yet I’m always weary of teams who come into a season with this much love. (If you read the baseball previews you’d have been absolutely convinced that no one was beating the Blue Jays - they haven’t been the world beaters everyone believed). But t...

Okay, it’s actually called the ‘Militi-Raulli Open’. I inserted the ‘Fazzolari’. I’ve played in the 2-round event every year since 1997. Look at the beauty of the course behind us.  That’s Conklin Player’s Club in Binghamton and it’s one of my very favorite places to play. Things have changed a lot since ‘97. Back then, as a 30-something man I went for food and drink more than golf. We would stay out late and have a lot of beer. I had one beer this time out. Joe Militi passed away about ten years ago, but we do a toast to him and tell a few stories. Joe was a great guy who was so funny.  He must love that we are still singing his praises as we play. The golf was golf! Good shots, bad shots, missed putts, made putts, lost balls and found balls. I looked around a lot. At the scenery and my buddies. “I don’t know how many years we have left to do this,” I thought, on the way home. That’s 25 years for me. There is certainly not 25 more years left. But, hopefully, the younger guys ...

So, the Bills are looking for a punter. Won’t be me. I couldn’t kick a football out the room I’m sitting in. I have zero clue how anyone ever kicks one! As a matter-of-fact, back in 1997, I worked with about 700 other guys at the rehab of the Bills Stadium and towards the end of the job the Bills let all the workers go to the field and attempt to kick a 35-yard field goal.  A couple of hundred of us lined up to take one kick at it. I was about tenth in line. To the never-ending joy of some of the guys I worked with, my attempt was a little short. The ball stopped spinning somewhere near the 25-yard line. One guy. One! Made it through the uprights! But this isn’t a kicking story. It’s a sad, tragic, horrific story. The Bills are searching for a punter because the guy they drafted to do the job was let go on Saturday because there are very credible stories out there about the rape of a minor. A gang rape. That is sad enough, but you know what’s worse? Bills fans actually defending th...

Plenty of things to comment on, huh? The Bills cut their punter last night after a horrific story broke about ‘Punt God’. An alleged felony rape of a minor, and while the Bills eventually did the right thing, they didn’t exactly come totally clean.  There’s zero chance that they didn’t know about it when they drafted him. They just hoped that the public outcry didn’t get him. Speaking of public outcry: Where is the national condemnation of what certainly appears to be treason. Go get that Russian spy! Today!! Sadly, we will suffer his time for years and years. A whole bunch of people are going to have to do a lot of digging to save this Democracy based on the actions of one man (and dozens and dozens of co-conspirators). There is way too much information and the longer it drags on the worse it will be. Lock Him Up! Despite the daily misery brought to us by the news of the day it’s been one hell of a summer here in Buffalo! So much sunshine and I’ve been out in it constantly. Whethe...

This memory actually begins at around 11 p.m. on August 25, 1985. My college roommate, Fluffy and me were hosting a small party at the house that we had rented prior to the start of our senior year at college. We were at school a full week before classes were set to begin because we wanted to get a jump on drinking beer. Hence, the party and then an announcement on the local radio station as ‘Dancing in the Dark’ played. “Springsteen and the E-Street Band will be at the CNE in Toronto tomorrow entertaining about 80,000 people. Are you one of the lucky fans who will be going?” “We’re going!” Fluffy announced. I laughed. “Seriously, let’s go!” Now, we were both feeling pretty good around then and we began talking about how great it would be to make the 4 hour drive to see the show.” Couple of problems. We would need to be up and out of bed by 8 a.m. and we were broke college students who didn’t have tickets! “You have your tuition money,” Fluffy reasoned. “We use that. By the end of Sept...

