Sunday, May 22, 2011

Musings....









For a guy who is incredibly smart.....why does GOP Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich constantly put his foot in his mouth?






The NFL lockout is all about the rookie salary cap and expanding the season to 18 games. It will be settled in plenty of time to start the regular season.






Speaking of football.....the Bulls/Heat NBA Eastern Conference final game 3 is tonite at 830 PM Eastern. This match up has been so rough the boys might want to consider face masks.






And I wasn't worried a bit that the world was coming to an end yesterday, because I know exactly when it will happen. It will happen the day the Chicago Cubs are due to wrap up their first World Series in over 100 years. Hell freezing over, apocalypse, Armageddon...etc, etc.






Check out May issue of JerseyMan Magazine featuring WIP morning host Angelo Cataldi due out this week! http://www.jerseymanmagazine.com/

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mother's Day Message









Three years ago this day my wife Terri was critically injured in a freak auto accident in front of my home, but I'm happy to report she has now fully recovered and is doing wonderfully well.






It's kind of amazing the things that God will put you through to get you on track. Her accident was a huge eye opener for me.



So on this Mother's Day weekend I thought I would write this brief tribute to one of my heroes....my wife.

Happy Mother's Day hon....and I feel so lucky and blessed to have you here to enjoy it with us.

Monday, May 2, 2011





On September 12, 2011, I received a phone call at work from Ed Thompson, my ex-boss at my previous employer. Ed was a native New Yorker, and the first thing I said to him was that on the heels of the World Trade Center disaster it must be an incredibly sad day for all people, but especially for those who lived in NY. His response to me was...

"Yes, especially when your son is at the bottom of the rubble".


His words hit me like buckshot. I was stunned speechless. Ed and Violet Thompson are wonderful people, and now their beloved son Glenn was among the missing and presumed dead. I can't remember my exact response to him, but I knew whatever I said would be unable to give him any measure of comfort.



So below is an excerpt about Glenn that was written in the NY Times.



And to Ed and Vi Thompson; it is my sincere wish that the demise of the perpetrator of your son's death Osama Bin Laden brings you some level of closure. Glenn is in a better place and waiting for you. And I can tell you most assuredly that the cut throat terrorist that tried to take the heart out of America will burn three thousand plus times in eternity.....once for every soul the coward was responsible for taking

Glenn Thompson

World Trade Center
"My Mountain Man" Glenn Thompson loved to be outdoors. He hiked. He fished. He biked. He skied. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And last October, on a mountain pass in the Colorado Rockies, he got down on his knees in the snow (he was wearing shorts) and asked Kai Wittmann to marry him. Mrs. Thompson, as she became when they married in April, has the altitude -- 11,820 feet -- engraved in her engagement ring. Glenn, 44, worked at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of 1 World Trade Center. While he enjoyed the camaraderie and the adrenaline rush of trading, Kai said, his work was really a means to an end. His dream was to retire early and move to Colorado. ''He was my mountain man,'' Kai said. ''He was a bond trader and damn good at it. But his heart and soul were outdoors.'' Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 21, 2001.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Chaka and Gino






Happenings.....






I was at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City, NJ this weekend for the Chaka Kahn concert and got to have my picture taken with her backstage. She is about 4'11" and is now 64 years old...but still puts on one helluva show.






Gas approaching $4 per gallon. For the equivalent of 7 gallons you can get a decent pair of walking shoes.






I met Gino Marchetti, the HOFer from the old Baltimore Colts of the late 50's/early 60's. recently. He is reviving the Gino's hamburger restaurants in the area and was cooking onion rings when I met him. Now that's the old work ethic.






The Cubs are 10-11, and we might be extending the streak to 103 years without a World Series title.






Check out my magazine http://www.jerseymanmagazine.com/






Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Passing of Tiger Great Larry Finch



Just as the Rendezvous was to ribs and Graceland was to Elvis, Larry Finch was pure Memphis.


The ex-star player and former Memphis State University coach died from complications of a stroke and heart attack he suffered years earlier. But similar to his play on the court, it took a lot to take him out of this game.


