Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Baseball Just Won't Be The Same...

It's been covered in great detail and length by both the Philly media , Philly sports blogs , and the national media (ESPN had it as their lead story for the better part of 24 hours, and Jayson Stark gave the nation a glimpse into what Harry meant to us). And if this doesn't give you goosebumps, then you just don't bleed the right color red: http://www.the700level.com/2009/04/the-final-outta-here.html

Like Richie Ashburn and Gene Hart, Harry was an extended part of my life, of every Phillies fan's family. It really wasn't baseball season without hearing his soothing voice calling the games on Philly 57 or over 1210 AM. Heck, Opre and I even paid extra this year just so we could get all the Phillies broadcasters via the mlb.tv package. Yesterday felt like I lost that great uncle that was always in your life (Uncle Mattie comes to mind, except a lot more smiles from Harry). One of the most comforting things since yesterday was reading how much more talented writers than I have been able to verbalize what an entire generation - make that a few generations - of Phillies fans felt about Harry.

The Phillies may not have been very successful for much of my adult life (reality is, they've been more bad then good, or even average, since 1985), but baseball is always baseball, your team will always win its share of games, and each little victory gives a small reason to smile and cheer. If football season is 3 hours of gladiatorial combat preceded by six days of preparation, planning, and hype, baseball is the polar opposite: spanning three celestial seasons from pitchers and catchers to the final "struck 'im ooouuuuut!" in late October, it is the sporting personification of a lazy summer evening on the back deck with a cool drink, shooting the breeze. Harry's reoccurring part as narrator of that annual rite of summer put us fans in the perfect position to appreciate the subtle beauties of the game. Even the silence between pitches - filled only with the sounds of the ballpark, stretches most announcers and/or stadium organists don't give the fans a chance to appreciate - was peaceful, knowing on the other side of that momentary pause, there would be Harry the K, picking up the action at just the right time, with just the right sense of anticipation for the next pitch.

Harry, you'll be missed by every phan who ever tuned into a Phillies game. As many have said, you were the Phillies to millions of Delaware Valley residents, and as one of the many, I'll miss hearing you call every Phils moment, both high and low. My phone ringer, for a very long time, (sorry Jen) will continue to be "The 0-2 pitch... swing and a miss, STRUCK HIM OUT!! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of Baseball!!" And I hope I continue to get the same chills that I did just now, listening to that wonderful moment just one more time...

Friday, April 10, 2009

Houston

Nothing clever or long on this blog, since it's bedtime here in the heart of Texas. Just random observations about this week's travel to Houston...
  • The infrastructure around the city itself is probably the best I've ever seen for a city of any decent size. It's like they knew to have wide roads and plenty of extra space for ramps, HOV lanes, even tolls, way before anyone else. That, or their civil engineering is vastly superior to the rest of the country. Name one large city that doesn't seem to have pretty much outgrown its highways. I'd throw Houston up there as the first one I've ever seen.
  • Speaking of tolls, this place has a beltway and a couple of spurs in/out of the city that are pay roads. Put it like this - it's worse than the Garden State Parkway when it comes to the frequency and amount of the tolls. I guess I know how they pay for all those infrastructure improvements.
  • I skipped a Springsteen concert to do work and eat Mexican food; weak, I know. I must be getting older and more mature, or something like that. I just had waaaaay too much shit to do this week (channeling my inner Lehman) and I have another chance to go see him in Chicago I think. Besides, it wasn't just Mexican food - this stuff was KILLER. If you're ever down here, do yourself a favor and go to Lupe Tortilla. There's a good chance if I ever lived here I'd be there 3x a week.
  • Something about Houston appealed to me... so far it's been the most pleasant surprise of my trips. Truth is, my work travel hasn't been very glamorous... they don't exactly put trash companies in Beverly Hills. Other than the 2nd half of the first week in LA, it's been fairly nondescript, and nothing about Detroit, Dallas (other than the absurd enormity of the new Cowboys Stadium), or LA made me ever think I'd want to live in any of those places. Yes, LA was nice, but all that great weather (ok, so so weather) and beautiful views come with the price of the 2nd biggest city in America and all the negatives that come with it - traffic, crime, an overly frantic pace, and specifically dealing with all the issues of a big city without many of the benefits (like the relative ease in getting around in cities like Philly, Boston, and NYC once you're actually in the city itself). It's like LA is one big sprawling quasi-suburb. Anyways, the point to all this is that Houston seems to have a heck of a lot going for it - plenty of commerce, lots of space, proximity to a shoreline (from downtown Houston to Galveston is actually closer than Philly to AC), good food, seemingly very nice Texas folk... all in all, I saw a lot of good things here, compared to very few drawbacks. I'm not planning on packing up the Jeep anytime soon, but if I ever had to make another move, Houston would definitely be on the "Acceptable Cities" list.
  • I had four presentations/training classes this week, and something went wrong in each and every one of them, and all four of them were completely beyond my control. It makes for a frustrating week when planes are delayed, accounts are locked, PCs aren't imaged right, and power cords aren't shipped, but it ended up working out in the end. If that's all I have to complain about (it's not, but still) then things really aren't that bad at all.
  • Not Houston related but I've been an uncle for all of 7 days now and love it. This is like all the benefits of having a child you love and care about, without the actual responsibility of caring for said child on a consistent basis. I like it. Go ahead J&T, have another!!
  • There's probably more but I am tired and need to hit bed, so until I remember something else, that's all for now - off to Orlando, then Indian Rocks Beach, and FINALLY back to Ft. Lauderdale after a(nother) ten day hiatus.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

