Goodbye Captain Lou

The passing of Captain Lou Albano of WWWF/WWE wrestling fame last week seems to be the end of a chapter of the book of my childhood. As many kids did in the 70’s my Saturday mornings were spent watching cartoons and then professional wrestling on TV. Growing up in the Lehigh Valley was unique since Allentown was the epicenter of pro wrestling in the greater Philadelphia region. For several years, the pro ‘rasslin’ we saw on local, New York and Philly TV was taped at Ag Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Agricultural Hall was the entertainment capitol of Allentown in the 70’s hosting frequent rock concerts (I never saw one there, but my older brother Bob saw a lot of bands there…. Including Blue Oyster Cult several times) and once a month would host a pro wrestling card. They would tape for 3 hours, getting 3 different shows out of 1 night of wrestling. We knew this since if you went in person, the ring announcer- Joe McHugh, a Lehigh Valley staple who was the ring announcer for boxing matches held at the old Americus Hotel in downtown Allentown (which now sadly sits vacant and deteriorating waiting to be re-developed. It not only hosted weekly boxing matches, it happens to be where I took my wife on our first date.) McHugh would come out and “Welcome you to Professional Wrestling” once an hour, including his famous “…AAANNND IIII’’MMM JOOOOOE McHUGH””Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding.” That’s the sound of the bell that would immediately wring and was an essential part of the imitation of Joe that we would do as kids. You could also tell it was Ag Hall on TV by how dimly lit the place was and by the unshaven and overweight men who were in the audience (boy would I fit in there right at this very second!!)

The shows were taped for several years at Ag Hall and many of the wrestlers would train at local gyms and some ended up living here. My friend George used to see Ivan Putski… that’s right, the “Polish Power” working out at his gym quite frequently. The Wild Samoans and Rocky Johnson settled in the area… Rocky’s son Dwayne was friends with my best friend Chris’s younger brother Matt: I remember Dwayne as a nice kid and a heck of a football player at Freedom H.S. I was surprised one day when Matt mentioned that Dwayne was actually “The Rock.” The Samoans (The Rock’s Uncles from what I understand) still run a wrestling school in Allentown. Attending the matches at Ag Hall was fun and informative: It was just as dark and smoky in person as it was on TV. The “dressing rooms” were actually a series of curtains set up away from the ring. I once stood just outside the entrance to see my favorites up close: I was also disillusioned when I saw a shocking site. Don Muraco had just finished beating someone… probably poor S.D. (Special Delivery) Jones who always got the snot kicked out of him even when he won… when the curtain was held open for the next wrestlers as they were being introduced. I looked in the “locker room” and saw Don Muraco smoking a butt and laughing heartily while playfully slapping his opponent! I was heartbroken. The same match I watched as they replaced one of the turnbuckle coverings and noticed it was a different color than the others. Sure enough, George “The Animal” Steele come out next and eventually ripped said turnbuckle apart with his teeth. Again, heartbroken. Could pro wrestling REALLY be this fake I thought? Hey, I was about 14 at the time and was hoping a LOT of things were more real than they seemed….

After a few years, wrestling became too big for Ag Hall and started to be taped at bigger venues. It returned to Allentown for several years as part of the Allentown Fair at the outdoor grandstand. The best match I went to featured a bout with Sgt. Slaughter vs. the Iron Sheik (who actually was from Iran and sang the Iranian national anthem stirring the crowd into a frenzy); a woman’s match featuring “The Fabulous Moolah,” the ONLY female wrestler I would I could name; and the headliner: a battle royal featuring Andre the Giant and every “name” wrestler you could imagine. Andre was still a good guy back then, and several bad guys attempted several times to gang up on him and throw him out of the wring. Needless to say, no one could and Andre tossed everyone out and won the match. Something that always bothered me about the WWWF: If Andre the Giant was undefeated and unbeatable, then why was little Bob Backlund the Champion for so many years and not Andre the Giant?

