My life has had good and bad, but i try to focus on the good and try to be low drama.
Lets cut to the chase. First time i reached second base was as a high school junior at a drive in movie, Johnny Dangerously, in 1985. We actually tipped our seats back, propped blankets, and watched The Terminator on the opposite screen without sound. That was a fun time, though i attribute my good luck to my girlfriend's crush on John Connor (Michael Biehn is it?). Had even better luck (wink wink) the following weekend listening to Purple Rain cassette with same high school girlfriend, thiugh i attribute my good luck to her crush on Prince. Both occurred in her 1975 AMC Hornet, a sexy machine.
A lot of my information has been shared in various Coaches Corners over the past 6 Earth years. I met my wife at work, in an engineering office. To me she looked like a combination of a young Carol Lynley (who just passed away), the Blue Bonnet Margarine woman, and the very curvy Playboy Playmate of the Year Heather Kozar (wife of Tim Couch) from when we first met in 1998. 5 foot 7, 38c-28-38. She drove a Nissan 240 and looked smokin hot. We just had our 20th wedding anniversary earlier this month. She's by far the brains in our marriage. We have 2 teenage boys, great kids.
First date with her was at the Brick Alley Pub in Newport RI. I picked her up in an old beat up Jeep Cherokee, which she thought was cool. She wore 1998 era wicked tight Levi shorts, cut so short that her butt cheeks were practically falling out. On our second date we were driving down a country road, and she suddenly yelled to stop the car... she got out, ran in front of the car, picked up a bullfrog that was trying to cross, and placed it off the road on the grass so it wouldn't get run over... i thought that was pretty cool. Honeymoon included hiking down into the Grand Canyon to camp. I've always liked that she's open to any adventure, and not ever really scared or skittish. Before we had kids, we would go to Montreal a lot. She was originally from Syracuse, then West Palm. She moved to Rhode Island to be with me, which is where we are today.
Favorite pizza... I'm Italian-American, from outside Providence, My grandfather was born in Italy. So i would regularly get homemade pizza from my grandmother, mother, and aunts. But now with all of them having passed away (the loss of each of them was so tough to watch and accept), the best area pizza to me is simply from a bakery named D.Palmieri's in Johnston RI. Also, Twin's Pizza in North Providence is great but be sure to order it well done. Key is thinner crust, with a nice crunch, bite and chew. Also, it doesn't need a ton of cheese. Gotta use real pepperoni from a stick, so it's tiny pepperoni circles that curl up and crisp in the oven and can hold the oil and flavor.
I've followed baseball since the 1973 playoffs when i was only 5. I was hooked watching the games (on TV) at Shea with my brother, with hot dog wrappers flying around in the wind, the crowd throwing sh-t at Pete Rose, and Willie Mays playing in his final week, and already-legendary players like Morgan, Bench, Seaver, Perez, Cleon Jones, Koosman, McGraw, a young Ken Griffey Sr, Gullett, Grimsley, etc, plus AL playoffs had Reggie, Catfish, Vida, Blue Moon, Holtzman, Fingers, Palmer, Brooks Robinson... cool-sounding memorable names for a 5 year old like me, such as Etchebarren, Geronimo, Menke, Don Hahn, Kranepool, Matlack, Angel Mangual... plus weirdness like Felix Millan choking up literally halfway up his bat, Rusty Staub rolling the ball in from right field cuz he hurt his shoulder... 4 Hall of Fame managers with Yogi, Sparky, Weaver and Dick Williams... Finley kicking out Mike Andrews then having him return... also i liked that the jets of LaGuardia would drown out the announcers with an insane amount of noise every minute of each Mets home game. By mid 1974 i could name most players in both leagues, and that year started with Aaron breaking the HR record. What's there not to like?
Second favorite sport is college hoops. Big Providence Friars fan since 1977, during their years as a perennial National power in the Top-20.. i only hope my Crum World Friars can live up to that samne billing. I went to the first ever Big East Tournament in 1980 at age 12, with my father and brother (who is older than me) held in Providence. Became addicted to Big East hoops and still am. Used to love the Monday night Big East games in 1983, which we'd talk about in school the entire next day. Gave up a sure thing one night in college cuz i didn't want to miss the 1989 NCAA game between Providence and Virginia. Girl was so shocked at my priorities that she returned a few hours later. I had so little luck in that department that i now consider myself nuts.
Hoops Dynasty... my wife and kids think i'm nuts. It's a great game, and very addictive. I log onto HD every day, even on trips we've taken to Iceland and the middle of the desert in California. I've played 150 or so seasons but have made only 1 Final Four, last year in Crum at Providence when i lost the National Final to trizzo. That was a fluke run, and I'm not sure I'll ever win a title, which is fine. I have 5 teams, but i think 3 works best, but i can't let go of some teams easily. Favorite worlds are Crum and Phelan. I like the drive to get better even if i can't win the thing.
Ok that's enough rambling.
9/25/2019 8:02 AM (edited)