Thoughts of a Common Man

 Leave me alone! 😂 

I knew it was going to be a problem - three games in three nights - the starting time at 08:08 each night. I don’t have much wiggle room on what time I wake up because I’ve been waking up early for decades and I have work and I also have a cat who thinks he’s an alarm clock. So, I knew there was a problem. It’s worse than I thought because I haven’t been able to catch up at all and damn… …I’m tired! Why do they need to do a 10-minute national anthem and then bring a rapper on to yell at me for another 10 minutes? “Start the game!” I yelled each night. And in Game 4 - two Yankees fans grabbed the ball out of Mookie Betts’ glove after he caught a foul ball down the line. I laughed when I first saw it happen - because it was so damn dumb! What were they thinking??? We have had to mute the announcers each night - not so much because I hate the announcers but because they don’t shut up! I watch a lot of Yankees games and am used to their announcers as they let the game breathe. A national a...

We’ve all heard the joke told by the ‘comedian’ at the MSG rally where he labeled all Puerto Ricans as garbage. The joke wasn’t funny and it was also punching down at an entire race of people at a political rally. That wasn’t all - he also told that hysterical ‘carving watermelon’ joke about blacks. I’d never heard of the guy beforehand, but his act was vetted prior to the rally and deemed acceptable by a party of people who are now openly telling the nation that they only want whites here. I got news for them. It’s not going to happen. Go to a city. Watch a baseball game. Go to a worksite - anywhere in the country. There are way more than white people who make up this land. This country was built on the backs of immigrants. Native Americans made up iron working crews. The masons and painters were Italian men who were vilified when they entered. I was on a site last week and I spoke with the foreman of the framing crew - he’s from Guatemala - speaks perfect English - even bought me a b...

Did you notice that we didn’t ever have to worry about rigged elections? That’s only a truly recent phenomenon - all started by the rantings of one crazed man. Usually I don’t have any sort of trouble voting - takes five minutes - the fire hall is less than a mile from here. I sign next to my name from last election and the process of voting doesn’t take long at all. In and out in five minutes. Yet, I know that others don’t have it quite so easy. Blocks of people are in areas where voting is MADE difficult for them. I read today that Puerto Rico citizens aren’t allowed to vote for president even though they’re considered to be American citizens. Calls are made to people in poor neighborhoods to let them know that the voting date has changed or balls are closed down. All sorts of deceit. We should all get a vote, and we should take advantage. I have friends who have never voted. I find that crazy. And yet, much like the World Series, I know who I WANT to win, and this election promises ...

Game 3 is tonight and Yankees are down two. Could easily be up two, but didn’t finish plays and they’re certainly playing a good team. I’m still confident and me and a buddy of mine have been trying to talk another friend to spring for tickets. Standing room tickets are going for the cheap price of $835 - with fees included, you can stand and watch for just less than $1,000.00 I love the Yankees. Would never consider dropping a grand for a ticket. Kathy and I went to the American League Championship Series in Cleveland in 1998. We paid $100 for our seats. How high can the prices go? See the rally in NYC yesterday? Whole lot of white people making fun of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and blacks. One comedian told a joke about blacks and watermelon. So funny! (I’m being sarcastic, of course). I certainly can’t wait for the election to be in the rear view and hopefully we don’t ever have to see another orange politician ever again. I’m thinking I put the golf season behind me too… …was a great ...

What a world. I watched one of the greatest baseball games I’ve ever seen last night. A true game of inches - Gleyber’s ball was caught by a fan at the top of the wall - Oswaldo was mere inches away from a double play grounder in the 10th - Nestor tried a ‘get ahead’ fastball and Freddie was ready. Just a tremendous game between two great teams, and it came down to one single out. Now, the anxiety was almost too much. When Ohtani flew out to Verdugo - who made a ridiculous catch - I said to Kathy: “Seriously? Football is better than this? Really?” She laughed. And I was disappointed, of course, but I understood why Nestor was in the game - he owns Ohtani - it’s left on left against Freeman. Perhaps Hill could’ve been the choice - but he wasn’t. Freeman is good. He won the battle. Oh my God! After the game the Yankees ‘fans’ went insane. “Fire Boone! Fire Cashman! Trade Judge!!” One pitch was not executed in one game! Judge will be fine. They played a great game and failed to execute on...

