You Get a Bridge!

Rendering of the New Tappan Zee Bridge (courtesy The New NY Bridge Project)

Following a push by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, the state senate passed a proposal to name the new Tappan Zee Bridge after Cuomo's father, the late Governor Mario Cuomo.

If I were writing this in an august publication as a journalist, I'd reserve opinion and report the facts.

I'm not. I'm writing it here on Exit 55...so...

Blech.

No. Seriously. Blech. Or worse.

First of all, the Tappan Zee Bridge was named in honor of former Gov. Malcolm Wilson in 1994 though, to be fair, virtually nobody called it that.

I was OK with it. In fact, other Hudson Valley river bridges have "honorary" names that nobody uses.

Have you ever called the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge "The Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon Bridge?"

Nope. Nor have I.

(OK, maybe a few of my friends in the road community may have, but we're a little more strict on such things)

Down in New York City, iconic places such as the Triborough Bridge (Robert F. Kennedy Jr), the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (Hugh Carey), and the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge (Ed Koch) have received new monikers.

In those cases, traffic reporters and the public have been informed to refer to these structures by the persons name. Signs have been erected to say that those are the new names.

Sickening.

Thanks, Mike Bloomberg.

Well anyway.

NYC mayors are just the best, no?

And of course, on a side note, we need to focus on fixing the spelling on the Verraz(z)ano-Narrows Bridge, right?

That's sarcasm. Besides, Staten Islanders have different names for the behemoth that joins them with Brooklyn.

But let's get back to ol' Cuomo and the new Tappan Zee.

I suppose if somebody wants to slap a name up in honor of the seatbelt governor (that -- and being a Yankees fan -- is the only way I want to remember the man), OK. But what about Gov. Wilson?

It's pure selfishness by the Cuomo family, who has long desperately wanted to be another Kennedy clan.

But more to the point, I hope -- and I can't stress this enough -- that nobody refers to this bridge as "the Cuomo."

It's the Tappan Zee. Everyone knows it.

I still sometimes stubbornly call FDR Park in Yorktown "Mohansic," because that's what it's name was.

So the connection between Tarrytown and Nyack will remain the Tappan Zee or the TZ.

What's in a name?

Plenty.

On The Call of Cal Ripken Baseball

The current view in Banksville as Greenwich warms up (Photo: Me)

I'll be live at 4pm today for Greenwich and Norwalk in the Cal Ripken Baseball district tournament at Banksville Field.

Cool fact: you have to be in New York to drive to the field. In Connecticut.

Anyway, listen live below or click here (or go to Greenwich Sentinel). Greenwich Sentinel is on Mixlr

Red and White Football Game Today!

Homecoming Day, 2016.

I'll have the call of today's Greenwich High School Red and White football game at 10 this morning.

Actually, we'll be live just before 10.

AJ Szymanowski, Jake Zimmer, and Shawn Sailer are joining me at Cardinal Stadium.

You can find us at http://mixlr.com/greenwich-sentinel or just listen here.

We'll also replay it on WGCH at another time (likely Tuesday at 2pm).


Greenwich Sentinel is on Mixlr

1K

This touched my heart.

It's not as easy to write about "me" as you think.

First, there's my own inner concern that I'm being narcissistic. Then there's the (inner) demon that says I'm "making it all about myself."

Blech.

But I want to to tell you all that Saturday, when Greenwich plays their annual Red and White football game (10 am, greenwichsentinel.com and later on WGCH), there will be an extra feeling of nostalgia.

It will be my 1000th game broadcast.

OK, that's not entirely true. When I was at Kraft (General) Foods, I called a bunch of softball games. We produced them as video "broadcasts" (yes, that means I started on TV) but I didn't count them officially.

The count began on April 10, 1999 when I called Greenwich and Port Chester in baseball. It was really on the air. It was on the radio.

It was on WGCH, which is where I've called the majority of my games (549).

I've worked with so many great people, and described the exploits of so many great athletes. They're the ones I want to talk about the most. They're the stars.

But I never want to forget those I worked with, from Miguel Villafane, Ron Lemp, Kevin Jaffe, Harold Turk, and Joe Mingoia back at Kraft (And Philip Morris/Altria, of course) to Russ McCarroll on that first WGCH game all the way to AJ Szymanowski, Shawn Sailer, and Jake Zimmer, who have blessed me by saying yes to being there this Saturday.

Chris Kaelin is the one I've worked most with (172 games). Sean Kilkelly (171 total games) holds the title of most games as lead analyst (169 games).

I've "Scullied" 51 games (that is, I worked alone).

In case you're wondering, Mark Rosen, John Kovach, and Chris Erway round out the top five of those I've worked with the most.

They're all friends. Ryan DeMaria. Paul Silverfarb. Christine Baker. Dan Gardella. John Spang. Matt Hamilton. Nick Fox. Sean Ford. Jason Intrieri. Tim Parry. Nick Angotto. I can't name everyone. I'll forget somebody.

It's more than that though. It's Sean Adams, the most amazing child (who has credit officially for one broadcast, in 2015 in Norwich, but has been on countless others). It's family and friends who have listened to so much (again, I can't name them all or embarrass them).

Football is the sport I've called the most, followed by baseball, basketball, and hockey.

