Everything must go, including a whole mess of lanyards and credentials with his goateed face laminated on them.
Former ESPN broadcaster and Detroit radio personality, Mark Wilson, is leaving town (the state of Michigan, actually). But before he goes, he needs to sell off all the memorabilia his career in sports has afforded him over the years. The stash includes autographed bats, balls, crates of baseball cards, those radio guy jackets that will never go out of style, really old golf clubs and jerseys galore. It’s not all treasure – a replica MVP trophy from the Great Lakes Hockey championship – but there are items like the signed Joe Louis boxing gloves to be had. He’s even got a Charlie O. Finley baseball – the orange ball that Finley tried to replace white Major League baseballs with. Finley also wanted to institute designated runners and a mechanical rabbit that would pop up behind home plate and deliver new balls to the umpire (I digress, but I made up none of that).
Most notably, Wilson was the co-host of the popular Detroit sports-talk radio show Parker & The Man, he was ‘The Man.’ Wilson has also worked as a sports anchor and producer in Houston, Miami and Lansing. Judging by the array of Super bowl gear in his collection- a ceramic football from Super Bowl XL designed by Steve Mariucci? – he was something of a radio row lifer superstar.
Now, say you just wanted the Louis gloves, and maybe a lanyard or two. Well, liquidation stipulation – the whole lot needs to be moved at once and the asking price for the boat is $47 K. The kicker, assuming you live in the state of Michigan, The Man Wilson will drive all his swag to your house!
And if you talk Motor City Chiefs hockey with him, I’m sure he’ll throw in some heavy lifting too.
Enter a Chick-fil-A this Labor Day wearing anything from a mesh Little League cap to a USC song girl outfit, and your chicken sandwich is on the house.
Chick-fil-A Inc. will give away a free chicken sandwich on Labor Day to anyone showing team spirit at one of the fast-food chain’s locations nationwide.
Anyone who wears any sports-related apparel on Sept. 7 at a participating Chick-fil-A restaurant will receive a free chicken sandwich in celebration of the second annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, which will take place Saturday night with Alabama playing Virginia Tech.
According to the Chick-fil-A locator, the only store in NYC is in a New York University food court. Sadly, my resources to gain access to New York college eateries is limited to nonexistent at this juncture. But hey, at least an eatery exists in the city (looking at you, Sonic jerks).
However, if you’re in Atlanta, the birthplace of Chick-fil-a and the site of the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl, you won’t have to bum rush the Georgia Tech or Spelman dining halls to take advantage of the promotion . To quote the restaurant locator, “there are 63 Chick-Fil-A’s near you.” I recommend you to try the buttermilk ranch sauce, Falcons fans.
The seven-times Tour de France winner issued an invitation via Twitter – telling people to turn up at Phoenix Park.
“Good morning Dublin. Who wants to ride this afternoon? I do. 5:30pm @ the roundabout of Fountain Rd and Chesterfield Ave. See you there,” Armstrong tweeted.
When the American arrived he was mobbed by fans, many jostling for a prime position at the front of the pack with one of cycling’s all-time greats.
The 38-year-old, who is in Ireland for a global cancer summit, said: “For me, I like to ride my bike anyway, so on a very simple level it’s a very sunny, beautiful day in Dublin and I’d be going for a bike ride anyway.
Sky News reports, a bike shop in Dublin rented 190 bikes in two-hours leading up to the event. And according to a report from…well, according to Lance Armstrong tweet, 1000+ showed up for the occasion.
Thankfully, Bode Miller has become a caricature of his former self. This is great, because his former self was really – to put it lightly – dickish?
Somebody, maybe it was Bode himself (once an attention whore…), decided to make the Bode: Life After the U.S. Ski team webisode (He quit way the hell back in 2007, by the way). This video makes me long for more Life After videos with other marginally successful athletes who have seen the tipping point of that marginal success come and go, and are now declining steeper than a giant slalom course in the Swiss Alps.
