Thoughts of a Common Man

Got the massage gun going after a rapid round of golf on Saturday morning. We were first off the tee and without anyone in front of us, we burned our way around the course. I’ve lost all concept on how to pitch a ball onto a green so it was a disappointing round playing wise, but the temps went from 42 to 60. Bright blue sky. Nearly November, Can’t beat that! And the rest of the weekend was about making dinners, cleaning up, playing with the pets, and watching shows. The Bills didn’t play until 8:20 last night… …so I had zero-point-zero chance of being awake for the end of the game. Those days are over. So are the days when ‘The Weekend’ meant going out for hours and staying up late. On Saturday night, an episode of the show we were watching ended at 10:55. “We watching another one?” Kathy asked. “We aren’t doing anything,” I said. “Maybe you are.” “Geez, it’s Saturday night. Live a little.” “I go to bed now and I’ll be up at six. I go at midnight, I’ll still be up at six.” So, that wa

The political discourse has possibly hit an all-time low with the home invasion at the Pelosi home in San Francisco. Paul Pelosi, an 82-year-old man suffered a fractured skull after being struck by a hammer by a MAGA fan who was allegedly yelling, “Where’s Nancy?” Those seem to be the facts of the case. Of course, news stories these days end up having 9 or 10 different stories attached. Some believe it’s a plot to garner votes ahead of an election. Others are screaming about ANTIFA, still others are blaming the Pelosi’s and saying that they should’ve had better security. The human response should be: “That poor man.” And part of me wondered if this is the lowest point in political discourse in the history of our country. Recency bias makes it appear that the world is caving in, but Lincoln, JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King and others were killed. Gabby Giffords was shot. So was Scalise. Rand Paul got beat down by a neighbor although that may have not been political. But it’s all horrifying

Had a couple of projects within a mile of the house so I stopped home for lunch. Ollie met me at the door. He didn’t have to say a word to communicate his intentions. “You wanna’ play ball?” I asked. He went nuts. So, ten minutes of a quick stop home was me bouncing the ball off the garage 50 times - he probably caught 45 of them. A few hours later, I walked back through the door, and Ollie had the same question in his eyes. This time he caught 70. Of course, I was just trying to tire him out so that he’d leave me alone for a few minutes while I tried to wind down. Didn’t work. I drink a lot of water during the evening hours and every time I get up to grab a bottle from the ‘fridge Miller follows me into the kitchen. And asks for some of his cat milk. I get in trouble for giving in… …so I pretended not to give in. Miller asked and I said, loud enough for Kathy to hear: “No more milk today! You had a gallon.” Miller asked again, louder. “Nope. I’m in charge and I said ‘No.’ I heard Kath

I’ve had a lot of thoughts since the release of “The Barking Lions” - a mostly fictional story and “Life Isn’t  Always Beautiful” a non-fiction, inspirational story about Dave & Carolyn Neisser. Both books were honored at book festivals and landed pretty well… …but I spent some time wondering what was next. I enjoyed the short story format and wrote a half dozen of those - all of which I like - but I also went back and worked on the start of three other stories - all of which seem possible somewhere down the road. Kicked around a ‘Barking Lions II’ as well and I’m excited about a sequel. I have two books completely done as well…just sitting in the can…a mystery and a crime thriller… …but I wanted something funny to come next. Life has seemed humorless for a few years now with a lot of back and forth between people who see themselves as political enemies here in a country where we are supposed to be united. So, I considered what I could use as a source of humor and perhaps I was ins

Been watching Mannix reruns. Yeah. Jake walked by the television and said: “Everyone in this episode is dead.” He’s probably right, and man, how television has changed since the 1970’s. A fight scene in one of the old shows is almost comical. You can see that the punch never made clear contact. Everyone was smoking. And the commercials are geared towards older people like me! There is a long commercial regarding the Shriners organization and I know you’ve seen it! “If you donate today, we’ll send you this ADORABLE blanket.” And the kid who utters that sentence is absolutely adorable. The children featured in the commercial have all sorts of dangerous afflictions that are absolutely heartbreaking. There was a child without arms. Another with a missing leg. Kids with cancer and cleft lips. Asking for donations in a country where most of the money is being controlled by billionaires who shift it to off-shore accounts to hide it for tax reasons. Makes me sad. Jake wandered by as the commer

The Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday night. They haven’t been a participant in the World Series since pummeling the hapless Phillies in 2009. That’s a long time in Yankees land and is made all the more disconcerting because if Uncle George were alive to see them get swept by the cheating Astros he would’ve gone off! We didn’t hear much from the Yankees last night, other than this hurts. We don’t know if their best player, Aaron Judge will be resigned. We have no idea if they will solve the shortstop problem by adding a superstar one or handing the job to a rookie. Aaron Boone? George would’ve fired him long before last night. Brian Cashman? He would’ve been a true Cashman had Uncle George had 20 more years. No way Harper, Machado, Schwarber, Correa or others would’ve signed elsewhere. Now, George wasn’t perfect.  The Yankees went a long time without a title from 1978 to 1996 and the ‘96 -‘00 teams were built when George was suspended. He wanted to deal Mariano and wa

I didn’t know if I could get away wearing shorts for the early Sunday morning round of golf. Wasn’t even a question.  I lost the light coat I had by the drive on hole 3. Just a perfect fall day, and the leaves have turned colors. There aren’t many better places to look around at the beauty of God’s hand than on a golf course. The problem being, I used colored balls, and I lost a couple of red balls in areas where leaves had gathered. There was a point though when I looked around and thought… …would t it be nice to have a few more months of this? It’s not going to last, unfortunately. Baseball season is winding down. (Too quickly for the Yankees - who went ice cold at the dish). There will be mornings of scraping ice off the windshield, and swearing about being freaking cold! I got home from golf and immediately grabbed 2 balls and Ollie’s eyes got as big as saucers. “Wanna’ play ball?” I asked. His answer was a no-doubter.

It’s funny because the Fazzolari Italian Sausage meeting was called to order by an honorary Fazzolari. “Let’s do some sausage,” Scotty called out via text a couple of weeks ago. I was down to one final pack so I answered quickly: “I’m in.” The arrangements were made and Scotty and Jim did the prep work. I just had to show up for the grinding, mixing, cutting and bagging. We got rolling at 9 o’clock and all did a shot to honor my Dad - I don’t drink much at all - let alone a shot in the morning - but it was customary of Dad. And then we worked, telling a whole bunch of stories along the way, laughing at things Dad, Jeff, John and Uncle Jim had all done at one time or another during sausage prep. My lasting memory of Uncle Jim always presents itself at the end of the task when the pan is filled with sausage and we all grab a roll and hot peppers. “I could eat the whole pan,” Uncle Jim said to me at one such gathering. “That’s probably not a good idea with all of us waiting for a sandwich

We always watch Ethan Hawke movies because he’s a good actor, and he always appears to pick good scripts. So, of course we went with Raymond & Ray - brothers who must attend their Dad’s wake and funeral. Without spoiling anything, his father’s dying wish is that his sons dig his grave. “Oh, that’s a good idea,” I said. “Maybe I’ll do that too. Could you imagine how long it would take Jake, Matt & Sam to dig mine?” “Oh, you’d never make it underground,” Kathy said. “You’d rot. They’d be saying, ‘Hold up, I’m playing Madden.’” And the script was intelligent as we suspected and there was a moment between the brothers that made me laugh for a good ten minutes. Wasn’t a classically funny scene: Was just one brother trying to say something polished to a pretty girl and struggling. The other brother (Hawke) just bursts out in laughter, And it truly struck me funny because of the relationship I’ve always had with my brothers who would take great pleasure in me trying to impress a girl.