The point is, back then wrestling was fun and entertaining. Now, it’s just downright stupid, violent and corporate. There were clear “good guys” and “bad guys” and the managers were as entertaining as the wrestlers. The in-between match interviews with Vince McMahon and these managers with their wrestlers were the most entertaining part of the show. McMahon would always have this stunned look on his face and would often lean away from these guys as if they would possibly bite him; Lou Albano, who would always throw up his hands in disgust and storm out of the interview; “Classy” Freddy Blassie, who would frequently call McMahon “a pencil- necked geek”; Bobby Heenan who always looked like he was going to punch out a young and skinny Vince; and my favorite, the “Grand Wizard”… whose interviews would always start with: “Listen here McMahon” and with a big grin would nod approvingly in the background at everything his wrestler said and who would always threaten to sick his lawyers on Vince would just crack us up and inspire us to imitate the manager’s interviewing techniques as well as the moves of the wrestlers. The Grand Wizard died in 1983, Freddy Blassie in 2003, and now “The Captain” Lou Albano joins them. Albano helped take WWWF wrestling to new heights when he appeared in Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” video, but to us kids in the Lehigh Valley he was part of an entertaining group of athletes that kept us glued to the TV set every Saturday morning for several years…. a traveling circus that we felt was part of our town. I’m not sure what Lou Albano was captain of…. But his ship has sailed into the sunset taking with him a part of my childhood. Long Live The Captain.

Check out this great wrestling web site:http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/

Welcome Back!

The Tavern is back open, sorry for the inconvenience. I made the mistake of letting the boys from Littleton: John, Mike, Marty and Kenny have the back room to watch a Patriot's game. The drunken idiots knocked over a charcoal grill they set up and burned the whole room down! Who sets up a grill INSIDE A BAR?? If THAT didn't burn the place down, then the bonfire they were planning to start certainly would have. Go PATS!

Another Broadcasting Legend Dies

Last week, I and all of New England lost one of our favorite sports broadcasters when Fred Kusick, the long-time TV voice of the Boston Bruins passed away. Kusick is as synonymous with Bruins hockey as Bobby Orr, and most Bruins fans cannot recall an Orr goal without hearing Kusick's trademark: "Score, Bobby Orr!" in their head. Joining with the recent loss of the Phillie's Harry Kalas, a large part of my childhood's sports memories are now in the big broadcasting booth in the sky. Move over Harry and Gene Hart, and make room for Fred Kusick.

In 1969, at the tender age of 5, I started watching hockey. My oldest brother Rick, who is ten years my elder, began a fascination with Boston sports even though we grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania. I idolized my oldest brother, and what he liked, I liked. But the more I watched the Boston Bruins, the more I became fascinated with Bobby Orr. The way he effortlessly skated around the ice, easily stole the puck from opposing players, and rushed from one end of the ice to the other zig-zagging between players and then scoring against some of the greatest goaltenders in the game won me over quite quickly. But on May 10th, 1970 Bobby Orr scored the most memorable goal in Bruins history to beat the St. Lous Blues and win the Stanley Cup.

The image of Orr flying through the air after scoring the goal in overtime consumed me, and my infatuation with the Bruins began. In the fall of 1972, my brother left to attend Boston University, and he began mailing me Bruins yearbooks, cardboard cut-outs, and other Bruins stuff which only added fuel to the fire of my dedication and love of the Bruins and all Boston sports teams.

My favorite Aunt from California bought me this small, round radio for Christmas around this time, and to my surprise, I could pick up WBZ radio out of Boston, the home of the Bruins and Celtics. The quality of the broadcast depended on the weather and on a clear night as I tuned in I felt like I was there. Bob Wilson was the radio voice of the B's and Johnny Most the radio voice of the Celtics. I NEVER missed a broadcast, unless a storm rumbled somewhere through the Northeast part of the country, making the broadcast too distorted to listen to. Growing up so close to Philadelphia, I also fell in love with their teams, and especially Gene Hart- the TV and radio voice of the Flyers. Gene was able to make the most mundane plays sound exciting and his love of hockey came through in his calls of the game. "He's gonna go RIGHT ON IN" was one of his favorites, getting louder as the Flyer skated closer to the goal. At the end of every broadcast Gene would sign off by saying "Good Night, and Good Hockey." Gene Hart is as synonymous with Flyers Hockey in the 70's and 80's as Kusick and Wilson were to the Bruins.