Watch this, and think about who else is ripe for a pummel by an old man (comes at about the 1:00 minute mark; the headlines on this site do not lie).
We’re all aware of Kenny Loggin’s trancendent work on Caddyshack, or Survivor’s contributions to The Karate Kid, Rocky III…Rocky IV…some movie called Vital Signs (All but one song on their greatest hits record can be found on a sports movie soundtrack, I think). I’m even fairly certain that nobody I know has seen the movie Chariots of Fire – but they all know the title track!
The songs on this list come from classic sports films that you’ve definitely seen (maybe not Hot Rod). Hopefully, from artists that you know (Gang of Four, Explosions in the Sky), but probably didn’t know the specific song (or any of the songs in the artist’s catalog, ex. Twista).
“Your Hand in the Mind” – Explosions in the Sky (Friday Night Lights)
Several people have told me that EIS are one of the bands that when you see them live the whole crowd just stands at attention, and no one makes a sound. Well, they certainly cast quite a grip with their soundtrack contributions to Friday Night Lights. “Your Hand In Mind” is the theme song, and man does it make Billy Bob Thornton look tense.
Here’s a taste of it live too…
Other tracks of merit:
“Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean” Explosions in the Sky
“First Breath after Coma” Explosions in the Sky
“Bring the Noise” Public Enemy
“Never” Moving Pictures (Hot Rod)
We watched the credits the other night, and there are eight songs in this movie by Europe that aren’t “The Final Countdown.” However, “Never” by Moving Pictures is the most memorable track in Hot Rod, thanks to one epic fall by Andy Samberg. (Well aware that this whole thing was a spoof on Footloose. Unfortunately, that movie does NOT qualify.)
Other tracks of merit:
“Danger on the Track” Europe
“On the Loose” Europe
“Rock The Night” Europe
“Ninja” Europe
“Love Chaser” Europe
“Cherokee” Europe
“Heart of Stone” Europe
“Time Has Come” Europe
Desire - Gang of Four (The Karate Kid)
In Cal-if-for-knee-ya.
I haven’t seen this movie in years, and have no idea when it shows up in the movie – I guess we can rule out the sequence when Mr Miyagi is trimming his bonsai tree.
Gang of Four is best known for their post-punk offerings of the late 70s, and have been cited as major influence by the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Fugazi and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I’m thinking those musicians relate more to GO4 tunes like To Hell With Poverty and Damaged Goods, still this song also has some nice a-slappin da bass.
Other tracks of merit:
“NO SHELTER” Broken Edge
“YOU’RE THE BEST” Bill Conti
Twista Feat. Faith Evans (Coach Carter)
Gospel rap crossover, not by R.Kelly or P.Diddy, for once.
I took Spanish seriously this entire movie (which was not easy, considering how many time Samuel L called him and everybody else sir).
“Locked Up” Akon
“Let the Drummer Kick It” Citizen Cope
“Get Low” Lil Jon
Hoop Dreams – Tone AKA The Deacon (Hoop Dreams)
This one harks back to the days when 97% of rap song began with Yo, wat up, wat up, wat up. And sorry, but ‘embedding disabled by request’ still occasionally remains the bane of our existence.
About 30 secs in Tone AKA The Deacon delivers the line the streets continue to test me, like a full court press, gee. After that, it get’s painstakingly redundant, but that one bit, I thought, was pretty solid.
Other tracks of merit:
“Fast Break” Tone AKA The Deacon
“The Original Lesson” Shock-G
Burn On – Randy Newman (Major League)
I abhor a lot of Randy Newman’s stuff – especially, his soundtrack work as matter of fact. He’s much more well known for his ghastly contributions to, for example, the Toy Story franchise. But hey, “Burn On’ is not half bad. Here’s a clip someone created, not from the Major League, but of the history of Indians franchise. Another shining example of how much Indians fans have embraced Major League…
Other tracks of merit:
“Wild Thing” – X
“Must Have Got Lost” J.Geils Band (3:32) (Miracle)
Respectfully, nobody ever did Geils better than when Sandler does Love Stinks in Wedding Singer. However, most people don’t realize that J. Geils practically built his career around a fan base of hockey players in the late 1970s. Hence, that’s how Musta Got Lost made it’s way into the movie about the greatest achievement by that group of dudes, who in their downtime sipped budweiser, wore polyester track jackets, grew sweet mustaches, and listened to J.Geils.