I woke up a little down yesterday. You see, I had a dream that was pretty vivid and in it we were at a concert (probably Bruce) just me and Kathy, and she had a beer in her hand, was about 35 years old, and was standing and singing. Just a beautiful vision, and I probably should’ve woken up happy, but I felt a little down, because those carefree days seem behind us. Life has intervened a little, and while the days gone past sometimes feel like one long day, there is always a price to pay. But I’m alive and I’m feeling all right, and through this summer, I’ve grown aware of the limited time that we have left to make our mark in this single print of time. We’ve lost friends and family. We’ve battled health problems and I was a little down because in that dream I saw the beauty of the summer days and the smile in her eyes as she sang along with whoever was on stage (it was Bruce). And I drove a long way yesterday morning to reflect on that dream, and I kept thinking about the idea that wi...

 Society appears doomed. Look at that photo. I assume that is a father and a son and that the photo is real. Sometimes that’s tricky as all sorts of things can be messed with on the internet. I’ve personally seen my head on Kobe’s body, at a strip joint, in all sorts of drunken situations. Let’s presume it is true because it most likely is. There are all sorts of messages written at every protest and gathering. What sort of respect for women is he teaching that boy? And I spent the afternoon listening to people rail about the student loan forgiveness. My God! They’re wiping away rabid interests on loans that were basically loan shark rates. For people making less than $75 grand! I talked about this before. I paid my student loans back but it was possible to do so then! I also wasn’t charged $35 grand a semester. College was affordable in the 80’s. Loan repayment was possible! Since I repaid my loans am I mad about those who were forgiven some of their debt? No! I am happy for them....

“But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold. Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode.” It gets that way in the summer time. Been going hard for months. The last round of golf was rough because I couldn’t stay down on my iron shots. There was back pain and no matter how many times I told myself to stay down… …up I came. Hit the top of the ball. And work on Monday brought more fatigue rather than a feeling of rest coming off the weekend. More jobs. More calls. Just keeps coming. Until you feel so weak you want to explode. But I have thoroughly enjoyed the summer, playing golf, walking from site to site in brilliant sunshine, and playing ball with Oliver as soon as I walk through the door. (He’s relentless). On Tuesday morning I left the house before six a.m. It wasn’t warm and it was still dark. “Damn,” I thought. “It’s starting to go the other way.” Of course, there’s time left to enjoy the sunshine, but I’m already fully dreading the coming cold weather, and the snow, and ...

There are millions of people out there who are still livid about the fact that Clinton used a private server to send government information. “Lock her up was the rallying cry!” It was thoroughly investigated, of course, and the fact that they re-opened the investigation two weeks before the election sealed her fate. Now, we find out that as many as 300 classified documents - some so sensitive that they had to be read in a secure room - were kept at a golf resort. The guy who took them is saying: “They’re mine!” What will it take? Who, after following Trump’s greed, doesn’t believe that he intended to profit off this by selling them to the highest bidder? Of course, he’s playing victim again, but I don’t think it will work this time. It shouldn’t. But they haven’t slapped the cuffs on him yet and I wonder why. Instead, there are stories about when he will announce that he’s running again! Are you kidding? He shouldn’t be allowed dog catcher! (Dogs hate him too). Arrest him. He can’t eve...

We’re watching a show called ‘Candy’ with Jessica Biel and the actress who played Rose on ‘Two And A Half Men’ - who is great in everything she does. The show takes place in 1978 and shows a couple of marriages and men’s jobs from back in those days. I couldn’t help but think of the massive cultural and technical differences. The first episode shows a struggle of a traveling husband trying to get ahold of his wife as he’s out of town. That’s an absolutely amazing difference, right? Back then, there was a whole lot of time spent away from one’s spouse and every little thing or thought wasn’t shared. “How was your day?” Was an essential question back then. Now? “I texted that to you!” The women in the show are the main caretakers of the kids and the house. The husband kind of hung around the living room and waited to be served. I don’t think those were the good old days for the wives. There was an episode where the entire family played board games. There was a set of lawn darts in the fr...

