Yes, I used to be a Walmart Wolverine

Yes, this Michigan State graduate used to cheer for that team in Ann Arbor, and loved it at the time. 

In the spirit of some bad football this weekend (yes, State won, but it was ugly), we go back to 1975 when my dad purchased season tickets for the University of Michigan football season. The team was good but the stadium wasn't getting filled regularly as it is today so to get more fannies in the seats, the cost was quite inexpensive as I recall. He kept the tickets until around the Rich Rod era when he had enough but a good run it was. My mom was usually his co-pilot and I'd usually get to go to the Northwestern game each year. The same Northwestern team that lost 34 straight games over a period. Needless to say, not a hard ticket to acquire. I didn't care, I'd get to see Rick Leach, Harlan Huckleby, Rob Lytle, Russell Davis, John Wangler and Anthony Carter to name a few back in the day. They also had the best announcer in Bob Ufer as well. Sunday morning tradition consisted of watching....Michigan Replay as the coach would tape it more or less right after the game, win or lose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Zaoi0HIoU).

Fast forward to the late 80's, I became a Spartan and maybe it was something they fed us at orientation but I almost immediately started hating everything about the Wolverines. In my mind, they really were the 'arrogant asses' that former State coach Darryl Rogers labeled them at one time. 

I get so much enjoyment watching these videos... 

Called It

With the rise of e-bikes in recent years (and fast ones at that), I knew in time that the accidents were going to jump as the newbies getting them I don't think ever pedaled a real bicycle (or were in shape to ride a real bicycle) and are up there in age. It's not just the kids zooming around, the seniors are out there!!!

I live near a rails-trails bike path that goes throughout the county where I can get a lazy pedal in and grab an adult soda pop from time to time. I've had it happen multiple times but while in my daydream world pedaling on the path, a pair will shoot by me with no 'on your left' or any call whatsoever. I'm pondering taking one for the team in the future if I see them coming and doing a figure 8 from one side of the path to the other to see if their brakes are working. Slow down Gramps and speak up when zooming by me please.

Trail Head

Salmon Camp

My down-stater posse came north for a visit this weekend for the salmon run and to experience one of the many festivals the area has to offer, this one being the Fall Festival (very original name...). The festival brings in the crowds but unfortunately chokes the short-staffed restaurants in the area as the summer employees have all went back to college. Needless to say, the wait to eat lunch was a bit long so we took it back to the homestead for eats and entertainment. As far as fishing, a gold star to Al for working his boat in some strong, funky south winds once you got out of the harbor and into Lake Michigan. We had the group effort among the four of us trolling through the harbor channel and Doke pulled in the attached salmon to get us on the board. That was unfortunately the only catch but better than nothing and a gorgeous day it was with some good people.

Trail Head

Football Scouting Story

The way back machine takes us back to 1984 as yours truly was entering his senior season of basketball. The season hadn't started yet but I road tripped with a pack of teachers to a high school game in Lansing. I recall Detroit Catholic Central was one of the teams as they had a player who was pretty talented and ended up going to play in college, but he was a chucker. His being a chucker I believe was the reason I was along as the mantra was always "shoot the damn ball Timmy" and they were hoping it would rub off on me (it didn't and we had a poor season). 

Anyway, at dinner I got to hear a few teachers tell the story when they were scouting Waterford Kettering football for an upcoming Milford contest in the early 1970's out of the mighty Wayne-Oakland County League conference. One player in particular for Kettering was Kirk Gibson. It was his junior year I believe and Kettering used him at another position when the Milford teachers were watching. He didn't do much at the game and hadn't reached his peak yet so they went back to the coaches and advised not to worry about Gibson, there were others to worry about more.

The game came, Gibson scored five touchdowns and the final score...

Autographs

As I age, the concept of autographs seems silly to me. Some other human with some form of talent signed their name. My first autograph was at the local little league baseball preseason parade, 1975 or '76. Detroit Tiger Mickey Lolich made an appearance and must have signed 200+ items with a slew of 10 year olds in line. He signed my mitt that I played with so needless to say, the autograph didn't last long after a few games and don't recall losing a bit of sleep over it.  I have a handful of autographed items but none were actually signed in my presence. Some live for collecting them, I don't. My dad used to tell anyone that would listen that the signed baseball on the right of the attached picture was from the 1968 World Champion Tigers but was actually from the '74 season when they were crap. My favorite autograph story was at the old Buick Open golf tournament in Grand Blanc that my dad took me to a couple of years. I was hanging at the 18th green and got a handful of autographs from the pros coming off the course. Up walks Chi Chi Rodriguez and I asked for his autograph. He looks at me says, "You want to know how Tom Kite signs his name?" and proceeded to scribble through all of the autographs I had on my program. He laughed and walked away.

Trail Head 

Coming Soon....Someday

While my next move will be into the old folks home, when I moved north in the spring of 2022, the attached 'Coming Soon' signs were adorned along the bike path looking off onto Betsie Bay. Waterfront condos is/was the vision and a beautiful vision it is/was looking off to the west from your luxury condo. It is now 2026, however, and the 'Coming Soon' signs have had more activity than the condo construction, which is none. It started with 'Coming Fall 2022' to 'Coming Spring 2023' to 'Coming Soon' to 'Coming 2024' and stayed that way through 2025. A big wig realtor in the area slapped her name on the project and the locals in town told me it would now go forward with her name on it. Up went a 'Coming Spring 2026' sign, the building area was cleared and thought it was going to happen. Spring came and went and with summer just about complete, the latest update back to 'Coming Soon' is in place.

Someday

Trail Head

Book Reviews

The 6+ hour flight to Alaska a few weeks back allowed me to catch up on some reading as the cheapo airlines didn't have inflight movies. With that, some recent reads:

Football

In the spirit of the upcoming football season, a good read about the craze of  football in the U.S.A. with fantasy football and mock drafts ALL YEAR LONG. How it's impossible to compare Jim Thorpe to Barry Sanders; both great players in their respective eras but can't compare. My favorite  portion of the book is where the author references a study that was done on how long a football game actually lasts using a stop watch (https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/football-games-have-11-minutes-of-action). Start on the snap and stop at the whistle and it turns out games only last about 11 minutes!!! We're all in it for three hours (at least) however.

Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola – the AOR Glory Years 1976-1986

A good read covering the bands my siblings got me into growing up (fortunate to grow up in the era), such as Journey, Heart, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Boston, Pat Benatar, Rainbow, Styx and Van Halen to name a few. 

Written in the oral history format with interviews with members of the groups, it reads like a book version of "Behind the Music." All seemed to have the same story, drugs got in the way, egos got too big, management screwed them over and the groups had many bumps along the way after reaching the mountain top.

Ozzy Osbourne - Last Rites

Ozzy. Thankfully he had a co-author as it reminded me a bit of Keith Richards bio where you get a few "as I recall" references but could hear his voice in the dialogue. Instead of the word 'because', we have many references to 'cos instead, which works.

The book speeds through Ozzy's early years and focuses more on his later years, his health issues and his final tour before he passed. I would have to believe if it weren't for his wife Sharon, I don't think he would have made it as far as he did.