In 1982 I myself entered Boston University and had the pleasure of hearing Fred Kusick and Johnny Peirson announce the Bruins games for 4 glorious seasons. I had heard bits and pieces of their broadcasts, but finally got to hear them broadcast an entire game. It was pure heaven for me to see Bruins and Celtics games at Boston Garden and the Red Sox at Fenway Park as well as watching every game on TV. I also had the pleasure of finally listening to the late Ned Martin and Jim Woods do the Sox games and Gil Santos do the Celtics TV games. Not having a car prevented me from visiting Foxboro in person until the 90's when I could enjoy Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti do the Pat's games on radio. It's one thing to watch your favorite teams on TV, but it takes it another level when you can hear the local play by play and analysts do their thing. I cannot watch an Eagles game without listening to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick on radio- either at the stadium or at home. It just makes the game SO much more enjoyable...

Growing up where I did and when I did is something I'll always cherish when it comes to sports. In the Lehigh Valley, we not only received all the Philly TV and radio stations, but the New York ones as well. And this is before cable and pay channels, so we got to see ALL the Philly and New York hockey, basketball and baseball games. And this is also back when there weren't 34 teams in every league. In other words, it was easy to grow up a Boston fan: they would play in New York or Philly ALL THE TIME, and then I would catch them on the national broadcasts as well. That means besides growing up listening to Harry Kalas, Bill Campbell (Sixers and Big Five hoops), Don Earle and Gene Hart, I also grew up listening to Phil Rizuto and Bill White calling the Yankees games; Ralph Kiner and Lindsey Nelson (Mets); Jim Gordon and Bill "the big whistle" Chadwick (Rangers); Jiggs McDonald and Eddie Westfall (who played on that Bruin's Stanley Cup team) calling the Islanders, and Marv Albert (Knicks). In my biased opinion, the GREATEST collection of radio and TV sports broadcasters a kid could grow up listening to. The passing of Kusick and Harry the K not only closed a chapter of my childhood when it comes to sports, but has eleveted them into the Hall of Fame of sports broadcasters who are no longer with us.

Thank You to all the above mentioned for making this kid's sports childhood more entertaining, informative, exciting and euphoric. And the best part of it all: I got to hear them all for FREE!!!

The Eagles Quarterack Controversy

OK Eagles fans.... NOW we have a quarterback controversy to spice up week 2 of the season. Philly sports fans LOVE stuff like this so we can argue, disagree, speculate and call our friends who disagree with us names like "loser" and call up sports radio talk shows and be called names like "nitwit" with hosts who disagree with "Joe from the Northeast." (although he probably IS a nitwit!)

First up on the dais is Donovan McNabb. Even though he didn't practice yesterday, I think Donovan will still start. He's played hurt before, and was probably hurt worse than this, but he's a gamer and will WANT to start even if he isn't physically able. Now, do I WANT him to start? NO!! A rib injury is quite painful and will affect his breathing and stamina and a flak jacket will limit his throwing motion and mobility. It's a non-division game, so why risk it? Even though Carolina looked horrible, the Eagles as a team look pretty darn good. There are back to back non-division home games and then the bye week, so if Donovan is in pain, make him sit the next few weeks and have him strong and healthy for the rest of the season.

Next up on the dais is Kevin Kolb. Most Bird fans disagree with this, but I LIKE Kevin Kolb.