I have been fully informed about the recent Yankees struggles! Their lead is dwindling in the American League East and their batting averages are all below .200 for the last few weeks. Here’s the thing: I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! I’ve been a fan of the Yankees since I was about five years old. I want them to win every game. When they lose, I hear about it as if I own the team. That’s all good. I earned every bit of that grief. But man, this last few weeks has been truly perplexing. They were on a historic pace to win about 120 games. Then 💥  Into the tank! So, I spent a bit of time on Saturday thinking about similar types of collapse. In 1998 - arguably the greatest team ever (they won 125 total games) - the team went into a tailspin at the start of September. Didn’t look good! They won all but 3 playoff games and the series. The 2000 team won 3 of their last 18 games. They only won 88 games all year. Beat the Mets 4-1 to win their 3rd straight title. But I have seen epic colla...

A lot of years ago I wrote a book called “Eye in the Sky” after the sudden death of a friend. My thinking was I’d be able to get a grasp on what death meant and why it scared the hell out of me as a twenty-something man. Years later, I was scared out of my mind again when my son got sick.  I wrote “Counting On A Miracle” as I grappled with the idea that I had control of nothing! At a book signing for that book a Dad came up to me and asked him how he should deal with grief after his son lost his life in a car accident. I wrote “Blind Spot” as a way to answer his questions. And then life hammered my family with a number of deaths. I felt like a zombie for a long, long time. Read some books about it, Got nowhere. This year, I’ve lost a number of work friends. Guys younger than me. Some died of Covid. One had a sudden heart attack. Another died of a blood infection. The Springsteen song on a loop: “One minute you’re here, the next minute you’re gone.” And my cousin, Maryann this week....

  When we were children the summer seemed to last forever, and each summer was made complete when our cousins from Baltimore - the Switala’s - came to visit. I’m not sure if they came up for a week or a month, but it was never long enough, and the one thing that was guaranteed was laughter. You think the Fuzzy’s are crazy? Well, there was a lot of Fuzzy in every single Switala, and some of my longest bouts of laughter happened when a Switala told a story. Well, yesterday, the Switala and Fazzolari families lost a truly beautiful soul.  My cousin Maryann passed away after a heroic battle with freaking cancer. Know what I thought about when I heard the horrible news? Yeah. Laughing. It seemed to me that Maryann was always laughing. I pictured her glee as she told me about my Uncle’s visit to the restroom in a North Collins diner. I had to ask her to stop talking as she explained what happened. But there was so much more to my beautiful cousin. She lived a life of service, and wa...

For the first four months of the baseball season the Yankees were just rolling. Was funny because I didn’t watch games where they were up 5 or 6 runs. But damn. They have gone into the tank lately and watching more than 20 innings since they scored a single freaking run??? Baseball is a humbling game. They aren’t as bad as this just as they weren’t as great as they appeared to be in May. They will find the plate again, but man.  Tough to watch right now! Let’s go! What else has been tough to watch this past week are the people trying their best to twist themselves into a pretzel to say that mishandling classified information isn’t a big deal. “It depends on how secret the nuclear secrets are,” one dude said. There is a lot of precedent for the espionage charge being raised. We have heard zero explanation for why those documents were there and why so many lies were told. I hear it’s hard to indict a former president, but man, it seems pretty cut and dried. Something has to happen so...

O.J. spent some time here. Timothy McVeigh was from here. A president was assassinated here in Buffalo. Then last week, Salman Rushdie gets stabbed, nearly murdered, on a stage in Western New York. Shocking to say the least because Rushdie had a bounty put on his head back in 1989 for writing a book that didn’t please the ayatollah of Iran. The guy who attacked Rushdie wasn’t even born then! And it’s such a crazy story! Wasn’t there any security at the event? How did the guy get to the stage long enough to inflict such damage? The good news is that Rushdie will pull through, but those are life-altering injuries to be sure. For writing! We’ve discussed this before! Banning books, burning books, attacking writers… …obviously I’m not a fan of that! And of course, there’s just no way of knowing how or why written words seem to damage some people.  I’ve been criticized a few times for things that I’ve written because the reader interpreted it in a completely different way.  I sat i...

