Encouragement For A Friend

The best byproduct of coming to Boston this weekend was the opportunity to see an old friend. Lisa and I have known each other since 1992 (give or take) when she was an intern at Kraft. We hit it off then and have been very close ever since. Sadly, we have this bad way of going a long time without talking or seeing each other.

Tonight, we got together for the first time in four years. She looked great, and it pleased me to be with her. We walked, talked, ate dinner, walked some more (I've done a lot of that this weekend), and called it a night.

The thing about not seeing or talking to one another is that we both know we're never far from each others hearts. She's somebody I often think of and we're going to make a more concerted effort to stay in touch.

As we walked, I mentioned the blog and Lisa reacted in shock - never knowing about our little ol' place in the sun here. I can't believe I never told her, but was pleased to know that she is considering writing one of her own. I think it would be fascinating if she went for it, and I hope she does! She has some great ideas, and some great thoughts.

You will know more about it if and when it goes live.

A Few Quickies

Do the Clippers broadcasters deserve be to suspended for this. Really?

Does Bill Simmons deserve to be banned to from Twitter for this?

Nick Koules was a Stamford legend. I saw him officiate many games and always thought he was too interested in talking to people in the stands and not so interested in the action on the floor. Whatever - he was a character and a nice man. So rest in peace, good sir.

Lastly this is the kind of thing that would only interest people like me. If you've never seen or noticed, the London Underground tube map is rather iconic. Quite often people take it and redo it in one way or another. So take my love of the Tube and combine it with my passion for the highways of this country, and you'll understand my fascination with this - a Tube map-inspired take on the map of US Interstates.

Those are the links of note for tonight. I'm back in my Boston hotel room. Yep, pretty sad.

Mount vs. Emmanuel

It seems Emmanuel College beat Roger Williams pretty easily, so Mount Saint Mary will play Emmanuel tomorrow in the championship game of the tournament. Game time is 3:00.

And why am I writing on my blog at 7:44 on Saturday night in Boston? Am I THAT pathetic?

Why yes...yes I am.

A Winning Afternoon

Mount Saint Mary (the women's team) beat UC Santa Cruz (the Banana Slugs...no, seriously) at the Emmanuel College Invitational 72-44. It was no closer than 10-9, and the Mount ran away from there.

Terrific performance by Becky Metzger, who led the Knights with 11 points, including three of three from downtown. She also chipped in with nine board in 20 minutes of play. Catie Biordi, Chrissy Zrowka, Jess Tice, Rachel Russo, and Natalie Garbie eached scored eight. The Blue Knights will be back in action tomorrow at 3:00 for the tournament championship against either Emmanuel or Roger Williams. Christine Baker and I will have the call on Hudson Valley Talk Radio.

You should listen - it's entertaining stuff!

So This Is What It's Like To Be a Traveling Broadcaster

First of all, say hello to post number 1000! Irrelevant to most of you, and I understand. Thanks for your support.

Anyway - HELLO from Boston! It's been a long day.

It started this morning, as most days do. We said good-bye to my niece Kristy, who headed back to Alabama with her daughter Evelyn, and dog Grim. Over the next few hours, I frantically prepped for the weekends Mount Saint Mary games, fully aware that I wouldn't have anywhere else to print things. Fortunately I had packed a few days earlier, but the pleasant weather (over 60 degrees in New York) made me rethink my sweater in favor of a short-sleeved (!) polo shirt.

I had to be at the Mount by Noon to catch the bus, and pulled in around 11:45 - a good 45 minutes later than I wanted, but situations caused the delay. Still, I was on the bus - second row back - when we departed. For many on the team, this was the first time they were getting a look at me, and I heard at least one "who's that?"

The women's team chose to watch "Transformers 2" on the way here - it wouldn't have been my choice, and head coach Randy Ognibene turned to me early on and told me to let him know when Megan Fox was on the screen. Otherwise he saw no redeeming value in the movie. I know my Sean loves it, but yeah, I can't disagree. It's marginally entertaining at best.