Game 1 - Friday Night Yankees 6 Dodgers 4 Cole is the staff ace and the best pitcher in this series. He’s also a true competitor and my favorite part of watching him pitch is that he gets really focused when things get tight. Yankees lead 1-0 Game 2 - Saturday Night Dodgers 8 Yankees 7 There are going to be a lot of runs in this series. Ohtani and Judge and Soto and Muncy will all hit homers in this game and by the end of the night I will be absolutely exhausted and looking forward to my early morning round of golf. More than that I will be ready for Sunday night off. Series tied 1-1 On to New York. Game 3 - Monday Night  Yankees 9 Dodgers 5 Clarke Schmidt is a good pitcher. He will give a good start as the Yankees jump out to an early lead on long balls from Torres, Judge and Stanton. The game will get a little hairy in the middle innings but Nestor will strike out Ohtani in a big spot. Yankees lead the series 2 games to 1 (I will pick up the prediction as the series moves on - th...

The big news was teased all evening yesterday. A journalist supposedly had a video that would end the campaign of one of the presidential candidates. That’s hard to believe as the same candidate: 1). Was found guilty of 34 felonies. 2). His business was deemed as fraudulent. 3). He was found liable for sexual assault. 4). He tried to overthrow the government. 5). He tried to get his vice president hanged. So, what could possibly end it? The report was that there was a video of him groping a child at a dinner thrown by one of his donors. No one is shocked. Those who are voting for him: A). Don’t care. B). Don’t believe it. C). Blame the little girl for dressing provocatively. Please, make it stop. This garbage has been going on since 2015… …all-consuming… …”Did you hear what he did today?” Over and over. Nine years of this garbage. C’mon November 5th… …or the Hand of God. Make it stop.

I was an obnoxious Yankees fan at an early age. (Hard to believe). My Dad was the reason why I was so passionate about it - and we were happy that the Yankees made it to the World Series in 1976, but they got run over by the Big Red Machine. They signed Reggie that winter and waiting for the season to start in 1977 was an eternal wait. The ‘77 Yankees were good, and we watched a lot of games. The 1977 season was great and the World Series matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers promised to be epic. By then, my friends were sick of me and they all - to a man - were rooting for the Dodgers. I can name the batting order for the Yankees as well as the Dodgers - there were some really great players: Think Reggie and Munson and Randolph and Catfish on the Yankees. Garvey, Cey, Davey Lopes and Don Sutton on the Dodgers. Billy Martin and Tommy Laaorda were the colorful managers. The Yankees won 4 games to 2 and Reggie hit 5 bombs, including 3 in the last game. I happily accepted the $3.00 I re...

Deshaun Watson is a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. He was good once, but went through a bit of trouble as massage therapists everywhere had a problem with him. When he returned to the field - he wasn’t great. Cleveland is paying him a lot of money to be lousy. On Sunday he suffered a horrible injury- he tore his Achilles tendon - take it from me - that ain’t fun. Cleveland fans cheered as he laid on the field. At a rally in Pennsylvania one of the candidates talked about Arnold Palmer, and he decided to tell everyone that Palmer - who is dead - was well-endowed. The candidates supporters thought it was hilarious. What the hell happened to America? All decorum is gone. There are daily reminders on social media about bad behavior. That same candidate referred to his opponent as a ‘shit vice President’. The ramblings of it all are nonsensical, but there are people truly enjoying it. I’m just not surprised anymore. There’s so much hate and rage and I wonder why… …is it because peopl...

“I’m just so happy,” Kathy said, as Soto’s homer cleared the centerfield fence. Just prior to that I said: “I don’t know if he’s going to get a hit here, but this is one of the greatest at-bats I’ve ever seen.” The thing is, the games against Cleveland were simply amazing.  Three straight instant classics. Cleveland did the only thing they could do as they didn’t have great starting pitching - they rolled out one big arm after another - but the Yankees have some great hitters and when you see them every night… …Judge and Stanton bother homered off Clause. …Judge and Soto both homered off Gaddis. …Stanton homered off Smith and two more. Cleveland just kept thinking they could get Stanton out, and it didn’t work. So, off to the World Series and for those bitching about payroll? The team was built through trades, dumpster diving for deals and one huge trade for Soto that hurt - they gave up 5 pitchers for him including a front line starter. Cleveland received more money from revenue s...