Finch was an assistant coach for Dana Kirk in 1979, and I had rejoined the Tigers basketball team after a switch to football to finish what I had come there to do. Although this new regime was not interested in having a senior with limited skills take up much time on the court, I am thankful that Finch, Kirk, and assistant Lee Fowler allowed me to return and complete what I has started. Football had become my future, but basketball remained my passion.


A product of the Orange Mound section of Memphis and Melrose High School, Larry Finch rose above his meager beginnings to become a star player for the Tigers. His 29 point performance in the 1973 NCAA championship game against UCLA and Bill Walton (who shot 21-22 from the field and had 44 points) was indicative of Finch's talent and desire. He loved his city....he loved his university....and he most certainly loved the game of basketball.


Under Kirk, Finch was responsible for attracting one of the biggest recruits in the history of the school; 6'10" power forward and HS All American Keith Lee. Lee led Memphis to the Final Four in 1984, and Finch succeeded Kirk as head coach in 1986. Penny Hardaway, Elliot Perry, and David Vaughn all played for him. And he remains the winningest coach in school history with 220 victories.


We were two totally different people coming from opposite ends of the spectrum, but I spent many hours in his office offering differing opinions on the game, evaluation of players, and the kind of basketball repartee` that only two pure hoop junkies can enjoy. I'm pretty sure he had a unique respect for me trying to play division 1 football, and I know I had a tremendous respect for him and his incredible basketball legacy.


Thanks for the memories Larry.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tribute to Coach Jim Erkenbeck

JIM ERKENBECK, IRV EATMAN, CHUCK COMMISKEY



He was direct from central casting in Hollywood.


A gravel voiced, scotch drinking , chain smoking ex-marine, he could have gotten studio credentials and passed for Lee Marvin's kid brother.


Jim Erkenbeck, a football lifer who was the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator for the 2 time USFL Champion Philadelphia Stars, died Tuesday night at the age of 81.


As an "o" line coach, he was prototypical. Cut out of material that was more sandpaper than chamois, he had a outwardly gruff exterior as one might expect from a cancer surviving, Korean War veteran who chose to make his post war bones coaxing men the size of semi tractor trailers to flatten their opposition. "Wrong answer!" he would shout from his perch in the film room in a tone any DI would be proud of as he answered a players response as to why they missed an assignment, or dare let an opponent touch our QB Chuck Fusina, who he referred to as his "bread and butter".


But those who got to know him knew of the love he had for his players, and the respect he had for what the were trying to accomplish. Jim Erkenbeck was leading his troops to war on the football field, and he knew all too well what that entailed.


Erk's battalion with the Stars included Bart Oates, Irv Eatman, Chuck Commiskey, George Gilbert, Joe Conwell, Joe Happe, Bill Duggan, Mike McClearn, Ron Coder, Brad Oates, Rich Garza, and Scott Burris among others. As protective of them as a mother to her cubs, he could ream them out unmercifully, but it was his domain and responsibility to do so, no one else's. And everybody affiliated with the team knew it.


His coaching tour of duty had NFL stops in New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, Kansas City and Oakland. But when I asked him several years ago whom his favorite team was, his response was as pointed and direct as if he was obeying a direct order. "The Stars, Dunes" (my nickname with the team) he said, "and it isn't even close"


So I salute my fallen commander one last time, and thank him for helping me become a champion. If I had twenty-one guns I'd fire them all in a final successive show of respect. And blow taps on a mournful bugle at sunset.


I'm sure Lee Marvin would have expected a similar send off.






Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Odds and Ends



Ok, enough of Charlie Sheen. It's human nature to take a peek at a train wreck, but when you actually see the carnage, it's time to look away. We've reached that point here.


Villanova hoops is going through a rough stretch, but I've been to their practices and Jay Wright is a top-notch coach and a tireless worker. More importantly, he has an excellent graduation rate and teaches his players far more than basketball. He will eventually turn things around.


Call me crazy, but I have a feeling new Cubs manager Mike Quade is the guy that will turn 102 years of frustration on it's ear and end the drought. Maybe not this year, but soon. Go Cubs Go....


And goodbye to actor Carl Betz, who played hubby Alex in the old Donna Reed show.