By the way, it really hurt me to watch Sean pull away on the bus this morning. I won't get to spend my birthday with him, and he's just not ready for a trip like this yet. This whole single father thing can be mighty painful at times.

The bus ride was otherwise uneventful. We pulled into Boston a little over three hours after we left Newburgh, and Coach Ognibene handed me my room key, along with that of my broadcast partner, Christine Baker (the potential star in the making). An hour later, we walked over to the gymnasium inside the Jean Yawkey Center for practice.

Yes, Jean Yawkey. As in Boston Red Sox. I know - irony. Want more? The famous Citgo sign is within site of my hotel (The Inn at Longwood Medical Center).

I decided to leave practice about midway through. I had seen enough of the gym to know what I needed to know, and felt like my work was done. I know the team and I need to bond, and that will come. They seem like a nice group, but I hadn't eaten a true meal since Thursday night at the Hall of Fame banquet, so it was time to go.

Problem was, I wouldn't eat for another three hours.

My goals upon leaving was a) find dinner and b) get to Radio Shack to pick up a headphone splitter - one that would hopefully allow Christine and I hear through both ears in our headsets.

I walked...up to a Best Buy (that was hopeless) near Fenway Park. I walked past Fenway (didn't say a word, but thought a few things, including "2009 World Champion New York Yankees), but chose to remember the wonder of calling the Renegades game there in 2008. I kept walking, past gorgeous houses on Commonwealth Ave. I walked past some of Boston's various colleges. I walked to the Prudential Center, where I thought I might get dinner, but refused to pay $7.00 for two slices of pizza and a soda. I kept walking, until I found the "T" (Boston's subway). Then I realized I should have kept walking, because the wait for the "T" was nuts. I jumped off the "T" a few stops later and walked right back to my hotel.

I didn't necessarily know where I was walking, but I have a good instinct for this stuff.

I popped into my hotel and hit the Net to find that a Radio Shack wasn't that far away. So I resumed walking, to Brookline, where I found the elusive Shack. I purchased my wares, found a local grocery store for a Sam Adams (wanted a Gritty McDufff's but it wasn't cold), and stopped by a Subway for a five...five dollar...five dollar foot long meatball marinara.

I resumed my walk back to the hotel, lonely but focused on making it to my room and finally having something to eat. Throughout the night, I admired the number of couples out for the night. I noticed the number of fashionable ladies making their way home from work, or on their way to get their drink on.

Boston is a very smart, well-dressed town. Could I live here? Sure, despite the fans, though that would be a consideration.

As for me, I was going back to the room, and wondering if I shouldn't have just stayed with the team and had dinner in the first place. Oh well.

If there's insult to add to injury, I returned to the room to find that the adapter that I bought at Radio Shack didn't do what I had hoped. Yet who is to complain? I'm in Boston - one of the US's great cities, prepping to do what I love the most.

There are worse ways to spend a Friday night.

GYFL on WGCH

Good luck to Sean Kilkelly and the rest of the WGCH sports team (The Press Box Playmakers) as they call the action on Sunday in the Greenwich Youth Football League.

It's the eighth year that we've carried Championship Sunday, and it's always a fun day.

Very Cool (with Video)

World Series Time-Lapse by Robert Caplin from Robert Caplin on Vimeo.

This is really impressive. Enjoy.

The link is here for those who can't see the video.

A Night With Hall of Famers

A good friend of the blog invited me to join him at the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame gala Thursday night at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington and it was my pleasure to tag along.

He doesn't like getting credit for these things, so I won't say his name.

Anyway, since I promised that I wouldn't editorialize about the evening (in other words, I'm keeping the opinions to a minimum), let me just say congratulations to the honorees

•Charlie Bentley (Harding-Bridgeport), 624-137 record in boys basketball, nine state titles, 16 conference titles since 1977.

•Paul Davis (Amity-Woodbridge), 351 swimming wins, four league titles, 12 state runner-up finishes as boys (1979-1993) and girls 1979-2003) coach.

•Mark Logan (RHAM-Hebron), five girls cross country and two girls track state titles, 639 wins, 46 league titles in 1981-2009.