I knew I was in trouble on the first tee when I hammered my drive straight and down the middle and then Pops got up and hit his a little further. By the 4th hole, everyone was landing second shots on the green and we all made our putts. “We all parred it,” I said. Then we all parred the next hole. I checked the score on 8. I was one ahead. For the first time ever, I was on the fringe of the green in two on #9 but Pops second shot found the center of the green. Took me 3 to get down. He made the birdie putt. Down 1 with 9 holes to go! I didn’t tell him. Instead, I parred 10, 11, 12 & 13. I rarely par 4 straight. I had taken the lead back on 10 when Pops double bogeyed it, but he went par, par, birdie, par on 11-14. It entered my mind on 14 that I could possibly par the entire back 9 and that’s the problem with golf! I promptly double-bogeyed 3 straight! Went to 18 believing I was down 1. Even used Pops sand wedge to put it on the green and then I made a 25-footer for par. Pops would...

It appears that espionage is now going to be declared legal in some corners as there is a mad scramble to figure out what to do when a former president appears to have severely broken the law. What we know: Highly classified materials were removed from the White House. The DOJ padlocked the room where they were being stored as they tried to reason with the guy who stole them to return them. Surveillance showed that the boxes were removed from the area in between so a search warrant was legally served to go get stuff back. What we don’t know: Who saw that classified material. Doesn’t matter, really. The laws were broken and the materials found were highly classified. That should be enough for an arrest. So we wait, and listen to people who can’t admit that they were duped by a master con man, try their best to come up with some sort of excuse. One senator came out and mentioned that the espionage laws are stupid and should be repealed. Just insane. About 20 people stood outside in Flori...

I spent some time last night watching the documentary, ‘The Captain’ about the incomparable Derek Jeter, and the episode was covering the year 2001. We all know what happened in 2001. At least I think we remember September 11th. We should never forget. And it was all in the backdrop of the news of the day. Espionage. Treason. Nuclear secrets. Search warrants. Russia. Saudi Arabia. I felt a tremendous sadness that it has come to this when it shouldn’t have. I thought about the ramifications of what might happen a year from now, three years from now, ten years from now if those secrets have been exposed. One man and one party and a whole bunch of people put us in a position to face that awful moment in time again. Never forget? And people waving flags and speaking of patriotism while they allowed an absolute menace to run wild. I don’t know how to feel right now. Go back in this blog. I lost some readers because of political discourse, but back in 2015 in the lead up to the presidential ...

First of all, I have created a freaking monster. Oliver has grown used to sleeping in his cage - he hardly fits in it - and waiting for me to get home from work. So we can play ball. And the problem is that I usually need to write reports first… …so Ollie and Miller come by and wait, patiently, for me to finish, and then we go out and play. Here’s the game. I have two balls. I throw one off the garage and Ollie tries to catch it. If he gets 10 straight he gets a free drop and the count continues.  Shadow, our black lab, set the record back in 2007 with 37 straight catches. I had an inkling that Ollie was going to make a run at it because he loves the game. Well, Thursday afternoon he was a little lost. He got to 15 before he almost collapsed in the heat. Oh, one other big factor: He was playing with two brand new balls because he’d torn the cover off the last couple. We had dinner and Ollie immediately began asking to play again. Damn. He finally talked me into it around 7:00 and h...

I didn’t have a lot going on at 8:00 last night, and my night got way worse when my beautiful wife asked if I would sit with her and watch “Big Brother.” “You can read stuff on your phone,” she reasoned.  Yet, television is a hard thing to ignore. I saw a 5-minute clip of a woman eating potato chips. Then there was some sort of contest featuring a half-dozen 20-somethings dressed in costumes in pools of what looked like sewage. They were competing for veto power or head of household. I was thrilled that I didn’t understand and that it seemed like a colossal waste of 60 minutes. Yet, I made good use of my time by watching interviews of people who were attending a big political rally in Wisconsin. I learned that JFK Jr. and Michael Jackson are still alive and are plotting with the orange menace to bring order to the world and that it was going to happen “soon.” “It’s hard for unintelligent people to understand,” one woman, covered in Trump gear, said. “Because you really need to unde...