Other tracks of merit:
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” Blue Oyster Cult
“Dream On” Aerosmith
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Brenda Lee
I actually saw this first on Pitchfork, and it happened to catch my eye because I happen to be reading the book Our Band Could Be Your Life at this time.
Thoughts and condolences go out to Gerard Cosloy, whose Austin, TX house burned down early this morning.
Gerard is indeed a sports blogger who runs Can’t Stop The Bleeding. He posted a photo of the rubble of his former home on his site today, along with the quote: “This was a hell of a way to get out of hoovering the living room.”
More so than an establish sports blogger, Cosloy is an indie rock legend. He’s worked with such influential bands as Sonic Youth, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, and Yo La Tengo. He started the rock label Homestead Records, putting out early work by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and is the co-owner of Matador Records.
I just got done reading about how he got F’d over by Dinosaur Jr in the mid-80s in Our Band Could Be Your Life. Plus, I think he’s a Mets fan. Wow, I feel bad for this dude.
Shoot Gerard some encouragement (he’s @cstbtweet or @gerardcosloy on twitter) if you have a minute.
This poll is inspired by the tumultuous weather (mostly, the murky side effects of) endured at All Points West festival this weekend. You know it’s bad when you’ve only been at the concert for two hours and you have a woman’s scarf draped around your neck in the rain in an attempt to influence the blood flowing to your head to keep you warm… and you’re listening to Vampire Weekend. Or, on Day Two, when I was forced to sock @melfi in the right rotator cuff to counteract the agonizing pain in his foot from smearing Purell on an open wound (great moments in staving off infection). Day Three was by far the muddiest (made Friday and Saturday’s terrain look like a white sand beach), but it was also the day I stayed the most dry. Check out the attire (I’m the grey guy)…
On the other hand, All Points West was also completely awesome (Jay-Z, The Black Keys, The National, Fleet Foxes, Tool). Just like the first NFL game I went to see live. Dec. 12, 1993, Foxboro Stadium. The 2-11 New England Patriots vs. the 1-12 Cincy Bengals. Drew Bledsoe leads the Pats to a 7-2 triumph, a combined score that equals the number of layers of clothing my nine-year old self wore to the friendly tin confines of Foxboro that day.
To get there, my dad, my uncles and I piled into a Tioga winne… there’s no amount of antifreeze that would have got that beast started after the game. We had to call in a reserve Minivan for the ride home. Giving up no less than 140 lbs. to everyone, I had the added bonus of sitting between the driver and the shotgun seats on the floor. The moral of the story, the Patriots never looked back. Bledsoe rattled off 4 straight wins to finish ’93 at 5-11.
This week, send me your memory of The Most Treacherous Weather You’ve Encountered at a Sporting Event. I’ll post the best on Friday. Special consideration will be given to submissions with photo evidence of ridiculous, yet element-braving, clothing – not unlike my grey baffoon suit pictured above.
Hard to believe, but the U.S. Open is indeed over. This year’s victor Lucas Glover might as well be Crispin Glover in Back to the Future III. His time has passed. Time to move on to real golf entertainment, or at least a tournament that’s guaranteed not to finish up on a Monday while your at work. I’m talking of course about the American Century Championship, held every summer in Lake Tahoe – the land of gambling, skiing, that horrible Piven movie Smokin’ Aces, and a place where no man’s golf game would ever get delayed an extra day.