•Ellen Mahoney (Ledyard), 355 softball wins (1977-96), seven state titles, 12 ECC titles, and 178 tennis wins (1980-93) and eight ECC titles.

•Lou Marinelli (New Canaan), seven state football titles and 241 wins at New Canaan and two high schools in New York since 1981.

•Marty Roos, most career hockey wins in state history with 511 combined at Fairfield Prep (1971-89) and Notre Dame-Fairfield (1991-2009), and six state titles.

•Gil Varjas (New London), 430 baseball wins, 12 ECC titles, four state titles and four state runner-up finishes.

•Bill Wallach (Guilford), 220 boys soccer wins in three stints at Guilford, including six state titles and 11 Shoreline Conference titles.

Inducted from the media will be Ken Lipshez, who has covered high school sports since 1991 with the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald.

We sat at the table for Charlie Bentley, someone that I knew in passing through covering GHS hoops for years. What nights like this make me realize is that people in the state really don't know me because I'm solely the "Greenwich broadcaster" where guys like Tim Parry are more known because of his coverage of the FCIAC (plus he played for New Canaan, and so on). I'm really just a very small fish in the bigger sea.

It was a nice affair, the food was good, the speeches were the speeches, and I'm back home. Since I'm off to Boston later today (Friday), I'll stop here.

Congratulations once again to the newest member of the Hall of Fame.

I'm a College Basketball Broadcaster

The first Mount Saint Mary game was last night, as the men's team traveled (three hours) to Stony Brook University.

Damn you Long Island traffic! It only took just over two to get back to Newburgh.

Anyway although the team got pasted 87-53, it was a good night. The team sort-of kind-of got used to me and I think they're cool with having me around. Head coach Ryan Kadlubowski is a good guy, and was very giving with making me feel welcome.

The broadcast went pretty smoothly, but I was less than thrilled with my own performance. I felt caked in rust from having not called a game in over a year and a half.

Right before airtime there was a slight serge of nerves, then a sense of pride that always hits during the National Anthem. That's my last moment to pause, reflect, and collect myself.

My only knock on Stony Brook was that they didn't have internet access for us. Anything else would be a nit-pick. Otherwise it was a first-class operation, with stat monitors (not expecting to see those anywhere else), big information packs, and so on. Very well run.

I enjoyed some laughs with the players, and Christine Baker is a top-flight analyst in the making. I have to admit that I wish I had taken notes all day. THAT would have made for a funny blog post.

Most of all, the boss sent me a text and an email raving about our performance. That's what I like. It's so rare.

So I'll take it. It wasn't great, nor was it pretty good. It was good and that means it will get better.

The next broadcast is a double-header on Wednesday, before I go away for the weekend. A long, potentially lonely birthday weekend away from my son.

I Better Get Some Sleep

It's after 12:30 AM on Monday, November 16, 2009.

I'm supposed to be doing something tonight.

Actually I'm supposed to be doing a radio interview at 8:20 AM. In between I have to get Sean ready to go to school, and get him on the bus. Then I have a meeting, and other things to do, before I take to the air at 6:50 for the beginning of the college basketball season.

Tonight.

It's a big day.

A Crazy Day of Football

Yeah the Steelers lost to the Bengals...again. If there's any solace, that classless, selfish fool Chad SomethingOrOther didn't play a big role in it.

Not that it brings me much relief.

Yet the losses by the Eagles, Cowboys, and even Notre Dame (to Pitt on Saturday) helped numb the pain and likely reduces the amount of crap that the host of "The Press Box" would have endured.

I felt bad for Nick ~F.O.X.~ and his Iggles because I'd like to believe that he would win with class if they had pulled it off.

That's huge to me. Win with class, lose with class. Grace and dignity. Not trying to bribe an official because you think it's funny, or gloating like an ass.

Regardless, none of that mattered after we all watched Bill Belichick go for it on fourth and two with just over two minutes to play and the Patriots at their own 28, LEADING 34-28.

