Bill Gonillo Six (The Pre-State Playoff Edition)

Well, things are, er, weird, aren't they?  Darien WINS the FCIAC but gets blasted by New Canaan.  So what do we do with this?

1) Masuk (Last Week: 1).  To me, this is the easy part.  They're 10-0, have scored nearly 500 points, and allowed on 63.  Hit the Staples button (the store, not the high school), because "that was easy."
2) New Canaan (4).  I know, I know...WHAT?  They're not the FCIAC champs.  Yeah but they throttled the FCIAC champs on Thanksgiving Day.  I also know what I saw...in person, when they pounded Greenwich.
3) Darien (2).  They would have stayed at number two if not for the Thanksgiving game, compounded by the total idiocy of the Dunning Field painting thing.  I could have dropped them to fourth, in favor of Staples, now couldn't I?  Tempting...but I won't.
4) Trumbull (3).  I'm going to ding them for the FCIAC loss.  The only thing that keeps me from dropping them lower than Staples is that, head to head, they beat Staples.
5) Staples (5).  I saw what I saw in person.  Maybe they're young, but they're really good.  I want to put them higher, but the logic wouldn't be fair.
6) Oh boy...what do we do here?  Despite their loss to Trumbull, I'm going to keep St. Joe's at number six.  Yes, Newtown...and Brookfield...and Pomperaug...you have every right to be upset.  You're each 8-2, and St. Joe's is 7-3.  I know.  But the Cadets/Hogs play in the FCIAC, have a talented team, and fought hard with Trumbull before injuries bit them.  That's enough for me.

Onto the states!

Single Dads

I saw Kenn Tomasch (with two "N's"...can't believe I screwed that up) post this on Facebook.  Written by Chris Jones in Esquire, he talks about Dads.  I can completely understand.

Being a parent is hard work.  Being a single dad is a different kind of hard work.  The balance, the need to make every moment count, handling those around you, and so on.  I can't quite explain it.  It's also difficult to make sure that the dad (that's me) continues to have a life.  So there's that tightrope to walk because if I'm not doing right (mentally, physically, etc) then what good am I to Sean?

I had a stranger - some lawyer - tell me that my son, his CLIENT, wants to spend more time with me.  Well that's just lah-di-da great.  Of course I want more time with him, but I'd like it to be more than the hour of looking at toys at Wal-Mart or Target, because it really doesn't make sense to take him back to my house, since there's not enough time.  I'd like more than a few days a month.  I'd like him in MY school district.

I'm not complaining.  I'm happy Sean wants to be with me, and I want to be with him - hell, I offered to have him live with me in return for NO CHILD SUPPORT.  Yes.  That is correct.  THAT, friends, is how much I love my son.  That is how much I miss him.  He's not a dollar sign to me.

So it has been an adjustment.  An adjustment to understanding that Sean likes that time at Wal-Mart.  Or Target.  Or Sonic.  An adjustment to seeing how he now plays me because, hey, he doesn't see me all the time, so is respecting me important?

Hmm.  Respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Aretha sang it so well.  Number one on my hit parade is respect - from everyone.  I don't sense I get a lot of it.  Different rant.  Different time.

We're getting used to the single dad routine.  You'd think it wouldn't be that big of an adjustment, given how long it has been.  But with the changes that took place in September, when I went from being a 50% dad, to a 20% dad, well, it's been different.  Tough to go from seeing Sean, say, 20-25 days every month (during school months)...to six.

And life goes on, but the article Kenn posted hit home.

Pre-Turkey Thoughts

Here on this Thanksgiving Eve, I wish the readers of this very little piece of real estate all the best happiness and health.

I wrote a post for the Greenwich Post, and I think we're going to keep doing it.  I enjoyed it, so why not?

Tomorrow will be my final football broadcast for 2010, unless someone is kind enough to ask me to participate in the playoffs somewhere.  I'd like to put a little mileage between me and the season before I reflect on it and decide what kind of season it was (at least in the booth).  I can say it had fun moments, but I can also say there were other, rather forgettable moments, both on and off the air.

I laughed a lot.  I also felt my blood pressure skyrocket.  The usual...bad equipment...competing media outlets...egos...schedules...blah blah blah.

After tomorrow, I have no idea when my next broadcast is.  I hate - REPEAT, HATE - that feeling.

It's been a strange week, beginning with a wonderful birthday.  Today, I attended the funeral of my Aunt Jean, who passed away last Friday at the age of 85.  Despite her age, she was in good health (we thought), so her passing was a shock.  The feelings of today (and yesterday as well), were mostly bittersweet.  So sad to say good bye, and so sad that it takes these events to see family that I truly enjoy.  Conversely, I did get to see family that I truly enjoy, and was able to introduce Carrie to everyone.