Every year about 80 celebs escape to the Lake so that they can put their 40-yard slices power-fades on display to be broadcast on NBC. Over the years, friendships have been forged at this event. Charles Barkley already challenged Alonzo Mourning to see who can get the lower score this year (probably be around 125). This year, TAHOECELEBRITYGOLF.COM has decided to enlist the sports blog intelligentsia to help foster new connections of would-be golf prowess. Take a look at the list below of the 2009 participants and select your Fantasy Pairings (could be a twosome, threesome, or foursome), and send me your quote-unquote rationale. Next Week leading up to the tournament, we’ll post the best and vote.
The winner is going get their fantasy pairing printed as a by-line in the 2010 American Century Program, which is a family publication, so keep it less-than offensive. TahoeCelebrityGolf.com will also send free merchandise to the top entries. To enter, either email me here or post a short entry on your blog and link back here. Readers are free to enter as well!
Voting kicks off next Monday and the winner will be decided during tournament week beginning July 13.
For my personal, yet very ineligible, submission I’m throwing out a threesome that no Country Club manager would ever dare try to put pin a single with: David Wells, Chuck Liddell and Brian Baumgartner, who plays Kevin on The Office.
These guys could be brothers if you ask me, the kind of brothers that go drink Budweiser in the garage of their parents house for 6 1/2 hours…and then go play a round. You see why I couldn’t have put Alfonso Ribeiro in this group.
Extra favor or consideration may be given to anyone who makes a case for a grouping that features Carlton from Fresh Prince. Check out the list…
Marcus Allen (NFL Hall of Fame RB)
Ray Allen (Boston Celtics)
Anthony Anderson (Law & Order, Barbershop)
Derek Anderson (Cleveland Browns)
Ronde Barber (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Charles Barkley (Former NBA All-Star)
Steve Bartkowski (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Shane Battier (Houston Rockets)
Brian Baumgartner (The Office)
Tim Brown (Former NFL All-Pro WR)
Joe Buck (Announcer)
Cris Carter (Former NFL All-Pro WR)
Joe Carter (Former MLB All-Star OF)
Matt Cassel (Kansas City Chiefs)
Chris Chandler (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Vince Coleman (Former MLB All-Star OF)
Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears)
Jack Del Rio (NFL Head Coach: Jacksonville Jaguars)
Vinny Del Negro (NBA Head Coach: Chicago Bulls)
Richard Dent (Former NFL All-Pro LB)
Trent Dilfer (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Herm Edwards (Former NFL Head Coach)
Trent Edwards (Buffalo Bills)
John Elway (NFL Hall of Fame QB)
Mike Eruzione (Captain, 1980 US Hockey Captain)
Marshall Faulk (Former NFL All-Pro RB)
Grant Fuhr (NHL Hall of Fame Goalie)
Trent Green (NFL All-Pro QB)
Anfernee Hardaway (Former NBA All-Star)
Rodney Harrison (NFL All-Pro Safety)
AJ Hawk (Green Bay Packers)
Dennis Haysbert (24, The Unit, Major League)
Todd Heap (Baltimore Ravens)
Oliver Hudson (Rules of Engagement)
Brett Hull (Former NHL All-Star)
Dan Jansen (Olympic Gold Medal Speed Skater)
Dale Jarrett (NASCAR Driver)
Dick Jauron (NFL Head Coach, Buffalo Bills)
Michael Jordan (NBA Legend)
Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks)
Pierre Larouche (Former NHL All-Star)
Matt Leinart (Arizona Cardinals)
Mario Lemieux (NHL Legend)
Chuck Liddell (MMA Fighter)
Kenny Lofton (Former MLB All-Star)
Neil Lomax (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
John Lynch (Former NFL All-Pro Safety)
Dan Marino (NFL Hall of Fame QB)
Tino Martinez (Former MLB All-Star 1B)
Chris McDonald (Happy Gilmore)
Bruce McGill (Animal House)
Jim McMahon (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Bode Miller (World Class Skier)
Alonzo Mourning (Former NBA All-Star)
Kevin Nealon (SNL)
Daniel Negreanu (Professional Poker Player)
Terence Newman (NFL All-Pro CB: Dallas Cowboys)
Jonathan Ogden (Former All-Pro OL)