I'm not convinced he's ready to be the every day QB, but this is the guy that Andy Reid has hand picked to be the future signal caller, meaning Reid thinks he has the skill set and ability to run this offense, so HE'S the guy and I want to see what he can do. He's looked pretty good at times, awful at others. Working all week with the first team and going into a game knowing you're the starter is a lot different than coming off the bench in the middle of a game and being thrown into the Lion's den. I want to see Kevin Kolb start a regular season game to see if he IS in fact the guy, or just another of Andy Reid's misjudgement of talent "projects." Most fans have already made up their minds that Kolb stinks, but I disagree. I just haven't seen him in come into a game as the starter, and the Saints will be a good test for him. Let's see what he can do in this game before we vote him off the island.

Next up are Michael Vick and Jeff Garcia. Well, forget about Vick. He can't play this week anyway, and now with a legitimate back-up like Garcia around Vick is now a Wildcat option and nothing else. I really like Jeff Garcia.... he played well when he was here and knows this offense. Remember, he only left because he wanted a shot at being a starter elsewhere. I really like AJ Feeley and think the Eagles should have kept him, but I'm glad the Panthers picked him up because he deserves better. I'm really shocked no one picked up Garcia, and with Feeley gone, Garcia's a good option to have if Kolb blows his chance and McNabb is out a few games (or gets injured later on in the season, which very well may happen.) As long as Garcia's on the team I wouldn't start Vick at QB. He just looks too rusty and is better utilized as the "X" factor as I call him.

Next up on the dais is.... ME! No, NOT to play QB for the Eagles, but to explain why my predictions are so horrible. I don't know. Two seasons ago, I talked to my friend John the die hard Pats fan at half time of the Pats/Giants Super Bowl. "John, there's NO WAY THE PATRIOTS LOSE THIS GAME MY FRIEND" I predicted. In 1986, with 1 out remaining in game 6 of the Red Sox/Mets World Series, I leaned out the window of my friends apartment on Queensbury St. in Boston... 2 blocks from Fenway Park. Even though the game was in New York, it has been my childhood dream to be in Boston when one of the sports teams won a championship, and I was starting to lose my mind. "IT'S OVER....IT'S OVER....WE DID IT" I screamed down the street as others leaned out their windows screaming the same as the bottle of champagne sat ready next to the tv. Then a softly hit dribbler slowly went towards Bill Buckner and then..... My point is, my predictions suck. This past weekend, I picked the Panthers to beat the Eagles in my pool, picked Liberty to beat Parkland, and Notre Dame to beat Michigan. Luckily, USC beat OSU and the Pats BARELY beat the Bills, so not EVERY pick I made was wrong. (If you believed my picks, all I can do is to quote Otter in "Animal House": "You fu@#ed up, you trusted me!") That's why no one pays attention to my picks, and I respect them for doing so.

One other thing: I'm a jinx to have my picture taken with before a race. On June 19, 1988 at Pocono Raceway, I met and talked to several NASCAR drivers in the garage area several hours before the race. Two of the drivers posed for a picture with me: Bobby Allison and "The King" Richard Petty. Both crashed that day and Allison was almost killed. The following year I attended the IROC race at Nazareth Speedway and took the enlarged picture of Petty and me to be signed. When "The King" saw me, he ran away hysterically yelling "Don't let him near me!" Well, actually, he didn't, but I wouldn't have blamed him if he did. He graciously signed the picture, but then again, with his customary sunglasses on, I couldn't see his eyes...

9/11: The Biggest News Story of My Career

I've covered a lot of major news stories: The arrest of the Mayor of Atlantic City and other city officials in a corruption sting, the crash of a Trump helicopter that killed several Trump Casino executives (Trump backed out of the trip at the last second) and the Presidential Summit (all then-current living Presidents) in front of Independence Hall. Needless to say, the 9/11 attacks was the biggest of them all, although my involvement was very minimal. And only I would have a funny story from that fateful day. Hey, I'm a big believer that comedy can help in the most stressful of times, and I've requested that when I die, instead of my friends and family sitting around a funeral parlour crying and mourning that they be at a bar Irish wake-style laughing and celebrating my life telling their favorite stories about me which would probably take days.