Side note - it's a special person who takes a day off from work to attend a funeral for a woman she never met, to support a boyfriend and his family whom she has known for barely eight months.  That's a good person there.

I have thoughts from the funeral, such as a few comments on the church and their exclusionary tactics.  I thought it was obnoxious.  Others disagreed.  Some agreed.  Fair enough.  Also, I've noticed that many funerals have become very impersonal.  What happened to the eulogies?  Perhaps it's a family decision, but whatever and I doubt it, given my aunt's love of good times.  I don't want some individual of the cloth speaking blankly about a person they never met.  I want stories.  And laughter.  Maybe even tears.  But it will at least be personal.

I'm rambling.  Best to let it go.  You might enjoy my rants but they seem to just get me in trouble.

Please join us tomorrow on WGCH, as Kato, the Wingman, Killer, ~S.L.Y.~ and Captain Greenwich give it our best one more time.  No MSG, so no problems.  I don't think the WWPT guys will give us any trouble.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Birthday Video of the Day

This is tremendous!  Thanks, Justin!

My 42nd birthday will forever be remembered as a great day, capping off a great weekend.  I got to take a road trip, have breakfast at Waffle House, stroll around the outlets at Reading, PA, grab a Coca-Cola Icee at a Wawa, find old-school Steelers merchandise in the outlets at Tannersville, PA, have dinner at Wholly Guacamole, and laugh a lot with my wonderful Carrie.

That was just Saturday!

Sunday was the GYFL, but also dinner back in Brooklyn with Carrie.  Monday was some wings and shrimp, a few drinks, a Rangers win (a really good game - Martin Biron is everything I expected him to be in net), and more laughs (especially at "Family Guy" Season One)

I assumed the worst, but I had the best.  I had over 100 birthday wishes on Facebook, along with phone calls and texts.

You are all amazing.  Thanks for the reminder.

Pump Up Music

A question for you all to ponder...let me explain.

Last week, Chris Erway and I were driving (with the one and only Sean Adams) to the Greenwich/St. Joseph football game in Trumbull.  As "Wingman" got into the car, he told me that he was thinking about music to get him fired up for the broadcast, just as athletes do for games.

The whole conversation, and the tunes we were finding, helped pick me up, as I had been pretty low that morning.

It got me thinking.  I just heard Mr. Imus playing Eminem's "Lose Yourself."  Yeah...that would work.  But what else?  Of course, I suggested Metallica's "Enter Sandman" (of course, out of respect to The Great Mariano).  That would have to be on my list.

So what music would you use?  What do you use to workout to - maybe that's different than what we're talking about?  I'm curious, and looking to be inspired.

Thanks.

Mitchell & Ness (and My Birthday)

OK, I admit it.  My birthday is Monday.  I've been refusing it, avoiding it, pushing it away.  Not because I don't want it or that I'm afraid of it though.  Overall, it's another day.  For the most part, my past several birthdays have been largely forgettable and/or disappointing.  Thus my current attitude.  I'm adjusting it.

I thought about gathering my friends - from all parts of my life - because I thought that would be great.  It just didn't happen.  My own fault.  My own stubbornness.  Maybe next year.  This, by no means, doesn't mean that it won't be a great weekend. 

OK, so why did I call this post "Mitchell & Ness?"  Well because they make some of the coolest sports merchandise you'll ever see, including jerseys that look like they've come straight off of Lou Gehrig or Rod Gilbert or Terry Bradshaw.

They've opened a new store in Philadelphia.  I'd like to stroll around that place with a valid credit card!

Life Lessons

People make mistakes.  All the time.  I feel like I’m the home office for them (ok, I’m being humorous).

Jeff Pearlman, whom I often post links to, writes of a time that he committed what was supposed to be a harmless prank.  It went terribly wrong.  In the end, only Pearlman himself was hurt but it was a lesson learned.

I don’t really know Jeff.  I’ve interviewed him twice.  We graduated a few years apart.  We’re on different ends of the spectrum about a lot of things.  Yet I get the sense he’s an OK guy.  He seems to have lived a decent life.  Married, two kids, the whole thing.  He’s constantly checking his own pulse to make sure he’s doing right – by his wife, his kids, his world.  Struggles with religion and so on.  But I know he isn’t always right.  He obsesses over his pure hatred of Sarah Palin.  He’s a hypochondriac.  And more.  I know this because I’ve read it all on his blog.

He lets most of it out – warts and all.  On occasion, so do I, and I struggle with it all the time (we’ve been down this road).