Paul O’Neill (Former MLB All-Star OF)
Carson Palmer (Cincinnati Bengals)
Digger Phelps (ESPN Analyst, Former Notre Dame Basketball Coach)
Wade Phillips (NFL Head Coach: Dallas Cowboys)
Maury Povich (Television Host)
Dan Quayle (Former U.S Vice President)
Dan Quinn (Former NHL Center)
Rick Rhoden (Former MLB All-Star Pitcher)
Alfonso Ribeiro (Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
Jerry Rice (Former NFL All-Pro WR)
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)
Jeremy Roenick (San Jose Sharks)
Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys)
Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons)
Mark Rypien (Former All-Pro NFL QB)
Bret Saberhagen (Former MLB Pitcher/World Series MVP)
Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche)
Matt Schaub (Houston Texans)
Mike Schmidt (MLB Hall of Fame 3B)
Mike Shanahan (Former NFL Head Coach)
Sterling Sharpe (Former NFL All-Pro WR)
Emmitt Smith (NFL All-Time Rushing Leader)
Ozzie Smith ( MLB Hall of Fame SS)
Steve Spurrier (Univ. of South Carolina Football Coach)
Darryl Strawberry (Former MLB All-Star OF)
Wally Szczerbiak (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Lawrence Taylor (NFL Hall of Fame LB)
Vinny Testaverde (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Joe Theismann (Former NFL All-Pro QB)
Billy Joe Tolliver (Former NFL QB)
Brian Urlacher (Chicago Bears)
Jack Wagner (The Bold and The Beautiful)
Antoine Walker (Former NBA All-Star)
Wes Welker (New England Patriots)
David Wells (Former All-Star Pitcher)
Ken Whisenhunt (NFL Head Coach: Arizona Cardinals)
In honor of my first trip back to Fenway Park this weekend, I put it out there to some of the sports blog intelligentsia to send: My First Sports Memory
You can read all about my personal moment of nostalgia – a heartwarming tale about how Fenway Park turned a shy six-year old into a leader of men – here. Below is some more true folklore (at least in the eye of the beholder).
If nothing else, this a great chance to see a few of your favorite sports bloggers really, really date themselves ( Game 3 of the 1986 World Series, a Kirk Gibson game, the John Havlicek retirement game!).
My earliest sports memory was Game 3 of the 1986 World Series at Fenway Park. My father had one ticket to the game (second row centerfield bleachers), but he decided to bring me figuring they wouldn’t deny an 8 year old entrance to the game. He was right, the old man at the gate pulled me up over the turnstyle and let me into the game. I don’t remember much about the game other than the fact that Oil Can Boyd was on the mound for the Sox and shit the bed.
I hope this led to a life of hurdling-the-turnstyle crime for Mr. Don Chavez.
I was 7 years old and we went to see the Salt Lake City Trappers on the 4th of July. I believe Hank Aaron threw the first pitch. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew that there was going to be fireworks after the game. The only thing that I remember is that there was a loud bang that just scared me to death, and I
yelped out my first F bomb. The next moments were in slow motion. My step Dad looked at me and then told my Mother what her son just said. My next memory is having soap in my mouth.
They’ll be other examples of kids blinding loving the watered-down experience (especially when you’re not old enough to drink) that is Minor League baseball..as well as more F-bombs.
For me, probably around 1983-84, at Memorial Stadium to see the Orioles play. My father took my 4 siblings and I to the games to give my mom a break in the evenings. We always got there early to catch balls in the outfield bleachers, and get autographs signed by the players during batting practice. Cal “not overrated” Ripken would sign at every game, and sign for everyone. I have one baseball that he signed for me on four different occasions. When was the last time you saw a ball player spend 45 minutes signing autographs on game day? He is from Baltimore, and is Baltimore and every kid growing up in that era and in that area have Cal Ripken as their first and most lasting memory in Sports.