I was the early-morning photographer/live truck operator at KYW-TV/Eyewitness News for about 9 years, doing 3 or 4 live shots for the morning news whether we had a story that day or not. I was working with veteran reporter Dick Standish that morning... one of the nicest, classiest people I have ever worked with. We had finished our story for the morning and were heading to our next assignment when he got a call that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Because of the enormity of the Twin Towers many eyewitness mistook the plane to be much smaller than it was. In Philly TV news, there are certain reliable places you go to get interviews for certain stories. If you need quick sound bites on Philly sports, you go to Pat's or Geno's. We'd often show up at 4:00 a.m. looking for "breathing human beings" as Dick would call them to interview... you'd be surprised how many people are eating cheesesteaks at 4:00 a.m. in Philly. We would often end up interviewing the workers and owner Joey Vento at Geno's... quite the character and always willing to help us out. Anyway, for small plane crashes, it was Northeast Philly airport where you could always find pilots of smaller planes to interview. Dick had the fortitude to turn on the radio and tune into a New York A.M. station which was fuzzy but listenable. They were interviewing someone who was looking out the window of their apartment in Manhattan describing the scene of the North Tower crash. At 9:05 a.m. this person described in horror that another plane had crashed into the South Tower. "HOLY SHI##" We immediately said out loud. It was now obvious this was more than a small plane accidentally crashing into a tall building.

I immediately called my oldest brother Rick who had lived and worked in NYC for almost 20 years. "What the hell is going on, they're attacking New York. Are you OK?" I asked. "I'm fine" he said calmly. "I work in Mid-town, I'm nowhere near there." Typical New Yorker. The city's under attack and everyone above Lower Manhattan is calm. I'm not poking fun, it's just the way residents of New York are, proving this in the hours and days afterwards by staying calm and banding together to help one another out, by standing their ground to prove their resolve and vowing that terrorism will never defeat them or make them move out of the city. My wife (then girlfriend) worked a few blocks away, and as I turned my attention to my job, I forgot to call her... something she NEVER lets me forget. (She doesn't buy my story that I figured she was alright PHYSICALLY, so it wasn't a big deal. I did neglect how she was emotionally, something I admit I should have been more aware of.)

We quickly got a phone call telling us to find somewhere where people would be watching TV to get their reaction. I suggested Amtrak's 30th St. Station since we were only a few miles from there and I had watched the TV in their lounge a few times waiting for a train. We found an overflowing crowd glued to the TV there and caught their shock and disbelief on tape. It was there that I watched both towers collapse live on TV... an image I will never forget. Our station decided to immediately put on our news, which stayed on all day right up until the network news at 6:30. Dick and I would do a live shot every 20 minutes or so and the veteran reporter he was somehow found something to say to fill the time they needed.. NOT an easy thing to do on live television. The Philadelphia Police Tactical Squad showed up and with Amtrak Police evacuated and sealed off 30th St. Station for the rest of the day. They made a perimeter with police tape while we were live on the air, and later realized we were stuck INSIDE the perimeter. (much to the dismay of the Action News crew.) Dick asked a tactical officer, "Sgt. Mike" if we should move, and he told us no, to stay where we were and to continue to do our job. We stayed there until 6:30 p.m., after reporting to work at our usual time, 3:30 a.m.

O.K., here's the funny part. Sgt. Mike new Dick Standish and was standing around talking to him sometime in the late afternoon. Things had calmed down quite a bit, and since we couldn't move to get fresh interviews, our live shots became less frequent. Sgt. Mike asked us if we needed to use the rest room, and blurted out "oh yeah!" Dick declined, and Sgt. Mike told me to go inside 30th ST. Station to use the Men's room. "Are you sure about that Sarg?" I asked. "Won't the Amtrak police give me any grief?" "Tell them I told you you could go in" he said sternly. "If they give you a problem, come out and get me." Mind you, this a cop in FULL tactical gear including a machine gun, several handguns and enough ammo to take out a platoon.