I never stop learning.  Never stop learning that all people aren’t made the same.  That the way I can laugh with one person isn’t going to work with another.  That I’m also flawed.  That I don’t always say things the right way.  That I can also do better. 

I will do better.

There’s this notion that people don’t change.  That’s utter garbage.  It depends on what needs to be changed.  My core hasn’t changed in (almost) 42 years, but I’ve altered things over that time.  Opinions have changed.  Things that seemed the right way to go in 1987 don’t fly in 2010.

There’s nothing deeper here.  No “Rule 55.”  Just something that I’ve been thinking about, and Jeff helped crystalize it for me.

Happy Friday Links

Man, the New York Islanders just don’t get it.  They’ve pulled the credential of an ultra-popular blog.

You know, a blog that actually has a decent reputation.  Unlike this one.

Please tell me you saw this:

How did this come to be?  Rolling Stone has more.  Bruce also sat down with Fallon for an interview.

Greenwich and Staples will play next Thursday at Cardinal Stadium.  Tim Parry wrote a preview for the Hearst papers (including the Connecticut Post and the Greenwich Time).  Be on the lookout for a quote from WGCH’s Sports Director (though not named by title).  Here are the rest of the links to the turkey games, courtesy of Tim.

The Worldwide Leader’s magazine is doing a movie issue, in which they’ve taken athletes and placed them in movie setups.  Some of them don’t quite work for me, but these three are pretty good.

Ryan Miller as Carl Spackler in “Caddyshack”!

Danica Patrick as Veronica Corningston in “Anchorman” (a filthy pirate hooker – that’s a line from the movie!)

And Lindsey Vonn as Catherine Tramell in “Basic Instinct”.  Wow – this one is uncanny.

Fun stuff.  Fang’s Bites has more.

Speaking of movie quotes, Kenn Tomasch (I remembered the second “N” this time – HA!) lets one go during a game-opening.

Elsewhere, Roger Ebert writes about the brilliance of NPR – radio that isn’t pretentious.

I’m not going to go crazy on the AL Cy Young Award.  A guy that went 13-12 won it.  This isn’t a pro-CC Sabathia/Yankee thing, as he didn’t think he deserved.  Yankees want championships – period.  Joe Posnaski yacks about his joy over the death of wins as an important stat.  This gets a “whatever” from me.
From hockey, The Graying Mantis writes an honest recap of Wednesday night’s Rangers loss to the Bruins.  That’s why I like him.

Former Yankee Jim Leyritz is on trial in Florida for DUI and vehicular manslaughter.  Chad Jennings from the LoHud Yankees blog updates things.

Chad also has a note on Congress recognizing the late Bob Sheppard.

From minor league baseball, Benjamin Hill takes a little umbrage with something that ESPN’s Rob Neyer wrote.  Bravo.

Tiger Woods appeared on ESPN, taking softballs from Mike and Mike in the morning.  Sports Radio Interviews has some quotes.

This might be the first time I’ve posted anything from cricket, but it is at the very foundation of baseball, so why not (via Deadspin)?  Is that Monty?  YES!  What a play!

I love old photographs, and Shorpy is as good a place as any to go see them.  Take a look at Poughkeepsie, NY in 1906.  My dad worked there.  My sister worked there.  My cousin works there.  Friends, etc.  I go there a lot.  In short, I’ve seen way too much of Po’ town for my taste lately.

The Beatles are finally on iTunes.  In case you need a reminder, have a look at their progression.

A little Jeff Pearlman for ya.  Recently, the NFL Network picked their 100 greatest (with Jerry Rice foolishly over Jim Brown at number one).  Pearlman picks the 100 worst on Deadspin.

He also talks about not taking kids to sporting events (the NFL in this case).

That’s all I have for now…isn’t that enough?!?

Football Returns to Yankee Stadium

(I’m not sure if this is from the AP, but I will give proper attribution if I can find it)

Among the various links and such worth discussing on this Thursday is the above picture, as football makes its first appearance in the new Yankee Stadium.  I have visions of the GIants and Colts playing there, or maybe the G-men and the Redskins!

I’d say the Steelers, but they were terrible during the Giants’ years at the old Stadium.

Army and Notre Dame play there this Saturday night.  Ivan Maisel from ESPN provides a look at why this is significant, and the history surrounding it.

It should be fun.

Got My Mind Set On You

Sometimes we forget that George Harrison made some fine music on his own (yes, laugh at Ringo if you must, but he also had a few hits...John and, of course, Paul are the kings).  Musically, George was probably the most talented of the The Beatles in that he was a master guitarist.