The baseball playoff schedule has been an absolute nightmare, and I have only moved from the couch to the bedroom after 6 or 7 innings of watching. Can’t imagine these dudes moving around the country and then playing back-to-back days. The Yankees started the playoff after being off for 5 days. Played one game, got a day off, played, rain-out, played 2, another rain out and then beat the Guardians, drank a little champagne, flew across the country and had to play a team who had rested for 4 days. Yeah. No advantage there, right? I thought the Yankees played a couple of crisp games, but by mid-game last night I was looking forward to NOT watching a game on Friday. I know people who think baseball is boring (a lot of people). I find the anxiety levels for a baseball game to be way higher than in any other sport. Anything can happen at any given moment. I find it I way more intense than football, for instance, where they’ve made the game almost impossible for the defense.  But not compari

There’s a rumor going around that we might see 70 degrees on Sunday. Wouldn’t know that from the sleet and snow that came calling on Wednesday afternoon. I have a hoodie that I put on last week. As it gets colder I add coats to it, but the base is that hoodie, and I have a feeling that I’ll be wearing it until May. “We’re going to have a long stretch of unseasonably warm temps in the next week,” a giddy weatherman told me yesterday afternoon. Then the worst news: Two of the guys I golf with every week backed out for Sunday! Could be the last freaking round and they’re talking about picking up leaves! The leaves are going to be buried in snow! And I’m getting some complaints from Ollie boy too. We had a driving, cold rain on Tuesday and Ollie hopped up on my lap and very clearly said: “Let’s go play ball!” “You’re getting rained out,” I said. He had no idea what I was telling him so I decided to show him… …took him downstairs and opened the door. He looked at me, looked at the rain, and

Yesterday’s weather brought back a crazy sense of deja vu. Heavy clouds, crisp, cool air and the threat of rain. A bit of drizzle and the idea that snow is not too far off. On my 58th birthday, it made me think of two things: 1). My Mom 2). My 10th birthday. My 10th birthday started with wild excitement as Mom gifted me what I really, really, really wanted: Wilt Chamberlain’s autobiography. It was a massive book that told the story of my favorite player’s life and as a huge reader (even at that age), it was all I wanted. 48 years later, I could conjure up the image of Mom handing me that gift to unwrap.  I gave her a huge hug and started reading it at breakfast. A big bowl of Corn Pops. “What does ‘screw’ mean?” I asked Mom as Wilt wrote about a conquest after a game. “Skip that part,” Mom said. (I distinctly recall that conversation and I moved on! It was a book written for Wilt’s adult fans). “You have football tonight,” Mom said. I was long done with football! I was a backup player

So, today marks the 58th anniversary of my birth. Everyone should have the day off! Well, maybe not everyone, but I made a surprising decision when I mentioned that I was taking a day off. Yeah. Been another year of simply not using vacation or PTO days, and as sad as it is, I’m going to feel guilty all day. Those damn nuns. As luck might have it, the Yankees got rained out last night and the game was moved to this afternoon. They better not poop on my birthday. Reggie hit 3 for more when I turned 13. Maybe Judge can do the same. As for my loving family? They’re allowing me to cook whatever I want for dinner! Actually, Kathy offered to buy dinner as did the boys and I declined. What would I do all day if I’m not working? I’d rather make something. And Ollie and Miller will be thrilled to have me around all day. But fifty-freaking-eight????? “He’s pushing sixty,” Sam mentioned one day a couple of weeks ago and it confused me for quite some time. I understand the concept of time passing,

Hope is a funny word. We use it to get through the rough parts of life. We rely on it to get over a tough loss for our favorite sports team, and we really hope that it will all work out the next time they suit up. But in this day and age… …man, seems there is more rage than hope. I purposely skipped the Twitter review after the Yankees gut-wrenching loss on Saturday night, but by Sunday, I was scrolling. ‘Fans’ of the team were livid. “Fire the manager and general manager!” “Shoot the shortstop into the sun!!” “Sell the team!” And it wasn’t just the Yankees. The Dodgers, Mets and Braves all were taking heat. Then the Bills came on and played a back and forth game. Halfway through, my sons wanted to punch the head coach and one of the receivers. All of them were yelling about the refs. And it occurred to me how dumb all of it is. The athletes are paid a king’s ransom as their fanatics go crazy with despair over the wins and losses. Tickets for the Indians-Yankees game were $164 apiece.