You know that you’re in deep when a search warrant is served at your place of residence and millions of people are left to wonder: “Which investigation is this all about?” Could’ve been Georgia, or tax fraud, or the insurrection, or Saudi Arabia or Russia or the Ukraine. Turns out it’s about what he spent years leading chants about: Handling of classified evidence. How’d the chant go? “Lock her up!” And the thing about it is that a president had never been impeached twice. No president ever had a search warrant served either. History won’t be kind when it’s all said and done because despite the chatter that you’re hearing from MAGA world a search warrant would not have been granted if there hadn’t been real evidence of a crime being committed. It’s not just political football and it’s truly hard to say that it’s a witch hunt when all those who are doing the hunting have a big R next to their name. Most of those involved were directly appointed by the guy being investigated. But… …and h...

There wasn’t a man in my age group who didn’t have a bit of a crush on Olivia Newton-John. Wasn’t possible to not have some sort of stirring! She was beautiful, talented, and her voice was great. When she sang, “I Honestly Love You” I thought she was singing it to ME! And of course, GREASE was also the favorite movie of every female person in that era.  It was hard to believe that Olivia and Travolta weren’t together in real life. What saddens me a bit about all of these recent deaths: James Caan, Gilbert, Norm McDonald, Paul Sorvino, Ray Liotta  Those were our entertainers. We lost a whole bunch of rock stars just a couple of years back. Eddie Money, David Bowie, Prince, Charlie Watts It’s funny… …but there were people celebrating more than their 40-year reunion this week… …but hearing that someone is at their 40-year high school reunion makes you automatically say: “Damn! You’re old.” Not old yet, but not young anymore. Losing our entertainers! We’re in the on-deck circle! L...

I didn’t place this year, but man, the peppers were great again. Before the event I made an Italian sausage sandwich and slipped one of my homemade peppers on the sandwich and thought: “Not different enough to win, but damn, that’s good!” And Pops came in 2nd again, sandwiched between my cousin Lou who had two entries and picked up 1st and 3rd place! But the party after was great as well. Whole lot of spirits flowing and our hearts were heavy too as we thought about our Baltimore connections and the heartache of Cousin Mert battling! We made a couple of videos to say hello, and the corn hole tourney was pretty wild too. And then I had to drive 4 idiot kids back home. You haven’t lived until you’re in the car with 4 20-somethings who’ve been having fun while you drank only water. Idiots! Corinne and Chuck are the greatest of hosts! Their parties are always epic! And now? I have about 35 peppers to eat over the next couple of days. A few years ago that wouldn’t have been a problem! Now I...

That’s me and my great friend, Kellie. I had a couple of photos on my phone from the 40-year reunion and can’t wait to see the rest because there were so many of my legendary friends in the Village of North Collins last night to mark the 40-year celebration. What I kept thinking about was how amazing life can be.  I hadn’t seen many of the people in that room for decades.  Social media makes it easier to stay in touch, but I got great joy in remembering the love, the friendship, the laughs and the tears. What also amazed me is that: I still really KNOW these people. I know their heart. And that love and friendship that we tossed out into the universe all that time ago… …is still right there and it’s fun to reach back into time and grab ahold of it for an evening. We laughed a lot. There surprisingly wasn’t a lot of ‘Do you remember when?’ There was plenty of, ‘How are you? How has your life played out?’ And my favorite parts: I put on my Fuzzy hat for a little while. I tried m...