"O...K... I thought" knowing full well what would happen when I stepped inside the building. Sure enough, two steps inside the building I spotted an Amtrak cop at the far end of the structure start walking towards me. "HEY, WHAT THE FU#$ DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING A##HOLE? THIS BUILDING IS IN LOCK DOWN. GET THE FU@# OUT OF HERE BEFORE I ARREST YOUR ASS" Mr. Amtrak Cop screamed at me. "But Sgt. Mike of the Philly Tact Squad told me I could...."trying to explain before Mr. Amtrak Cop cut me off. "I DON'T CARE WHO THE FU#$ TOLD YOU WHAT....I''M TELLING YOU TO GET THE FU@# OUT OF HERE" he screamed in response. His screams echoed in the empty vastness of the huge building causing them to have double the impact. I sheepishly stepped back outside. "What happened?" asked Sgt. Mike. "He yelled at me to get the fu#$ out of the building after I told him you said it was o.k." "WHAT?" Sgt. Mike said with an angry look on his face. "FU@# HIM....Let's go, follow ME" he said. With a sarcastic grin on my face I followed Sgt. Mike with all his weapons hanging off him like a soldier heading into battle back into the empty train station. FU@#ING Amtrak Cop... How DARE he. I have WAY MORE FIREPOWER THAN HIM." As I entered the building, I was immediately accosted by Mr. Amtrak Cop. "HEY, I TOLD YOU TO GET THE...." he started. "HEY, I TOLD HIM HE COULD USE THE MOTHERFU@#ING MEN'S ROOM" Sgt. Mike barked. "YEAH TAKE THAT MR. AMTRAK COP I YELLED"....... To myself. "GO TAKE A PISS" Sgt. Mike barked at me. I had to chuckle on the way in to the Men's Room about the irony of the situation. Our country is trying to deal with the worst terrorist attacks in our country's history and these two cops are about to open fire on each other because I have to pee. Only me I tell you. Sgt. Mike gave me his card and told me if I EVER needed him to feel free to call him. To this day I have never been escorted to a Men's Room by a heavily armed man with an attitude because someone was challenging his authority.

Now the sad part. The true impact of the terrorist attacks was not felt by me until the next day. Working in TV news, you don't have time to deal with how you feel about a story. Having a live deadline constantly hanging over your head makes you concentrate only on what you have to do to prepare yourself for the next broadcast, whether you're a reporter or photographer/live truck operator. I went home and watched the coverage and called me girlfriend (too little, too late) and my brother and found out his assistant's fiance was lost in the Towers. The next morning we were sent up to the Trenton train station to interview commuters who may have witnessed anything the day before. A few told us they could see the smoke from the World Trade Center site, but most talked about being stuck on the train for hours in some remote location after all trains, planes and traffic was stopped from entering Manhattan. One man said, "Do you know what got to me? When I finally got back here last night I noticed all the cars parked in the lot across the street and wondered how many people had parked there yesterday and never came back." As I videotaped the cars in that lot I began to cry wondering how many DID park there the morning before, ready to start another routine day of work at the World Trade Center not knowing the fate that would meet them when they finished their commute and went to work. I thought of the wives, husbands, significant others, family, friends and especially the children who would never see them again and had to step away from the camera overcome with emotion. Seeing something, ANYTHING...even a car in person makes it so real. That's the image I'll never forget from that day 8 years ago.

In YOUR own way, please Never Forget.

American Saturday Night in Allentown

I went to see Brad Paisley at the Allentown Fair Saturday night. I felt a little out of place without a cowboy hat or boots on, but was entertained non-the-less.