There were a number of great moments in the ‘celebration of mediocrity’ as my buddy, Mike, dubbed my plans for my 60th. It’s funny, but I had a stray thought as I stood at the first tee: “Can I hit a golf ball at 60 years old?” I hit a good tee shot, and we were off. It was a little cold early one, but I was in short-sleeves and shorts by the third hole - wasn’t a cloud in the sky and I mostly stayed in the middle of the course. We made a pact at a par 3 that if we are ever in the presence of any of the others - and made a hole in one - we would forever call that golfer, ‘Ace.’ Love those guys - don’t want to ever call any of them ‘Ace’ forever. At home, we had lobster, steak, scallops and stuffed peppers.  Kathy baked a cake Plates were cleaned! At night, the Yankees came on. “They won’t lose on my birthday,” I announced, as I thought about Reggie hitting 3 bombs when I was 13. Stanton hit a 💣 to put the Yankees up 6-2 and I exhaled, but it’s the playoffs and Cleveland is good. T...

That’s me and my much, much, much older buddy, Bob.  We hit Denny’s for breakfast for lunch. Bob ordered off the senior menu.  I couldn’t do it! Today is my 60th birthday. Weird. When we were kids if you heard someone was sixty you tried your best to be nice because you heard it was right to be respectful of elders.  I asked a buddy if turning 60 bugged him (he hit the round number in August). “A little,” he said. “It seems like a month ago that we were at frat parties at Gannon.” I laughed. It truly does. The mind plays tricks on you, but truthfully, there’s not a whole lot to say.   I have aged since those Gannon days! I’ve spent some time this past month kind of caught up in it a little. At 18 years old, there was very little time spent on worrying about time. Now, it dawns on you a little that even in the best of all circumstances, there are a finite number of days left. What can be done? Nothing! I have enjoyed my work, my friends, my family, my pets and pl...

Not sure if you’ve seen the clip of the Orange Oompa Loompa dancing for 39 minutes instead of taking questions at a campaign stop. It was weird.. To say the least. Now, I say that I’m not sure if you saw it because there are media conglomerates who completely ignore his shortcomings. I had a conversation one day with a supporter of his and it went like this: “There have been less border crossings in the last four years than in the four years before.” “That’s not true!” He yelled. “They’re pouring across the border.” But the truth is - stats show that the border crossings has slowed! “Crime is out of control.” “Violent crimes have declined,” I said. Yet, the true information isn’t getting out. Yet, how do you deny his standing there, swaying as he played songs off his I-pod, pretending that he composed the songs. “Play YMCA really loud!” He announced. Then he did that two-handed thing that he considers dancing. I’m not doing it justice: It was the weirdest, most bizarre thing I’ve ever ...

The weather report is encouraging for a round of golf on Friday to celebrate my 60th. I’m happy that our usual foursome will be together - more on that later in the week - but for now: “There’s snow in the forecast in the higher elevations,” the way too freaking excited meteorologist said. (They drive me crazy, by the way, when they try and take credit for the shining sun - “See what I dialed up for you?” - hahahahahahahahaha). I was freaking 🥶 on Tuesday morning!!! I have a truck filled with clothes including about 5 jackets to choose from. “I don’t want to wear a jacket!” I yelled to the coal grey sky. But I had to wear it all day long, even though I couldn’t find the exact one I wanted. “It’s going to be a harsh winter,” a guy said at the first site. “Don’t say that.” “I think there’s going to be a lot of snow.” “Shut up.” “You shut up, I have a snowmobile that I haven’t used more than twice a year in five years.” I laughed. “So you don’t know anything about the weather prediction,...

As I approach the round number birthday, I have been a tad reflective. My new book is all about looking back and laughing. Today is a day I think about because it’s my buddy Jeff’s birthday - when we were kids this was like Holy Week - his birthday three days before mine. He’s the guy I was standing next to when I was old enough to drink in a bar. He bought me shots, watched me drink mine while he tossed his over his shoulder, but he’s the guy who carried me out of there too. And 60 is different… …last thing I want these days is a shot! Kathy keeps asking me about Friday… …what do you want to do? “Watch the Yankees and go to bed,” has been my answer all week… …after I golf in the morning with my usual foursome… …I really wanted to do that because we hardly played together this year. Friends. I am blessed to have a bunch… …one guy I’ve  known since I was 5. College buddies I loved being around. All solid guys… ….don’t see them all the time anymore, but they’re with me. Happy Birthda...

