1975

Good early morning Friends & Family.  As some of you know that I gave a little Speach at My Father’s wake the other day. This morning I’m going to try and recount a little bit of that story. The year was 1975 the Mets 2 years removed from a World Series run in 1973 when they were not expected to do anything. My Dad decided to take his 3 young Sons to the Ball game @ Shea Stadium Mets vs Phillies.  Along with Uncle Lee & his family. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really remember the exact date or time of the game.  But I do remember that My DAD bought Me a game day program that I still have to this very day. I’m not entirely sure that everyone who was there remembers that feeling that they had but I do because it was My first BIG League game. I’m going to be honest again I don’t even remember who WON or lost the game.  But I will always remember that My DAD & Uncle Lee passed down a Love of the game of Baseball history that you just can’t find today. I’m probably never gonna be able to repay my Father & Uncle for that. But I try My best to share My Knowledge & Love of the game with my younger Friends & Family as often as I can. I also believe that the younger generation Should go visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and learn more about how things used to be. In closing I wish to GOD that the Steroids ERA didn’t happen but it did and it has definitely changed how I look at things today.

End of an ERA

Good afternoon Friends & Family.  The other day something bad happened.  The last remaining Original Umphred Passed away My DAD.  He was the last of the Original Brothers.  Born in 1936 he lived to see a lot of history from WWII to Vietnam to the Falling of the Berlin Wall to the Sports history he also witnessed from the Miracle on Ice the 1980 Olympic Hockey team to the 1980 Phillies. To the Challenger disaster.  He had 3 boys who were and our very different. Mark, Michael, John. He was a printer by trade and worked at Offset Paperback in Dallas Pa. He came from a family of Printers.  He found the game of Golf midlife and enjoyed it very much even got himself a few Hole in one’s to his credit. He got pretty good at it I believe that the best he ever shot was a 78 he belonged to the Wyoming Valley County Club for a very long time. He Married my Mother in 1962 and has spent the last 64 years with her.  He was

An Amazing Father getting us boys involved in everything from cubscouts to Little League to Mini Football to basketball.  To taking us on all kinds of vacations to seeing our first BIG League games in MLB, To the NBA, to the NHL. NFL, and Let’s not forget Disney World. My DAD also was a great Driver of cars he owned a few different kinds over many years of his life.  He taught all of us how to drive.  It wasn’t always easy to get along with him. But for the most part I wouldn’t trade him for anyone else. In closing Please say a little prayer for him and his Amazing  BROTHERS.

Music

Good early morning Friends & Family.  Music has always been a part of my life.  Just like Sports.  I started listening to early Rock & Roll from the 1950’s then moved into the 60’s & 70’s. Where I found bands like the Rolling Stones to the Beatles to Who to Led Zeppelin to the Eagles to Bad Company. Then came the Decade that really kinda shaped me and the way I think about things. The 80’s had it all kinda like the 60’s there was something for everyone from Heavy Metal to Pop to to voices and Guitar gods to Writers who just seemed to know how to make  a song different than ever before.  I’ve been fortunate to see most of my favorite musicians from the decade of the 80’s with a few exceptions. There were some bands or Artists that were just too big that I have never gotten see. The likes of Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen  U2, Michael Jackson were just to hard a ticket to get at times. Back in the 80’s there were all kinds of Monster tours wehre bands toured together.  There were also all kinds of festivals and Causes that brought people together like We are the World and the US Festival. The US Festival is where U2 made their name as a great live Act. It was shown on live TV. I have had the pleasure of seeing 80’s Stars such as John Mellencamp  Madonna, Van Halen and Rick Springfield.  John Fogrety and Sting after he left the Police.  I have also seen 80’s sensation Def Lepard a number of times & INXS . So in closing while the 80’s may not have been the 50’s or 60’s with as much as influence I think I can make a case for the Music of the time being just as Important.

Baseball

What’s a thing you were completely obsessed with as a kid?

Good afternoon Friends & Family. When I was a young boy I was obsessed with everything about Baseball history. From the time the game was invented to the time I was able to start playing organized games in Little League. Back in the day when you used to get a daily Newspaper I would go straight to the Sports section and look for a number. Of different things from the League standings to who was leading the League in Home Runs to who was leading in  RBI’S to was leading in Avg. These were the most important Stat’s of the time. That was just the offensive part of the game. On the pitching side of things you looked for these stats Wins, Losses, ERA, Strike Outs Walks& Complete games. Today’s players have no idea how different things are from when I was a young boy and cared about & enjoyed watching a good game. As I’ve gotten older I still enjoy a good game of Baseball. But the way they play today is much different than years ago. The Records just don’t seem to mean what they used to.

Book Review

Good morning Friends & Family.  I recently finished a book by John Grisham called Playing for Pizza. It was a story about a NFL Qb who goes to play Football in Italy.  I found it a little different than most of the Grisham books that I had read before. The story begins when the 3rd string QB of the Cleveland Browns is all of a sudden pushed into action in a really Big playoff game. The  Browns were up in the game Big but our star comes in and in typical Browns fashion blows the game. Right after the game he’s released by the team. His agent can’t get any offers from any NFL teams the only place he is able to play is in Italy. Where he has to learn the language. During the Season he makes friends with his club teammates finds out that He’s actually learning and enjoying the area. In conclusion this book was a lot different than most John Grisham which is what makes it enjoyable and worth your time.