You can probably guess what happened. The Pats didn't get the yard - completed the pass but didn't get the last yard - and Peyton Manning said "thank you very much." In a matter of seconds, Manning hit Reggie Wayne for the game-winner. The Colts prevailed, 35-34.

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Rob Adams, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, and many others all FIRST-guessed it. To me, there's no...freaking...way that you can go for it there. You put the onus on your defense (and special teams) to make a play.

It's football 101.

If Mike Tomlin had made the same call, I would be out of my mind with anger tonight.

Rob's BG Five After Week Nine: NOW WHAT?

I guess by process of elimination, this is my new Bill Gonillo Five:

1) Staples (9-0, Last Week: 2) - They're still perfect. They play Central for the title on Friday. The game's location has been moved so many times that I expect it to finally be played in the parking lot of the rest area on I-95 North.
2) Pomperaug (9-0, 3) - I'm still on their bandwagon.
3) Masuk (9-0, 4) - Yep, I'm still with them also.
4) Bridgeport Central (8-1, 5) - A remarkably impressive beat down of New Canaan.
5) New Canaan (8-1, 1) - It's tempting to drop them to sixth but I won't.
6) Greenwich (7-2, 6) - A good, solid win against St. Joseph. I knew the Cardinals would respond, and I'm so tempted to pop them back up to fifth or even fourth, but I can't since I'm the so-called "voice" of the Cardinals. Two missed extra points are the basic difference in their season. Wow.

A Nice TRIP Back in Time (With Video)

Dock Ellis once pitched a no-hitter. Nothing truly out of the ordinary there. The fact that he did it while high on LSD makes it sort-of-kind-of-maybe unique. It's been put in cartoon form and it's a bad motha-shutyourmouth.

The link to the video is here.


I enjoyed the cameo at the end by the Bucs' legendary play-by-play voice Bob "The Gunner" Prince.

We Have The Yankees

So true. When all else fails...

It's Madness!

I visited Mount Saint Mary College (MSMC) tonight for their pep rally gathering. The idea of this was to have a "midnight madness" atmosphere. The intention was in the right place. However you have to crawl before you can walk.

The reality was that the bleachers, which were open on just one side of the gym, weren't even half full. I think we all hoped for a slightly better crowd, but none of us were shocked or disheartened.

The entertainment was headed up by the folks from K-104 (part of the Pamal family, including Hudson Valley Talk Radio) and Rick Zolzer served as the MC. Yes, that Rick Zolzer, as in "The Zolz", the PA announcer for the Renegades, Nets, and Army.

Of course, I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed that Zolz was wearing an Army jacket. Couldn't MSMC have gotten him some garb for the evening?

I've known Zolz for eight years now, but we'd never really spoken much until tonight. He was nice enough to ask me to address the crowd, and so I did. I told them about the excitement of bringing The Mount to the radio (and internet), and how it will sound great on the airwaves if "The Kap" (the Kaplan Center) is full. I said my peace, and was gone within two minutes.

The teams did their thing (layup drills, games with the fans, etc), and somebody hit a half court shot to win a TV. There was free food, and a K-104 DJ stuck around to spin tunes. It had a nice feeling.

Now we need the people to come out.

There is much work to be done at MSMC. While eating dinner, men's coach Ryan Kadlubowski (you better bet I'm going to call him "The Big Lebowski" or "The Dude") came over and chatted with me. We were shooting the bull when he told me that the bus for Stony Brook is leaving at 2:00 on Monday...I had been told that it was leaving at 3:30. So yeah, we need to work on our communication.

This won't be built in a day. But we've got the right people in place to start making it happen.

Yah, You Bet Ya (With Video)

I'm cooperatin' with ya'.

Still one of the most brilliant movies of the 90's: Fargo.

We used this scene in one of our famous softball videos at Philip Morris/Altria/Kraft, as a parody featuring a player who was from the upper midwest (I think she was actually from Wisconsin who could do a great accent).

If you can't see the video, point your browser here.



Oh, and what the heck, I'll serve this up as a Rule 55. It's legit, you're darned tootin'. I'm not gonna sit here and debate.