They lost on Friday afternoon. I know! What’s funny about it is that I’ve watched a whole lot of baseball in my soon-to-be 58 years and I know a managerial mistake when I see one in real time. I’m not a guy who hates a manager or a coach and I don’t want everyone fired when they lose a game, but like everyone else, I have opinions. In a tie game in the 7th inning, Yankees hitter Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk. “Don’t pinch run for him!” I yelled at the television. The pinch runner came out of the dugout. “Mark my words,” I said. “Stanton’s place in the lineup is coming up again and they’re going to send a lousy hitter up.” That happened in the bottom of the 10th when Stanton’s bat would’ve been helpful. But they were already losing by then because of another bonehead decision. In the top of the 10th the Yankees sent a starting pitcher to the mound. Taillon had never relieved before. “This is idiotic,” I mentioned to Kathy and Sam. “Use relief pitchers! Starters don’t know how to relieve

I’ve always enjoyed the wind-down from a busy week and the feeling on Thursday night when you think: “One more day! I can make it.” I’ve always been interested in breakdowns of trends based on the day of the week. When I was the safety dude at one company I had to document the incidents and near-misses and give them to the owner so he could see when the workers were being their most reckless. “Guys get ‘hurt’ on Monday because they actually did it at home over the weekend and they want me to pay their medical bills.” He was a cynical dude. “Most workers take the day off on Friday because we pay them on Thursday and they get loaded and want a 3-day weekend.” He was also suspicious. But there was some science to all of it. The most productive day of the week? Tuesday! I noticed that to be true… …my phone rings more on Tuesday than any other day. Worst time of the week to get a work call? Friday after four o’clock. A couple of weeks ago I received a work call at 4:44 on a Friday. “What?”

Both the NFL and MLB have a problem. I’m not sure about the NHL and NBA because I don’t watch enough anymore, but it seems to me that professional sports, in general, are becoming too hard to officiate. And it’s always been that way to a certain extent in any and all sporting events. The refs, umps and linesman have always been public enemy number one. They’re an easy target. If your team loses a big game the default position is to say: “The umps/refs screwed us!” And sometimes it’s true. It makes me yell at the television from time to time, and I even yell when the call is horrific and it benefits MY team.  Hate to see a game decided by a blown call. The other night Cole had loaded the bases with 2 outs in a game the Yankees were losing 1-0. His 2-2 pitch was right down the middle and everyone on the field took a couple of large steps towards the dugout. Even the batter! The ump called it a ball. I was fuming! Yelled at the television. 😡 😤  “He gives up a hit here and I’m going thro

I’ve always enjoyed listening to baseball on the radio so I was glad that the games started at noon yesterday. I was even happier when I got back to my office and could catch glimpses of Verlander getting slapped around, but after playing catch with Ollie, I started feeling anxiety… …because the Yankees were starting at 7:30. Yeah. I don’t enjoy it all that much! I get anxious! Been that way since 1976 and the Reds clobbered the Yankees in the World Series. Here’s the secret: I feel the anxiety when the Yankees are on D. Just get 3 outs. When they’re at bat it’s all good because they can only score then… …so I’m pretty relaxed when they bat. Cleveland took a 1-0 lead but I was calm about it. My son Jake was texting me. “Nervous?” “Not really,” I said. “‘Cause if he keeps throwing that pitch there to Rizzo, he’s going to hit a bomb.” A couple of innings later, as Rizzo rounded the bases to give the Yanks a 4-1 lead, my phone chimed. “Rizzo hit a bomb,” he said. He added a ‘LOL.’ “Been w

Seems like Kanye West is having a bit of a meltdown again. Why should we care? My son likes to send me music from time to time. He’s of the opinion that Kanye is a musical genius, but he doesn’t send me any of his songs. “Why not?” I asked once. “He’s a little nutty,” Jake answered. My only exposure to anything the guy has ever done was watching his back and forth with the former ‘president’. That was like watching a slow motion car accident. He’s been put away a couple of times for medical problems. Being bi-polar is no joke, but the media is covering his tweets and his actions as if he is the head of state. “White lives matter” on the back of his jacket is nothing but an attempt to get attention. Then to top it, he sent a tweet mentioning that all Jews needed to be killed (was pretty up front about it). He got booted from Twitter but somehow he spent the next couple of days doubling down… …and then there were articles talking about how he’s not sleeping and his friends are worried ab