This song is actually a cover version, but it's George's version that is most famous.  Seems fitting for a Wednesday with a lot on my...er...mind.  But I know what I want (hello, Rule 55).  So there.

A Meatball Shop? Perfect For Me!

Cookie Mama posted a link to this on Facebook.  How did I not know about this place?

A meatball shop in New York City?  I must visit...and soon!

The Making of "Soulsville"

Greetings from Barnes and Noble in Stamford, CT.  I finally got my copy of "Soulsville" on Monday, and I'm really enjoying it.  Then again, I've been a fan since early 1984, so while I try to be fair, let's face it: I'm a fan.

The band has been promoting the album everywhere, including hitting the talk shows (Letterman, Fallon, Kimmel, and others), and also taking a viral approach.  I just saw this on YouTube.  Huey Lewis, Johnny Colla, and Bill Gibson (three of the band's "core four" with Sean Hopper) talk about the process.

So, Uh, Lou Holtz Isn't Very Happy

I've recently wondered to myself why I dislike Notre Dame.  I don't really hate them, but I've never liked them.  I thought maybe it was the whole "Touchdown Jesus", Joe Montana, Joe Theisman thing.  Yet when John Sullivan left Greenwich and went there, I began to soften a bit on them.

Same stuff that I've been pondering about Penn State and some others.  Why the dislike/hate?

Sorry, Mets fans...some things don't change.

Yet this Lou Holtz video is a fair reminder of what probably made me dislike Notre Dame in the first place.

Split Enz

I heard this while walking around the Best Buy in Poughkeepsie following my little visit to Family Court this morning.  I took some time to think, and to buy the new Huey Lewis and the News CD, Soulsville (very good, by the way).

Always liked this song, along with some of Neil Finn's other work (Crowded House, etc).

Still a big fan of New Wave music.

I realized recently that I need to jump back on the ol' "Rule 55" bandwagon.  So here.  Enjoy.

Bill Gonillo Six

Let's have a new number one and shift things around...

1) Masuk (Last Week: 2).  Guess they should have been number one all along.
2) Darien (3).  In the FCIAC Championship against...
3) Trumbull (5).  Knocked off Staples to advance to the title game.
4) New Canaan (4).  Blasted Bridgeport Central.
5) Staples (1).  I expected them to beat Trumbull.  A failed two-point conversion kept it from being a tie.
6) St. Joseph (6).  Survived against Greenwich.

The Refurbishment of Yankee Stadium

Fascinating footage that I found tonight via River Ave. Blues and the RAB Bullpen.  Shot between 1974 and 1975, it shows the guts of the old palace being ripped apart and rebuilt into the "remodeled Stadium."

This is where my "holy land" was changed and, because of this, the charming people in NYC politics wouldn't designate it with landmark status.  Thus the House that Ruth Built became the House that Giuliani, Bloomberg, and Steiner tore down to open the House that George Built across the street.

The new place is fine.  It's just not this place and it never will be.

Breakfast With the Beatles

This is a fun one.  The Beatles doing "I'm Down" at Shea Stadium in 1965.  The band can barely hear themselves but they laugh through the whole thing - especially George and John.  Sir Paul did this at Citi Field when I saw him in 2009.

Sadly, the car that takes them away at the end is a Mets one.  Fortunately, Macca is a Yankees fan!


Here is Paulie doing it at Citi in 2009.

An Early Start

I'm up early this morning.  That wasn't planned.  I have Greenwich/St. Joe's to call on WGCH today at 1:20, but I could still be asleep.

I just can't sleep.

It's clear the mind is overloaded.

I can't seem to write.  Or talk (yet, I'm a broadcaster).

Today's another day.

The Boston Bruins Rock!

You want smart marketing?  You want savvy commercials?  You want funny in hockey?

Look no further than the Boston Bruins.  On Thursday night, Deadspin got hold of a Bruins fan doing something stupid.


Hey before you criticize, this kind of crap happens in EVERY city...and EVERY arena.  No fan base is that smart.  Sorry.  They all have stupid fans, and as such, Paul Silverfarb and Phil Soto-Ortiz had a great back and forth with me on Facebook about the modern sports fan...and modern sports in general.  In short, we hate the modern sports fan...at least Paul and I do.  Just last night, a Sabres fan so drove a wedge into my enjoyment of the Rangers' game that I might not go back.  Seriously.

Of course, there has been outrage all over, but leave it to the Bruins - as smart a team as I've seen when it comes to their commercials - to have the last word:

Smoking Cigarettes and Watching Captain Kangaroo

A song of silly loneliness.  Rule 55'd for your convenience.