First off, I grew up on country music as well as rock and roll. My father owned a bar in the 70's out in Claussville, PA... a small "local yocal" type of place that had Hank Williams and Patsy Cline on the juke box as well as live bands on weekends like "Whiskey River." When the guy would change the 45's in the juke box he would leave the old ones in a box behind the bar, and we would take them home and put them on our own juke box (A Sebring 100 exactly like the one on the sleeve of record 2 of the Rolling Stone's "Exile on Main St." LP, which I still think is really cool. It still works and is sitting in my father's basement.) So I grew up a huge Willie Nelson fan and fan of the old "classic" country songs, but not a huge fan of modern country. (My wife Celeste astutely pointed out that our rock and roll is today's country.) My wife will ONLY listen to country stations in the car, so I've become familiar with a few current songs and artists, but could not name a Brad Paisley song. My wife's sister, brother-in-law and nephew just moved here from Norman, OK (where Toby Keith lives nearby) and are fans, so we took them to see Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne.

I must admit I was pretty impressed. Paisley is quite the showman, and played for 1 hour and 40 minutes, performing 20 songs. He knows how to connect to his audience, constantly slapping hands and throwing guitar picks to the predominately female audience. There were many shrieks from said audience, many from my wife and sister-in-law (who boldly yelled out "Brad please come home with me" as her husband stood close by. I imagine he shrugged his shoulders and thought "can't really argue with her there." My own wife proclaimed "He's SO cute" as I stood next to her. I shrugged my shoulders and thought "can't really argue with her there..) What I really liked about Paisley's stage show was the fact that he sang from everywhere possible on the stage: center, stage left, stage right and about 20 rows deep at the end of a stage extension. He had a multitude of video screens which showed videos, a short animation film which he himself did the animation, and various video backdrops which complimented the songs. The coolest part was when he played along to his newest video: "Welcome to the Future" where he customized it to include 5 local children who had won a contest through radio station Cat Country 96. Unfortunately, from our General Admission seats on the side of the stage I was the only one who could see 1 of the 3 screens mounted directly above the band. Actually, they weren't seats at all...the uncomfortable folding wooden chairs we sat on at the very back of the side of the stage for Dierks Bentley transformed into my own tired feet and bad knees for BP so everybody else could get closer to Brad. My mates often mistook the pained look on my face as my not enjoying the music rather than the pain of standing on the gravel infield for an hour and 40 minutes. While Brad was singing about fishing I was praying the boat would come by so I could sit down for a couple of minutes and rest.

As for the music itself, I really liked the song he opened with: "American Saturday Night" which is the name of the new single, new cd and the name of the tour. He played all of his hits including "Celebrity," "Alcohol" and "Mud on the Tires." (Thanks to my brother-in-law Jay for the titles.)

He's a pretty good lead guitar player and played each song from beginning to end. I say this because a lot of artists pick up a guitar for one or two songs for the phony "Hey I play rhythm guitar on 2 songs, I'm not just the singer! Or Keith Richards who lately will strum a few chords and take the rest of the song off since he apparently no longer has the strength or desire to do more. But then again, that's what makes Keith so cool!! Paisley sat on a stool and played solo for one song, often playing ballads from the same spot at the end of the center stage extension to be closer to his audience. He talked about how Billy Joel made Allentown famous and sang a few lines form the infamous song, as well as a few bars of "Pennsylvania Polka" a little later. He closed the show with a version of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" while the video screen rolled the closing credits movie-style to give props to everyone from the stage riggers to the tour bus drivers.... a great idea for an artist to show appreciation for the hard work the people behind the scenes do, and usually never get any credit for. We even learned who made the grilled cheese sandwiches! I used to complain in my tv news days that I would bust my butt to shoot video at a news story, edit it in the truck, run a cable, lights and microphone out barely making our time slot, and at the end of the report the anchor would say to the reporter "thanks for that report Biff! HEY, YOU'RE WELCOME!! I'd shout long after we were off the air as Biff walked back to sit in the van and call his wife to complain about how exhausted he was while I had to pack up all the gear.