I saw a couple of quotes from politicians regarding the abortion issue. The two quotes that got my attention were from men who stated: “The best decisions that can be made for women and their rights must be made by men.” I’m paraphrasing but that was the gist. I don’t even get it because I was never around such misogyny. I can’t even imagine what might have happened had my Dad even suggested that he was making all the decisions on behalf of my mother. Reminds me of Ralph Kramden yelling that he was the king of his castle. Seems funny to me but there are still plenty of men out there who believe that women are second class citizens who aren’t fit to make important decisions. And it wasn’t all that long ago that women had to get their husband’s permission to get a credit card or try to buy a home. We aren’t talking more than 100 years of women being on equal footing with men, and there are more than a few state leaders who believe that women being stripped of their rights is the way it s

We sometimes use a breakfast ball at the first tee. I needed two! My hands were like ice on the first two swings. Thankfully, JC brought hand warmers and following the misadventure at the first tee, the swing came around, and I spent most of the round hitting good, straight drives. But we didn’t get a whole lot of bounce, and we also played at our own pace because there wasn’t anyone ahead of us or behind us. We were touching 45 degrees at the turn and I still had my usual 2 hot dogs. On the 14th hole, the sun popped out, and I was feeling pretty comfortable. We may have hit 50 degrees by the end of the day. Entire round took just 3.5 hours, but there were moments out there that felt like the last round of the year. Which would suck. “The weather looks all right for next week,” John said. We have an 8:00 tee time next Sunday. I don’t want to see temps starting in the 30’s… …but will do it all over again if I have to… …because it’s a long way to May. God has to do me a favor and keep it

Doesn’t it seem like the whole freaking timeline has gone around the bend. They say that a show has ‘jumped a shark’ when the writers of the show run out of ideas - a reference to when Fonzie jumped the shark on ‘Happy Days’. America might have jumped the shark. - Herschel Walker is about two days away from being found to have run an abortion clinic. He’s a guy running on his deep love of Christ (which is hard to argue) but his past is kind of unraveling on him. His kids are rebelling. Women are popping up with abortion receipts. It’s an amazing story…and he might still win! Which is insane because he can’t string three coherent thoughts together. But that’s not important in a senator. Plenty of evidence showing that dumb-dumbs walk those halls. Not to be out done the investigations into the former president are ongoing and equally insane. They still haven’t found all the classified documents and every time he speaks he yells, ‘I want my stolen documents back!’ Jumped the shark! West W

To this day the best playoff season ever happened way back in 1986. The Angels had a 3-1 lead on the Red Sox in the American League championship series and the Sox came back to win. The reliever who blew it for the Angels actually committed suicide a few years later. In the National League the Astros-Mets series was the most entertaining series I’ve ever seen that didn’t involve the Yankees. I was working with Kevin Bass’ Dad on the job in San Jose. Kevin Bass was an outfielder for the Astros. I was rooting hard for Kevin’s Dad. And then the World Series was epic. I am not a fan of either the Mets or Red Sox but man. That was one for the ages and I was rooting for Boston! Tells you how much I hated that Mets team. This year, the playoffs may be even better. There are 4 games today - the wild card round - the Yankees have time off because they earned a bye. I see it this way: Cleveland over Tampa. Seattle over Toronto (upset) Cardinals over Phillies  Padres over Mets (upset) So round tw

I caught a baseball at a Yankees-Blue Jays game back in the early 2000’s. It was crazy! Let’s set the scene. The Blue Jays were batting in the 3rd inning. A guy by the name of Dave Berg hit a foul ball down the first base line in our direction. I was seated next to Jake, who was next to Matt, who was next to Sam, who was next to Kathy. Everyone had a glove except for me… …as the fly ball headed our way, I saw Kathy trying to get to it. She was holding the glove upside down. Didn’t matter because the ball was five rows up. “Give me that glove,” I said. “You aren’t going to catch anything with the glove upside down.” She handed the glove over, and don’t you know that Berg fouled off the very next pitch right to Kathy’s seat. I watched the flight of the ball, and knew 2 things: 1). I couldn’t get there to help. And  2). She didn’t have a glove! The ball was scorched too, but my wife gamely put up both hands to make the catch and the ball struck her just below the wrist. “F**k!” She yelled