I stopped by to visit Mom this weekend, and I was getting some stuff out of the car when I glanced at a tree just feet from the front door. A beautiful, majestic tree, and it dawned on me that it had really grown in the decades after it had been planted. I remember when the tree was planted. Dad had hired a landscaper out of Niagara Falls and those men worked hard for a few days and truly beautified the yard. The tree has truly sprouted up - now stands about 15’ tall. I know some people who can look at a tree and tell you what kind of tree it is at just a glance. I’m not one of those guys. But man, when you look at a large, sturdy tree for more than just a moment, it is pretty impressive. Majestic. Like a living, breathing thing. As if it should have a name. That tree, most likely, will stand there for years and years - way longer than I’ll be here. The glance at that tree made me look to the wooded area just yards from where our baseball diamond stood when we were kids. Hundreds of be...

There was a report on Saturday that Trump referred to Harris as ‘retarded.’ I commented on Facebook that it was reprehensible. I don’t normally comment on Facebook but - it was reprehensible! I was jumped by a stranger who explained that he isn’t politically correct but that he would: 1). Secure the border. 2). Prevent World War III 3). Stop child trafficking  4). Lower taxes 5). Lower grocery prices. 6). Stop abortion 7). Bring Christ back to our schools. Okay, I’ll play. He ran the first time on securing the border by building a big, beautiful wall that Mexico would fund. Didn’t happen. He lowered taxes all right - on rich people - that crippled the middle class. He stole a truck load of classified documents and hid them. Lord knows who he sold them to. He’s in Putin’s back pocket - he handed over Covid tests to Russia while Americans were searching for them. Speaking of which - he bungled covid - lied about it, recommended that people drink bleach, and then fought with the vacci...

We are getting there.  The Dodgers beat the Padres last night so there are only two teams left in the National League: Dodgers and Mets The American League has a game this afternoon - Cleveland against Detroit. Yankees already moved on. So, the final four will be 4 big teams and the Yankees-Mets and Yankees-Dodgers matchups are still on the table. It’ll all be settled by November 5th… …which has a matchup between America and Russia on the ballot. One of the candidates sent Russia extensive Covid tests during the height of the pandemic. What the hell happened to Woodward? He held onto that information for his new book? He’s the guy who broke Watergate….now he holds out until his book is ready? Anywhoha… They’re saying the election is close so the speeches on the campaign are important, right? Listen to the nonsensical rantings of the one candidate. Mind-nunmbing. But make sure you get out and vote. Little info for you: - the hurricanes weren’t created by any political party. - anoth...

Bob Costas and Al Michaels are absolute legends in the broadcasting industry. When we were kids they called all the big games, and did a great job. Michaels: “Do you believe in miracles?” Call might be the greatest sports call ever when the USA hockey team beat Russia. Costas is a sport intellectual and most of the time I can listen to him tell stories for hours. I have been muting Costas during this Yankees-Royals series because I don’t want to hear stories about the 1960’s when there’s a game being played. Bob won’t even take a break in his story when something happens. Stanton hit one off the wall to score a runner from first - an exciting play - and Costas called it as if he were reading entries in a phone book. My boys have made fun of Michaels for complaining about the quality of the game he’s calling and both Costas and Michaels suffer from ‘old guy’ syndrome. They seem to wax poetic about how the game used to be played, and imply that the sport has gone soft. There was a clip o...

The Yankees game was tense last night as they battled the Royals, who are supposed to be an inferior opponent. Yet, this is playoff baseball and anything can happen. The Phillies lost their series to the Mets. The Dodgers and Guardians both fell 2-1 in their series’ against ‘lesser’ opponents. I was anxious! “Yankees in a tight one,” a buddy texted. “I need this like a head in my hole,” I responded. Anxious. 2-2 game. Had to shut off Costas - who I love doing anything but play-by-play in a Yankees game. With the sound off, I watched intently as Giancarlo Stanton (a guy I might be able to beat in a foot race) took two balls to start his AB. “Don’t throw him a fastball,” I cautioned the pitcher. He threw him a fastball. Big G hammered it. Kathy was in the room but she wasn’t looking. I said two words: “F***ing Stanton!” She looked up as I turned the volume up and Stanton trotted around the bases. A 3-2 win. More anxiety tonight! Close it out.