I can't say I'll run out and buy any Brad Paisley cd's, but I won't ignore his songs the next time they come on the radio station my wife insists we listen to when she's in the car either. I CAN say Brad Paisley's show was worth the price of admission, although my feet and knees may say something different.

The toughest Patriot of them all

My good friend John called me the other day and left his usual rambling sports message on my voicemail. John was born and raised in Littleton, MA and needless to say is a die hard Boston sports fan. We worked together in Wilkes-Barre in the late 80's and have been best friends ever since. We almost always agree on sports topics, and he always calls me for my take on the Philly fan's view and I call him to find out what his friends (the recovering alcoholics, professional alcoholics and fellow die-hard Boston sports fans who grew up with him in Littleton... more about these guys in a future blog) as well as the yakkers on WEEI sports radio are saying. "It's a sad day for me Mick-man" his message started. "Tedy Bruschi retired, and I just listened to the press conference. What a CLASS act this guy is. Man, I'm going to miss him." Me too.

Forget the fact that this guy had a stroke and returned to play pro football, as good as he was before he was stricken. Ted Bruschi was one of the toughest, hardest-hitting linebackers I've seen in recent years. I suspect that this is a guy that just LOVES to play football, and cared more about the X's and O's and less about the $$ signs. He's probably the closest thing I've seen to my hero Chuck Bednarik (he's from my hometown of Bethlehem) in recent memory (you can substitute your all-time favorite linebacker there like Lambert or Singletary.) You know, the guy who eats nails for breakfast and often forgets to wear his helmet at practice and doesn't notice until someone reminds him.

I love Tedy Bruschi although he was NOT my favorite Pat's linebacker on the super bowl teams.... that would be Mike Vrabel, his grandfather being born and raised in the same hometown as my father- Summit Hill, PA. which gave him a slim advantage over #54. My father would always tell me how much he looks like his grandfather... how he has that "Vrabel nose." That explains why Vrabel was so tough... he's got coal region blood in his veins. Now that Vrable is on the Chiefs, Tedy Bruschi would have been elevated to my "favorite" status this season. He has also been added to my all-time favorite Patriot's linebacker hall of fame: Steve Nelson, Andre Tippett, Don Blackmon, Willie McGinest and Ted Johnson.

Here are some highlights of Bruschi's career which I plunked off the Patriots web site: In 14 seasons he played in 189 games, more than any linebacker in team history. He played in 22 playoff games, most in team history. He appeared in 5 Conference title games and 5 Super Bowls, earning 3 Super Bowl rings. He has averaged 105 tackles over the last 6 seasons, has a career total of 448 solo tackles and has 30.5 sacks in his Patriot's career. Not bad for a 3rd round pick out of Arizona, where he.... oh yeah, shares the NCAA Division I-A career sack total with 52. Amazingly, Bruschi only made one Pro Bowl appearance in 2004.

Two other things I liked about Bruschi (besides the obvious name sounding like a beer thing):

He's from San Francisco, one of my favorite cities, AND, in 2006 he was inducted into the Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame! My grandparents would push Mike Vrabel out of the way to give Tedy a big hug! OK, I had no idea that the R.I. I-A HOF even existed... but now we ALL do and Tedy's a member.

An e-mail 2 days later from John pointed this out: "Tedy had the class to retire during training camp when he felt he could no longer play at a top notch level. Brett Favre has retired 3 times and he's still playing!" True, but I like Brett Favre and will cut him some slack here. Once you walk away from the field you're NEVER coming back, and that has to be tough. Tedy Bruschi

realized it was his time and leaves pro football with class, dignity, the respect of his teammates, fellow NFL players and fans. And oh yeah, those 3 Super Bowl rings. My lasting image of him will be the big smile on his face and the three fingers he's holding up when he won his third Super Bowl. Live long and prosper Tedy, and have a cold Narragansett on me (he's in their Hall of Fame so I assume he drinks their beer!)