More Tyler Jason


Spent a great weekend up in NJ with the newest parents of the Sharpe family and their little addition. Due to Southwest f*cking up our standby list and some lousy weather up north, we ended up missing the visitor hours at the hospital on Friday night, but got plenty of time with the little guy, and Trace and Jay. We got two trips to West Jersey Hospital, and still managed to give them some time alone Saturday night. (Conveniently, the end of visiting hours happened to coincide with the beginning of the Nova-UNC game) So two trips to see baby Tyler, along with Sean, Lis, and their kids coming by for the game, gave Jen and I quite a "preview of coming attractions"... when the attractions come is still TBD, although if the inquirey level of the thre F's (family, friends, and Facebook) played any part, it would be soon. It was really special to be with Jay and Trace, watching them take care of their little swaddled package, feeding him, cuddling, even doing the glamourless stuff like burpng and changing diapers. Jason's done a great job taking care of Ty while Tracey is resting up - her labor and delivery lasted pretty long and took a lot out of her (literally!) so he's done a great job of being Mr. Mom for the first few days. They are home now, they got home on Sunday afternoon, and everything at their house is set up. Jen and I are both pretty excited to be Aunt Jen and Uncle T.J., and are already looking forward to our next trip up there. He's pretty adorable, even taking out my Godfather bias. It was definetly tough to leave the little bugger.

Nova got killed but UNC was a beast, so I feel less lousy about it now after they dismantled Michigan State. The thing was they got within 5 in the second half... "what if" they hadn't missed all those freaking 3's, etc... Ahh what can you do - thanks for the run Scottie, Dante, and Co. It was worth it. The Phils on the other hand had the magic of the 2008 WFC last all of a few at bats on Sunday. Not to worry... there's plenty of time to give the Mets time to pad this year's September collapse.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Penn State, Nova and Tyler too!

Big start to this spring... we're 12 days in and it's already been a great season. Penn State just went on a wild ride to win the NIT and beat those pesky Gators of Florida along the way. Hard to really celebrate the NIT championship, it's like pulling the Community Chest card and winning $10. Still, it's a championship in hoops for my favorite football school, so we got that going for us... which is nice.

Bigger story, the upstart Wildcats of Villanova making a run to the Final Four. They had a solid chance before the brackets were announced to make a run, but the initial reaction to their Road to Detroit was "Damn, that's gonna be tough". American (which had them down by double digits with 8 minutes left), then UCLA (which had been to the past several Final Fours), then Duke (OVER-RAT-ED!!) and finally the Pink Panthers of Pitt. It was the most difficult path taken by one of the last four teams standing, and that combination of tough opponents and buzzer-beating heroics will help them this weekend.

Remember a few years ago when the refs ROBBED Nova from a chance for the sweet 16 upset? Also remember that they've lost to the eventual national champions in three of the past four years in the tourney (Kansas, Florida, and UNC), and the current core players have played in at least 2 of those games. This team was ready for the run to Detroit, and they are more than capable of toppling the most talented team in the country. Carolina may have the better talent and more pro prospects, but that doesn't mean they are the best team. Just ask Patrick Ewing.

BUT... the big story on Action News this April 2nd is that, after a day and change in the hospital, a night of dilating and pushing, and an lunchtime c-section, Tracey and Jason are the proud parents of a healthy 20.5 in, 7.7 lbs baby boy!!! Tyler Jason Sharpe made his way into the world this afternoon (sometime before 1:36pm) and everyone is very excited he's here - especially a tuckered out Mommy and Daddy. "Uncle T.J. and Aunt Jen" can't wait to get to Philly tomorrow evening to see the little bugger, he's adorably cute (of course he is, he's my nephew!!). There's going to be PLENTY more Tyler updates, any time another "T.J. Sharpe" can grace the world with his presence, it really needs to be documented for future generations. :) More on this little guy after a weekend in Cherry Hill, Jen and I can't WAIT to see him!!