Shamed myself the other day. It was blazing hot outside and after I visited a job I stopped at a 7/11 to grab some water. On the way into the store I saw a black man, in a wheelchair, making a rather spirited move towards me and the front door. He called out. “Sir!” I pretended I didn’t hear him. The air conditioning blasted me and it felt great. I headed straight to the cooler and grabbed 3 bottles of water because they were on sale. “Did you see Harry out there?” The clerk asked me. “I beg your pardon?” “Harry. Older black man in the wheelchair?” “I guess,” I said. “Today is his birthday. He’s a good guy. He probably just wanted to say ‘Hello.’” I had assumed that he was going to beg for my change. I didn’t know how to answer the woman behind the counter, but I was going to at least tell Harry to have a ‘Happy Birthday.’ I opened the front door and Harry was right there. He was using a white towel to wipe sweat from his brow. “Happy Birthday, Harry,” I said. He laughed. It was a grea...

 There’s a consensus on only one thing baseball-related. People will argue anything at all about the sport. Was Ruth the best of all-time? Was Mantle better than Mays? Should Rose or Bonds be in the Hall. Baseball is made for arguments. What simply can’t be argued is who is the greatest broadcaster of all-time. It’s Vin Scully. And it isn’t even close. Scully had the perfect voice and temperament to announce the game. His knowledge of the game was second to none, and he was perfect in the big moments. Think Aaron’s 715, The Catch in football, Gibson’s homer in ‘88. Perfect calls. But for me, it was his stories and the rhythmic way that he told them. They were stories that reinforced all that was good about living. He described the night sky as if he painted it himself. He spoke lovingly about his wife, his friends in and out of the sport. Just the best. He lived a great life. 94 years! Universally beloved. I enjoyed the day recap of his career but had to laugh at those who spoke of...

If I were a terrorist I wouldn’t want to be ranked second on the most wanted list. Seems like the number 2 most wanted guy always gets mowed down. I also find it odd that there are press conferences held to announce their deaths. “He walked out onto the porch. Took a deep breath, looked up at the sun, and we blew his freaking head off. We’d like to thank all who made it possible.” Of course, if you’re a fan of the administration in charge you’re all for it. If you aren’t you say, ‘Never heard of the dude.’ But the entire ‘evil for the sake of evil’ is pretty crazy to me. First, we are fans of ‘Better Call Saul’ and the last episode showed Saul stealing someone’s identity and doing it to a cancer patient that he had befriended. It was uncomfortable to watch, and I had a thought: “There’s just a meanness to this world.” But it’s only television, right? Then, for some reason, a guy on a job showed me the video from the helmet camera of the Buffalo mass shooter. “Why?” I asked. “Would you ...

I won’t be nervous today as the baseball trade deadline hits because the Yankees already addressed everything! They picked up two relievers and a front-line starter along with a good-hitting outfielder… …to join a squad that has the best record in the American League. And the thing about it is that they are well-positioned to win a World Series. No guarantees that they will, but they certainly are in the conversation and that’s the best part about being a Yankees fan. They are usually all in. For example, Baltimore has been a surprise this year. They are 3 games back in the playoff race. Yesterday they dumped their highest paid player for two low-ball players so they could save two months of salary. How do you keep fans when doing that? The Bills are good now, but for a whole bunch of years they flashed a shiny object (think T.O.) to sell tickets and false hope. These owners aren’t poor. All of them can afford to go for it. The Yankees have never gone truly cheap on their fans. They’re...

 I’m having a hard time figuring out how that is Ivana Trump’s final resting place. A couple of months back I buried Paris at the big house on the hill. I decorated my beloved dog’s final resting spot in a much more loving way. They buried the woman in the rough near the first hole on the golf course and then traipsed around her with the Saudi government. And the reporting is that they wanted to bury her there so there would be a tax exemption. Now, I do believe that, but it hardly matters. I don’t care about the conspiracy part of it all… …but take a close look at that grave! We had a pet rabbit, when I was a kid, who died in the cage. We gave that rabbit a better send-off than that! And I got to wondering… …what if there is an errant tee shot that ends up on the grave. Do you get relief? “If you land on Ivana’s grave, you can drop the ball ten feet left or right of the spot it lands.” She had three kids. They went along with that? Do you need to pay green fees to visit the grave?...