Touching, let’s hear about an autograph signing gone sour, shall we..
I remember going to a Bullets-Pistons game at the Capital Centre with my dad and one of my friends, around 1990. Well after the game ended, a few of the players including John Salley went down the line of waiting fans to sign autographs. Salley got the group to my right, looked directly at my friend Sean and me, and went directly to the next group on our left. My dad tried to get autographs for us also but he refused to sign for him too. I’ve never been a John Salley fan since.
Then again, if this goes differently, imagine the shame you’d be feeling right now if you grew up loving John Salley…
1986, it must have been. Tony Pena’s last year with the Pirates. I woulda been 2. I remember someone telling me that Pena was up to bat at Three Rivers Stadium…either my dad or the announcer. I was sitting in the nosebleeds, but remember saying “He’s gonna hit a home run,” which he did, to the leftfield seats way below me. Pena’s always been one of my favorite players because of that.
One of the many Red Sox games of my youth also featured a Tony Pena home run – the rarity of which can not be overstated (1,988 games career games – just 107 HRs).
1983, Left Field at Veterans Stadium, sitting in ubstructed view seats, so I actually ended up watching on television screens on overhang, my uncle lectures me, “Just remember that your Godfather took you to see Pete Rose play baseball.” I remembered. Though, I could have seen the same game at home.
I remember going to the Phoenix Firebirds game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on my brother’s birthday. The Firebirds were the AAA affiliate for the Giants back then and I got to see a bunch of great players come through. But that night I couldn’t have been older than five or six. It was a night game because it’s Phoenix in the summer and you don’t play baseball during the day outside. I remember how packed the place was. Matt Williams was on the team and there was a buzz about him but I didn’t care about that. I just liked the environment of the ballpark. Nothing of note happened (besides hearing my brother’s name announced over the PA) but it was my first trip to the ballpark and I still remember the way the sky looked and the way the mountains made strange shadows on the field.
We were up in the nosebleeds. the place smelled real bad. I remember my science teacher Mr. Coyle was selling beer. Very surreal. On the floor for the Celtics were guys like Pistol Pete Maravich, Dave Bing, I remember they were playing buffalo and ernie d the former braves star but local kid from providence was on the celtics at the time. the place went absolutey nuts for hondo. ab-so-lute-ly nuts. i dont remember the garden ever rocking like that and we had seasons all through the bird years. thats the night my love
affair with the celtics began.
Josh, we can deduce that you were at least in grade school when this game took place – in 1978 – how old are you?
Little background info:
I was born in Bremerhaven, Germany and lived there until 1995 then moved to Olympia, WA.
After living in WA for a few months we went to a Mariners-Yankees game in the 1995 divisonal series playoffs. We went to game 5 of the series so the series was 2-2. It was a great game, we sat in left-center at the Kingdome(old Mariners stadium shared with the Seahawks). Since it was a old stadium, not all the seats were that good but who cares it was game 5. It went to 11 innings that night with my team, the Mariners(who I am still a huge fan of), winning the game 6-5.
My first baseball game: Mariners-Yankees, game 5, 11 innings. Mariners Winning.
This wins the reward for decrepit sporting venue visited in thine youth…whoops, wait a second…
My first live sporting event memory was on a cold October night at the old Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Back when Sweet Lou and Trammel ruled the middle of the diamond and Kirk Gibson was in shape.
My dad had a stache like Jack Morris and it was his first game as well.
It was 1984 and I was 10. The ball park seemed like a magical place despite the scary surroundings of Motown. The bathrooms had long pee troughs like a farm, the floors were dirty and the hand rails were sticky with beer (hoping that was the case).
I remember thinking that the field seemed way smaller than I expected and the grass much greener.
It was a frosty night and I also remember having a lot of hot chocolate to keep my hands warm, more so than enjoying it as a drink.