Imagine what a story Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs in a single season had been had Sosa, McGwire and Bonds not cheated the game. Aaron Judge is now the single-season home run king for those of us who follow the sport and believe that cheating isn’t legit. I was getting nervous for Judge, but he would not dip out of the strike zone and swing wildly because he didn’t want to lose focus. And there were some real chicken sh*t pitchers out there! But now the record is his. Hopefully he also gets a World Series ring before he signs his massive Yankees deal. Judge seems to be the real deal. He went to the Jeter and Mattingly camp of always saying great things about others and not saying “I” very often. He doesn’t flip bats. He just hits and puts the team first and he plays the game right. Funny thing is, I was on the road last night and there is no YES network in Kansas… …so I set the game on my phone as Judge approached the plate, and I flipped through the television channels. The AB was

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the sound of Herschel Walker running for the senate. Now, I must say, he’s been around forever. He was part of the worst trade in the history of professional sports and it cost the Bills two Super Bowls as Dallas won that lopsided trade by getting about 40 draft picks for Herschel. He was a great running back but as we know in Buffalo - being great at running with a ball isn’t all that - right, Orenthal? But now, Herschel is running for senate and he has pretty much dominated the political landscape by what he’s been saying. The clips of him stumbling through answers to basic questions are comical if they weren’t so serious. We don’t need the very (how do I say this delicately?) dumbest among us in the senate. (That was the best I could do). We have plenty of pitiful in that body of government. I was able to get by all of it without commenting… …until Herschel’s kid got involved. His son tweeted a lot yesterday. About physical violence. About abortion

Listened to Bruce on the way to the golf course on Sunday morning. Hadn’t played in a couple of weeks because of the rain, and it was a tad nipply as Chevy Chase said during ‘Christmas Vacation.’ My hands are important when I play and having cold hands is an adjustment.  Got off to a rough start and watched Pops par one hole after another. But I eventually came around. Sundays in the fall are times for the Bills games; and of course, pasta is forever on the agenda. I watched as much of the Yankees game as I did the Bills too because although the games don’t mean anything now, Judge is still chasing the record. As the day moved on, I got tired because I also threw the ball for Ollie a few times. Ollie loves Sundays too, and he was able to have a couple of meatballs. And the reason I bring it all up is because I was thinking about the past Sundays in my life. A Yankees game. A plate of linguine. Family. Pets. Music. Round of golf. And going to bed good and tired and ready for the next wo

When I wrote “The Big D”, I touched on the concussion issue and the mental problems suffered by a fictional boxer who then takes a violent path. The scrambled brains of young men playing high school, college and professional football is distressing to me. Evidently, the people in charge of the sport, and the fanatics who watch every game have done the math and decided that the entertainment value of kids being maimed is more important than the safety of the participants. Of course, when a young man is flat on his back on the field, with his hands all seized up, the announcers get real quiet and say: “Our prayers are with this young man and this is the worst thing any of us could have imagined.” Yeah. Right. What they really mean is: “Let’s get him off the field so we can keep playing.” Like everyone else I caught wind of what happened to Tua - the Dolphins quarterback. One week ago, he got demolished on a hit during the Bills-Dolphins game. He tried to stand up and walk (things most of

Thursday was exciting because late on Wednesday the rumors were confirmed. Springsteen was about to release a new record of soul song covers. “Only the Strong Will Survive.” There was some pushback because a lot of his fans want him to write new music every 3 weeks or so.  The two excellent records, ‘Western Stars’ (which is one of my favorites ever) and ‘Letter to You’ (with the full band) didn’t seem to be enough for some people. First off, he’s 73 years old! Doesn’t need another dime or another hit. Yet he’s a musician and he loves music above anything else. If you listened to him spin records during Covid you could hear the passion for all kinds of music. As for singing soul music? I’ve seen him do live versions of some soul classics and he has the chops for it… …so I was all for the new release and at ten o’clock, my car radio was set to E-Street radio. The song started and my phone rang right through the car radio! It was a client. “What do you want?” I said by way of an answer.