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Friends

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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 Birthday, J
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Just A Tree

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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
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Seriously

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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 vaccine r
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Getting Close Now

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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. - another r
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Bob Costas & Al Michaels

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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
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Big G!

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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.
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Riding it Out

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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
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