I don’t remember who the Tigers were playing, nor who won but I do remember Gibson hitting one out of the park and into the lumber yard across the street. It was all anyone was talking about.
I was just glad I did not miss it.
It may not of been the most glamorous place but the old Tiger Stadium will always have a soft spot in my sporting heart.
Back in like 1996 or 1997 the NBA pre-season schedule grabbed a spot in Missoula, MT of all places which happened to be a couple of hours from where I grew up. So my Dad and I and a couple of friends grabbed some tickets and went. The game was between the Sonics and the Grizzlies (Vancouver of course) and was a big deal to us small time Montana folk. Long story short – at some point in the middle of the game, George Karl showed his disagreement with the officiating by dropping an “F” bomb. Now you have to understand how small the arena was and as you can imagine, the entire place heard it, staring back at George in complete shock. George, realized he had been caught, and dropped the sheepiest of all sheepish grins while look around in embarrassment. Classic.
You sure you don’t remember flyfishing first? Because you were probably flyfishing the day before…and every day at 4 a.m. before and after. What is is with Montanadians and the fly fishing, anyway?
And what is it about effin that leave such an impression on the kids? Moving on…
My parents took me to a Yankee game when I was a really little kid. We had great seats on the first base line through my dad’s work. It’s every kids dream to catch a foul ball and on that day, mine came true…well almost did.
It was mid-way through the game when my dad went to get himself and my mom a few beers. When he got to his seat, one of the Yankee players hit a foul ball and it was coming right at us. Without any time to put the beers in each hand down, my father stuck the cup in the air in an attempt to catch the ball. As the ball fell from the sky closer and closer, my dad targeted the ball with the cup. And then, he caught it. Right in his cup. This was a million to one shot. You know that game where you have a ball attached to a cup with a string and you try to catch the ball in the cup? Well this was like that on PEDs and no string. I couldn’t believe he caught the ball.
We didn’t even have a chance to savor the moment. As this miracle catch happened, the asshole behind us was going for the foul as well. The ball didn’t even have a chance to get wet. This dick swatted at the ball hitting my dad’s cup, sending the ball 4 rows in front of us. Unbelievable.
Steve Melfi, who eventually forgave his dad for that fumble last Summer, wishes you all a Happy Father’s Day.
This weekend, I’m making my long awaited return to Fenway Park – a place I haven’t been in over 10 years.
As a young lad, going to Fenway was a yearly ritual. I’m pretty sure my first game was during the 1990 season – the Roger Clemens era, yes, but also the Mike Greenwell and Jack Clark era. That was the season the Red Sox set the record for grounding into the most double plays (174). Now the Sox are better known for records like selling out every seat since 2003.
I’ll never forget that first game though. On the way in, taking the Green Line T from Framingham, MA, my Uncle Ronnie informed me that when someone on the opposing team strikes out you bound out of your seat and yell “Sit Down!” as menacingly and berating as possible. With my hat already nearly pulled fully over my eyes and a glove that may or may not have had velcro capabilities, my uncle probably thought it was more likely that I’d be asleep by the fourth inning.
Well, unless his true intentions were to create the most jawing 6-year old in New England that night, he should have never gave me those instructions. I’m pretty sure the game went into extra innings, and the Redx Sox pitchers K’d the opposition a few times during warm-ups too (how else could I have told no-less than 35 batters to “Sit down!!” – which is what I approximate).
I’m sure there’s backyard whiffle ball or youth league soccer glory from the late-80s documented on a beta-max in the attic, but I can’t really recall that. I remember vividly however giving the Red Sox opponents – let’s call them the Blue Jays (remember how annoying the early-90s Blue Jays were?) – the business though.
In honor of my sure-to-be triumphant return to Fenway…as well as punk little kids everywhere, I’m once again putting the sports blogger intelligentsia to task, and asking bloggers far and wide to send me a brief anecdote on:
