While I Was Gone...

Sorry that I have been so lacking in posts, but it has been a crazy month, work-wise. Of all the things that happened in the last few weeks, the deaths of three retro celebrities in 2 days takes the cake. Anyone under 30 years old knows Ed, Farrah and MJ as something completely different than those over 30 do. Which is sad. For example:



Ed McMahon-
under 30- old guy who used to be on Conan's show, did those crazy Cash4Gold ads.
over 30- Johnny Carson's sidekick, also hosted "Star Search," Jerry Lewis Telethon, and TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. The ultimate second banana.



Farrah Fawcett-
under 30- crazy lady who babbled on Letterman, redeemed herself during cancer battle the last year.
over 30- the most famous poster of all time (above), for a good decade was THE sex symbol.


and finally, the saddest of all, Michael Jackson-
under 30- the former star who was accused of pedophilia, facial surgery, and general weirdness.
over 30- words can not describe how very big MJ was from 1982-87. Every song was a number 1 smash, every video was an world event (back when videos were played on MTV), not to mention the moonwalk, the glove, the Pepsi commercials. With such a fragmented world these days, we will never see someone this big again.

We lost 3 big names last week, and no matter how you remember them, that is the saddest fact of all.

The Fall of OJ Revisited

On this date in 1994, the chase that captivated a nation occurred. It's hard to remember OJ Simpson as a non-accused murderer. But pre-1994, he was a beloved Hall of Fame NFL'er and star of movies like "Naked Gun." But then the story of ex-wife Nicole, Ron Goldman, a bloody glove, Johnny Cochran, all became part of how we knew OJ, and the nation became obsessed with the courtroom case for the next 2 years. And it all started 15 years ago today. I remember I was at work at Friendly's, and the talk was all about the Knicks and Rockets in the NBA Finals. Suddenly, customers were talking about OJ Simpson. We turned on the TV in the back room and we saw what everyone was watching- a slow speed chase on an LA freeway with a white Bronco that belonged to OJ. It ended peacefully 40 minutes later, but it was only the beginning of the obsession with everything OJ- it brought cable news and court cases to a new low, and when he was found not guilty in October of 1995, it divided the country. The good news is that karma appears to have finally caught up with him, as he was sentenced to 33 years in prison for a Vegas kidnapping scheme.

30 Years Today..

On this date in 1979, I went to my first baseball game. Very hard to believe that 30 years has come and gone. It was at Veteran's Stadium (below) in Philadelphia, and I got to see Phil Niekro of the Braves pitch against Steve Carlton of the Phillies. My Grandfather (above, with a cute young me) ran bus trips every year to the Vet and Yankee Stadium, and at age 5, it was deemed that I was old enough to go. It was the beginning of a long odyssey that continues today. I remember alot about that day, and 30 years and 400 attended games later, I am still thankful to my Grandpa's huge role in making me the fan I am today.

We Saw Randy Johnson's 300th Win!

...Not. We toughed it out through 3+ hours of pouring rain and lightning, hoping that we would get to see Randy Johnson's date with destiny at Nats Park. Many people believe that with specialized pitching staffs and 5 man rotations, he may be the last 300-game winner. So he will pitch today instead, when I will be working at my own game. Oh well, better luck next time. At least we still have tickets to go to another game.

North Carolina Baseball

This past weekend Staci and I traveled to the state of North Carolina to catch some baseball, and in the process got to see a dear old friend of mine. Since we are on a tighter budget this year (i.e. broke), we are doing drivable minor league trips instead of the major league trips we usually do. And this one didn't disappoint. We started Friday night in Durham, where I had been before but was excited about seeing again. Despite the weather, we had a good time.



Saturday, it was on to Greensboro. On the way, we stopped to visit the Burlington Royals stadium and the yet-to-be-finished new Winston-Salem stadium. We also stopped for a great dinner with my old college roommate Tracy and her family. We hadn't seen each other in over 5 years, so it was great to catch up and introduce the spouses. Then we all headed to the Grasshoppers game. Greensboro was a great stadium, packed with 9100 people, which is very impressive for a low-A team. On our way out of town, we stopped at the old Greensboro stadium, then headed to Lynchburg.

Danville was on the way, so we took a peek at the D-Braves park. Very nice for Rookie League. Lynchburg was also a park that I had seen, but was happy to re-visit. The P-Nats were in town, so we gt to see my team get beat.

It was a great, inexpensive trip in which I got to mark 5 more stadiums off the master list (7 total).