We’re in a stupid place in time. News wise, no one knows what to believe anymore and there’s an industry built on lying about crazy stuff for political points. Yet, when it comes to being evacuated in anticipation of a storm that is promising absolute devastation…. …I’d be getting the hell out of Dodge. Yet, it’s not all that simple for some of the people in the path of the coming storm. Maybe they don’t have the financial means to up and leave. I texted a friend who lives in Florida and the problem they were having was trying to figure out the best time to leave because they didn’t want to spend a dozen hours in traffic… …which certainly would be aggravating. Later in the day, I saw the highway jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. But you gotta’ go, right???? We’ve lived in this house for about 30 years. I imagine that I would be more than a little upset if I could only take what we needed for the trip and there might be a chance that the home would be gone when we ...

How horrible must it be to live in the path of a coming hurricane. I feel so badly for the people who have lost their homes in the North Carolina storm and the people of Florida are bracing for another once in a century storm that we seem to hear about every couple of years now. To make matters worse there are horror stories about people in Florida who are discovering that their flood or storm insurance doesn’t cover hurricanes or some such crap. And to top it off, one large, orange moron is spreading misinformation about the government response in an effort to score political points. An all-out nightmare and one that makes someone who faces 75-Inches of snow once a year, think: “Our weather isn’t so bad.” This year there were like 15 tornadoes in western New York - that never happens. Unbelievable heat has gripped a large part of the country for a good part of the year. Yet, these hurricanes are heartbreaking in the devastation that they bring. I hope that people are listening and eva...

If Josh Allen were to run for mayor of Buffalo he’d probably get 95% of the vote. Make no mistake, it’s only because he’s a great football player. People don’t really give two shits about him as a human. Allen, who is as talented a professional athlete as you’ll ever see has arguably been knocked unconscious two weeks in a row. I know this - not because I’m watching that barbaric game anymore but because I live in Buffalo and you can’t go more than three blocks without seeing Allen’s face or a sign proclaiming his greatness. Two weeks ago, Brett Favre - who could have once been the mayor of Green Bay announced that he has Parkinson’s disease - traceable to the hits he took as a ‘tough’ guy. A gamer. Last Sunday, Allen fumbled a ball after having his head smashed off the turf. This week, he played as though he’d never thrown a ball in his life, and late in the game, he took another hit. His head bounced off the turf no less than three times and a few doctors (real M.D.s) noted that his ...

The baseball playoffs have been insane. I was watching Mets-Brewers the other night and when it was 2-0 going to the 9th I went to bed. “The Brewers closer is good,” I said, as I went up. Of course, Alonso hit a 3-run homer. But I had a quiet week, anxiety-wise because the Yankees were off. That all changed on Saturday evening. My anxiety level spiked when Cole gave up a homer and they fell behind 3-2. “I can’t control any of it,” I lectured myself. “Why feel anxious?” That didn’t work. The Yankees took the lead back. Then gave it back. Then took the lead again. “I can’t take this for a month,” I said. But I will, of course, because it’s sports and it’s how we amuse ourselves. Kathy asked me about my Yankees love before the game started. “You can only have one more championship in your life. Yankees or Bills or Sabres.” I just frowned. “It’s not even close? Buffalo would go crazy with a title.” “I’m not even answering,” I said.  It’s all about baseball.

The details of the Jack Smith criminal case against the former president were made public just a few days ago. It’s hard to believe that it’s only Saturday morning and the media has moved on. I’m begging you to read the transcript of what happened on January 6th. As the Capitol was under attack, he sat in the dining room in the White House and watched it all unfold on television. When they reported that Pence was under threat he remarked: “So what?” He’d planned on that happening. When told that a civilian had been shot… …he didn’t respond. Didn’t make a move to stop it. “Let them riot.” And to what end? He wanted the government to be overthrown!!!! He knew he lost, and simply would not accept the results of the election. And he’s running for the job again?????? What is going on? Watergate wasn’t anything compared to this! It certainly seems to me, almost 60 years in, that we are upside down here. The assassination attempt? What do you know about that???? Nothing! It made zero sense as...

