23 years later and I'm still here.

Hi there.  Well in this entry I'm going to reflect on 23 years of living, working and playing here in Warren, Washington, Saratoga, and Essex counties which is more than half of my 45 years and 9 months and all of my adult life.
Before I hop into the DeLorean with Doc Brown and Marty McFly, I have to give you this weeks Upset Specials!  Perfect 4 for 4 last weekend.  Now that's what I'm talking about!  The Rutgers Scarlet Knights came from behind in the 4th quarter to win in OT, and the other OT thriller saw Nick Saban discover he needs to recruit a kicker as the LSU Tigers beat the Crimson Tide.  For the pros, Bengals beat Tennessee and the Giants knocked off the Patriots.
This weeks upset specials go something like this.  Three for you.  College double shot where I like the Pittsburgh Panthers on the road against Louisville and one from out west, the UCLA Bruins go to Salt Lake City and knock of the Utes of Utah.  For the pro, the Seahawks are 6 point dogs at home to the Baltimore Ravens, go with Seattle in this one.
O.K. time to give Eli Manning credit here.  I love calling Eli, "Forrest Gump" because he drives me nuts with the same plain dumbfounded look on his face no matter what the situation.  However he's not throwing interceptions and he's not screwing up when the play clock is winding down and he's audibilizing at the line of scrimmage and is forced to call a time out.  Giants fans, do we miss Steve Smith and Kevin Boss now?  I didn't think so.  My dad loves Jake Ballard at tight end and Victor Cruz is turning into a player.  If this other kid Rhamses Barden can stay healthy along with Manningham and Nicks, the Giants will have as good a young receiving corp as any in the league.
I know I should address the Penn State situation, but not right now.
When did the Marlins find the money to make big free agent offers to Jose Reyes, Albert Pujols, and Mark Buehrle?
Now this Duggar family has 19 kids and they want a 20th?  Why?  It's time to close the playground or get fixed like they do with male dogs and cats and start shooting only blanks.
If Kimmy Kardashian goes through with this divorce, she says she'll stay away from the dating pool for a year.  I think VH1 should offer her a boatload of money for her own dating series like they did for Flavor Flav and Bret Michaels.
I'm still not having any need to watch or listen to New Jersey Nets games just yet.  Stay locked out NBA.
I think the Time magazine, "Man of the Year" should be that aircraft carrier that was involved in the Bin Laden capture and got to hold a damm good college basketball game on its flight deck in the same year.
23 years ago in November of 1988, I left the comfort of Holmdel New Jersey and started my radio career in Ticonderoga New York at WIPS and WXTY.  I was making real lousy money.  Nobody got rich at that place.  I worked with a great group.  Dan Miner, Mike Douglas, Cass Seeley and a couple others.  We were all in our early 20's and just doing what we thought was good, funny, irreverant radio.  We didn't know any better.  And we were good.  X-104 had this signal that could go from Burlington to Rutland and on a clear day you could hear us as far away as Montpelier.  There were many days I wanted to quit and go home.  It was a culture shock coming from a suburb of NYC.  I couldn't find a decent pizza place or bagel shop and I could  only get 2 tv stations.  Channel 13 in Albany and Channel 3 in Burlington Vermont.  Cable wasn't available where I live.  That first year also happened to coincide with a little report called, "The Adirondacks in the 21st Century."  That was an awful time.  Protests, caravans of vehicles that slowed traffic on the Northway driving down to Albany.  It wasn't great to be an out of towner looking to join the club.  I remember one day watching the bi-centennial parade in Ti and mind you I was driving a Chevy Cavalier with NJ plates on them. Several of the locals were yelling, "Move back to Jersey you bum and leave us alone." I could have quit right then and be back on Jersey soil the next morning.  Some how I survived with the help of Dan, the town of Whitehall, UVM hockey on Channel 3 and the Adirondack Redwings.  I discovered that Queensbury, Glens Falls and Hudson Falls were a lot like my hometown. Except for the good bagel shop.  Washington County with all the farms was like Colts Neck and the towns in the western part of Monmouth County.  I thought I'd be staying in the area for 5 to 8 years max.  Well I'm still here.  Now and then I think about what would I do if that dream job doing sports talk or play by play on the radio in a big market comes my way that would force me to relocate.  It would be a tough choice.  I've met so many friends who I care about and wouldn't trade for the world.  I'd have a hell of a time finding a place to workout at with those same type of classes.  Saturday night hockey games at the Civic Center during the winter or a day in Saratoga during track season or Lake George in general. It doesn't get much better than that for me. I'm lucky.  However there are still a few things after 23 years that I haven't done yet.  Two that come to mind.  I never eaten at Massie's Restaurant yet; and I haven't been to either the Hyde Collection or Chapman Museum in Glens Falls to walk around and see their exhibits.  Don't you think its about time that I do those things?
As for the area I grew up in.  It's now famous because of Snooki, The Sitch, Paulie D, and J-WWOW.  So much for Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.
Still craving the cider and donuts from Delicious Orchards on Route 34 in Colts Neck, but luckily I can get those delivered to me when I need a fix...Leccese out.