But I'm making this about me. Sorry.

I'm only sorry it took me this long to get there. Some will read this and say, "Who cares? I did a thousand in five years."

I care because I never thought this would happen. I never thought I'd be blessed with such great people working with me.

I just feel lucky. One-thousand games of lugging equipment, crawling on press box floors, eating questionable (at best) food, and late nights where many questioned my sanity.

From WGCH to Hudson Valley Talk Radio to Hersam Acorn Radio to HAN Network to Georgian Court University to Pleasantville TV to Brunswick and others, we've seen a lot. And we've described a lot.

I will talk about Cooperstown (with HAN) forever. I will remember the Carrier Dome and Ken Strong Stadium and the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. And Webster Bank Arena.

And Fenway Park.

But also Dutchess Stadium and Ripken Stadium and Cardinal Stadium and Kennedy Stadium and Boyle Stadium. And Robert. L. Cosby Field. And Hartong Rink. And Darien Ice Rink...er...ice house. And Dorothy Hamill Rink. And on and on.

And the place where Greenwich plays baseball (Cardinal Yard, people!).

I'm not a major league broadcaster. I probably never will be.

But I'm fiercely proud. Proud to know all of you. Proud to have watched those who made these games possible.

Proud of the grandparent who was listening at 35, 000 feet. Of the sister in Spain. The grandfather in Switzerland. Of the friends in London.

Of the people in Greenwich. Stamford. Norwalk. Fairfield. Wilton. Ridgefield. Danbury. Westport. New Canaan. Bridgeport. Fairfield County.

Staten Island.

Thank you. One thousand times thank you.

See you Saturday.

(These are the amazing people that I've worked with. These numbers are bound to be wrong.)

NAME #
Chris Kaelin 172
Sean Kilkelly 171
Mark Rosen 149
John Kovach 109
Chris Erway 84
Ricky Fritsch 63
Nick Angotto 61
John Spang 60
Nick Fox 56
Paul Silverfarb 55
Matt Hamilton 53
Mark Smallwood 47
Sean Ford 43
Josh Fisher 43
Ryan DeMaria 36
Frank Granito 36
Tom Kane 29
Christine Baker 28
Ian Handwerger 27
AJ Szymanowski 23
Zach Fisher 22
Rob Crowley 20
Eric Gendron 20
Bill Brehm 20
Tom Prizeman 19
Dan Gardella 18
Geoff Brault 16
Jake Zimmer 14
Max Barefoot 12
Tommy Dee 10
Kevin Coleman 10
Harold Turk 10
Alex Hager 10
Mike Suppe 9
Justin Gallanty 9
John Connelly 9
Tim Murphy 8
Nora Delaney 8
John Collins 8
Ron Warzoha 7
Ron Lyons 7
Jason Intrieri 7
Amanda Romaniello 7
Marty Hersam 6
Ian Barto 6
Bill Bloxsom 6
Tom Pollina 5
Dave Stewart 5
Dave Chiappetta 5
Josh Somma 4
Eric Tillman 4
Tyler Ingalls 3
Shelby Vaccaro 3
Russ McCarroll 3
Phil Giubileo 3
Charles Costello 3
Tim Parry 2
Steve Coulter 2
Shawn Sailer 2
Nick Gagalis 2
Mike Cardillo 2
Mick McGowan 2
Matt Narwold 2
JJ Duke 2
Donald Eng 2
Dave Rothenberg 2
Dave Maloney Jr 2
Dan Arestia 2
Carrie Phelps 2
Bob Perez 2
TP Loftus 1
Sean Adams 1
Scott Gentile 1
Raquel Welsh 1
Mike LaHiff 1
Michael Breed 1
Matt Sherman 1
Mary Anne DeFelice 1
Jim Gerweck 1
Ernie Craumer 1
Don Boyle 1
Dave Maloney 1
Chuck Scott 1
Chris Lucey 1
Bryan Tunney 1
Brian Carcaterra 1
Brendan Heller 1
Armstrong Noonan 1
Andrew Mitchell 1
Amanda Sirois 1

RIP Adam West

Word has broken that Adam West -- forever the cartoonish Batman from the 1960's, as well as Mayor Adam West from Family Guy, among others -- has died.

The truth is, despite an ongoing debate. I don't really care much about superheroes. Sure, put it on the line and I'll always say Batman -- because of Adam West.

But beyond that, Superman (Christopher Reeve, please) and Ironman (since I've seen them with Sean) are fine.

And further beyond that, I just really don't pay a lot of attention.

Still, it all comes back to Adam West, Burt Ward, and the crazy cast of characters that I grew up with in reruns after production stopped in 1968.

It's a nostalgia thing. The show was campy. Hokey. But it tied me back to my father, brother, cousin, and a whole different lifetime.

I'm back to the Batcave. Back to Stately Wayne Manor.

Back to the mod Batmobile.

Game. Set. Match. Pow! Boff! Thwack!

Thanks, Mayor Adam West.

Thanks, Batman.

Radio Test

I'm trying something out tonight, so hang in there with me.

I'm posting a widget to the new Greenwich Sentinel Radio. Give a listen if you want (and if we're live).

I repeat...this is only a test.


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