Man, the playoffs are off to a booming start. Find me one football game - in the last 20 years - that was as good as the Monday afternoon game between the Braves and the Mets… …and that was just to get into the tournament. Since that game we watched the Astros and Orioles get bounced. They were two heavily favored teams in matchups with teams with much lower payrolls. The Tigers entire team is making less money than the guy they got the 3-run double off of. What I’ve always enjoyed about baseball is that you can see something different every night. A low-scoring affair. A slugfest. No running out the clock. The pitch has to be thrown and the ball has to be hit. Also, they’ve sped up the game without any of us really noticing. I loved the Yankees-Red Sox battles 20 years ago, but those game would go 4 and a half hours! The Braves-Padres game 1 was over in 129 minutes. The shift is gone. 12 slow tosses to first base when a runner gets on - gone! It’s the greatest sport. Hardly ever a con...

When I was about 15 years old, I caught a hockey stick in the mouth. John Armbruster was the guy who didn’t have control of his stick. Later that night, my tooth fell out! I kind of forgot about it because I went in and got a cap put on. Couple of days ago, a guy poured a few milk duds into my hand. I walked around the site chewing on them. They aren’t crunchy! My first thought was: “Armbruster!” I was able to fish the cap out of the caramel mess… …headed to a store and was amazed to see they had a cap repair kit. Went home and performed surgery. All good… …with one exception. I had chewed a little of the enamel off the cap. Have a little black showing. Freaking… …Armbruster!

  In a world of poor behavior, Jimmy Carter has lived an absolutely tremendous life. He turned 100 years old yesterday and despite the fact that he’s been in hospice for months… …he’s hanging in there. I’ve told the story before, but my first foray into politics was watching the presidential election between Carter and Ford with my Mom & Dad. I got to stay up late because I had read a biography of Carter and was impressed by his life. This is an accomplished man. Served the country.  Nuclear engineering is on his resume and while the uninitiated refer to him as a peanut farmer… …he’s done it all! Including building housing for the poor well into his late 90’s. His presidency is wildly panned because of the gas lines and the Iran hostage situation, but many insiders have said that he was too intelligent to be a president and that he didn’t play the games that are normally played in D.C. Regardless, in a world dominated by men of questionable moral standing, Jimmy Carter sta...

For the 17th time I have received my box of books. It’s still a pretty cool feeling, but my emotional state of it has certainly changed. When I broke the seal yesterday, I thought: “Don’t take it for granted.” I’ve written a LOT in the last five or so years. Most of the books are sitting on my computer. I went with this particular title because I wanted to bring some laughter to my readers lives and I also wanted to inspire them to enjoy their lives. It’s funny, but I actually got the idea for the lite story when we were watching the mini-series, ‘The Maid’. It was a well-done show about a young woman who was battling to just keep her head above water. She would tabulate how much money she had before she bought a candy bar. She was off to work every day and despite the fact that she hustled, struggled, cried and battled… …it was sad. “There are so many people living that way,” I said. I learned a long, long time ago that I can’t do a whole hell of a lot to change the world… …it’s funny...

I grew up in the 70’s. Pete Rose was everywhere as an example of how to play baseball. ‘Charlie Hustle’ is one of the game’s great nicknames and Rose was on those great Reds teams in the mid-70’s. Me and a couple of buddies can still recite the lineup for those teams. He was also on the Phillies team that won in 1980. The all-time hit leader, and I must admit that when he had the 44 game hit streak, I was rooting for him to get even closer. And then he became a manager and the Reds brought him back, but things went south. His gambling was a problem. He bet games that the team he was managing was involved in. He got kicked out, and here’s the thing - he AGREED to the lifetime ban because he didn’t want his sins to come to light. There were more disturbing stories about Pete. He showed up at Cooperstown on hall of fame weekend each year and set up a table next to the museum where he sold his autograph. When I heard the news, I thought of Rose as he’s pictured above. Kind of felt bummed a...