Thoughts of a Common Man

John Sterling was a tremendous baseball announcer. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Sure, sometimes he’d say: “The bases are loaded and there are two outs, and the Yankees are up one. They need to get this out or they won’t be leading anymore.” But he had tremendous calls for every Yankee who hit a homer. “Bernie Goes Boom!” Was a favorite and he would end that call with “Burn, baby burn.” I have always loved listening to baseball on the radio, but it takes a great announcer to make that work. Sterling knew how to pace himself. Baseball is a game that doesn’t need endless chatter, and allowing the game to breathe is essential. And of course, “Theeeeeeeeee Yankeeeeeeeees Wiiiiiiiin!” Was what we all waited for. John Sterling wasn’t Vin Scully who was the absolute master, but he was great. That simple. A good announcer can make a kid love a game. Sterling and Kay (and then Suzyn) on the radio and Scooter and Frank White on television were the voices I heard every night as a Yankees...

Oliver will catch his 20,000th pass of 2026 tomorrow. He will get a new ball to commemorate the achievement. Yet, two years ago he would catch 100 passes per outing. Last year he was good for 50. Currently, he catches 30-40 each time. He’s slowing down, but the fact of the matter is that he’s always up for a game. At the end of each month, I give away a prize to the family member who gets closest to the number. Kathy won it this week. As the weather improves, the number will get bigger each month. 100 grand for the year is in play. As for my game and happy place, golf has been a bit of a grind so far, as I’m trying to work out the kinks. Through most of two rounds, my driver has been off. The 7-wood has bailed me out, and Chippy has been good, but it’s a wonderful game because if your mechanics are a tick off, it’ll destroy you. We’ll get there. Windy and chilly aren’t the best conditions to work things out, but there’s hope.  I hit good drives on the last 4 holes of the round, so ...

Saw a thread on social media by a young guy - think mid-20’s - who took on an ambitious project. He decided to listen to every record ever made by the Rolling Stones, and he ‘reviewed’ them. It was pretty funny as he didn’t really believe that the Stones deserved their fame. There were classic Stones songs like, ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ or ‘Beast of Burden’ where his review consisted of: “This song sucks.” He criticized Mick’s voice saying that ‘He can’t sing at all.’ Made fun of Keith and Ronny for their long gone drug days, and gave nearly every album a C + or lower. And I read every single album review he did. “Exile on Main Street” is an album that is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll records of all-time, and he pans it by saying: “It sounded like it was recorded in a shed.” Okay, maybe the Stones weren’t his cup of tea. He went to the Beatles and immediately began complaining about how they were a bubble gum pop band that was truly just a boy band. I didn’t read...

Work friend of mine spent a lot of time taking care of his ailing wife. Over the last few years, we’ve often met at the grocery store on Sunday morning. This is one of those guys who can build anything, or fix anything. He’s worked hard for decades. Was rewarded with a wife who ran into a lot of health issues, but he didn’t complain about it. Went to work. Returned home and did a lot of work there too. 46 years together. His wife passed away this past Sunday, and he scheduled the wake for today… …because it is his birthday, and he said: “They wanted to have the funeral on Thursday, but I wanted to spend one last birthday with her.” I went to the wake. He mentioned us having to do the grocery shopping and the laundry and clean up around the house. “It never felt like I was sacrificing anything,” he said. I get that. His children and grandchildren were all around him. “You have a lot of adjusting to do,” I said to him.  “That’s life. It’s a battle.” Sometimes it’s more than just a ba...

Hockey is truly an insane game. Those kids are out there taking a freaking beating, and playoff hockey is a whole ‘nother animal. I haven’t watched much of it over the last 20 years as the Sabres have been bad. They aren’t bad anymore. In fact, there were a couple of days leading up to Game 6 in Boston. Buffalo hates Boston. The Patriots beat the hell out of the Bills for twenty years. Hell, even the Celtics eliminated the Braves in the best year of that franchise. During the lead up I had to talk my boys off the ledge. Years of the Bills coughing it up when there are big games has left my boys with PTSD. “The Sabres are going to win,” I texted, over and over to Jake - who absolutely loves this team. When the bell rang to end Boston’s season, Jake asked me why I was so confident. “The Sabres are the better team,” I said. Now it’s Buffalo against either Tampa or Montreal.. The Sabres can win the next series too… …and the one after that… ….and the cup final too. Let’s go Buffalo 🦬 🦬 🦬...

So, the First Lady chimed in. Let’s talk about her for a minute. Every time she gets dressed up someone compares her to Jackie O and mentions that she’s classy. She came off a stripper pole, and there are plenty of nude photos of her. We’ve heard it said that she was Epstein’s girlfriend and she was handed off to the orange blob. Now, she’s chiming in on a joke that Jimmy Kimmel told about her being an expectant widow. Jimmy Kimmel is a comedian who gets paid for telling jokes. His joke didn’t call for anyone to be 86’d… …she’s married to an 80 year old man who eats Big Macs like tic-tocs. She’s an expectant widow. Another thing. I’ve heard that she can fluently speak 5 languages. I heard that out of the mouth of the man who lies as he breathes but I tell you that one of the languages isn’t English. She’s an immigrant who got in under suspect circumstances, but that was a long time ago, and she really can’t speak English. She destroyed the rose garden. She doesn’t live with her husband...