What do I look like?

even tho I don't have much to say.

The Yankees are out of the playoffs courtesy of the Detroit Tigers. I know..unbelievable. Cory Lidle died crashing his plane into a NYC apartment building. A coach in PA was sent to jail for paying another kid on his team to purposefully hit an autistic kid on his team because he didn't want him to play.

The weather is cold here just in time for the last half of Taco's football season. They won their first game last Saturday. Beat the other team 28-0. The other coach started getting pissy when Taco's coach called a timeout on offense with 30 seconds left in the game. He yells, "Haven't you scored enough points, Coach??!?!". What a dipstick. Obviously his team could have used a little more gametime practice on defense. Oh well.

Have a nice weekend, if something comes up I may blog again.

Ace.

Not a whole lot going on for me to blog about.....Manders takes all the good stuff ;)

Taco's football is going good. They lost over the weekend, but they still have fun & get better every week.

Softball is going good for me. I hit another home run last night. Made up for the crappy throw I would make from 3rd to 1st later in the 2nd game. Two people on my team hurt themselves, not sure if they'll be able to make it back. We'll see.

That's about it for now. I'm about to move offices...AGAIN this week. Fun stuff.

Peace out.

Friday night before the football game we were mulling around outside with Taco's team waiting to enter the stadium. I had just bought myself a ticket (Taco's was bought by his coach) and I had Tojo by my side.

After buying the ticket I walked back to where the team was assuming that Tojo was still in tow behind me.

We stood around for about 5 minutes & I looked down to ask Tojo if he was ready to go into the game. He wasn't there. I looked where the team was, he wasn't there. I looked all over the front of the stadium for his yellow polo shirt & couldn't find him.

That's when I started to panic. I asked Taco to help me find his brother. He asked the kids on his team if they saw him..."No". He started to cry & gripped my hand as hard as he could. I told him, "It's ok buddy, we're going to find him, don't worry.".

I wasn't in full panic mode yet because I hadn't even entered the stadium and thought that maybe he had walked in there instinctively after I bought the ticket.

So Taco & I went inside to look for him. Not a minute later I hear Taco yell out, "I FOUND HIM DAD!!! I FOUND HIM!!".

He was standing about 20 feet inside the gate against a brick wall right next to the pay phones with the saddest look on his face. Not crying, not walking around looking for me. Just standing there looking at the ground. It broke my heart. I ran over there & scooped him up, hugging him as hard as I could, apologizing over & over & over. "I'm sorry I lost you buddy. I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again.". I didn't let go of his hand for the rest of the night.

I'm taking the boys to the BA / Jenks game tonight. It's not usually my night with the boys, but since Taco's whole football team is going she didn't want him to feel left out so I'm taking him. I'm glad that she & I can get along so the boys can do stuff like this. Sure, I had plans but nothing's more important to me than spending time with my little boys when they're still little & think I'm cool. How much longer will that last?

Have a good weekend.

But I guess I can today......

Some of you know, some of you don't know that my cousin died selflessly trying to save lives in the World Trade Center.

I really don't know what to post here other than a bit of a memorial I found online. I love my whole family, my cousin Ronnie who lost her son. Everyone who feels sorrow over Michael's death.

If anyone reads this, I love you all.

FDNY Fire-fighter
Michael Edward Roberts
15/07/1970 – 11/09/2001
‘A Tribute’

FDNY Fire-fighter Michael Edward Roberts wanted to be a Fire-fighter since he was a young boy. He practically grew up in the Firehouse in Brooklyn. He was driven to follow in his father’s footsteps. Michael’s dad, John, and his uncle Bob were both Fire-fighters before him. Michael was honoured to receive the badge that they passed on to him, #6611. He was energetic, inquisitive and determined to learn as much as he could about Fire-fighting. Michael’s younger sister Karen constantly asked him not to leave his current safe job with the Phone Company. He would of course tell her not to worry and that he would be safe. Michael received his graduation certificate from Mayor of New York on the 22nd of January 1998.

On the morning of the 11th of September 2001 FDNY Fire-fighter Michael Roberts and his colleagues: Kenneth Watson, John Florio , Lt. Chris Sullivan and Carl Bedigan responded to a 911 emergency call to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan. The dispatcher stated that a passenger airliner had crashed into one of the two towers. They were travelling to the scene of the disaster in Engine 214 and Ladder 111 fire appliances. No doubt they were sure in their minds that the incident that they were responding to was going to exhort all of the skills that they had learned in so many years of experience and training. The scene unfolding before their startled eyes would have left them in no doubt of the dangers and challenges that lay ahead. Upon arrival at the scene they would have donned their breathing sets and carried their rescue and fire-fighting equipment from the truck and entered the building intent on making their way up to the floors of the tower that were burning fiercely. Floor after floor they ascended taxing their combined strengths as they climbed higher and higher. On the stairwells they passed office workers calmly making their way out of the building.

On the nights of the 25th and 26th of October 2001 the family, relatives, colleagues and friends were gathered at The Marine Park Funeral Home in Brooklyn, NY for Michael’s wake and Memorial Service (no funeral would be possible without a body). On the night of the 26th at about 9.30 p.m. just as the family were preparing to leave the Funeral Home, word came through from Ground Zero that a number of bodies had been found and one of them was Michael. On the morning of the 27th October a Funeral Service was held St. Thomas More Church close to Michael’s home at Breezy Point. The family were lucky to have the body of their son returned to them so that they could get some degree of closure. The bodies of Kenneth Watson, John Florio, and Carl Bedigan were located close to where Michael had been found, sadly no trace was ever found of Lt. Chris Sullivan.

After the death of Michael Roberts his FDNY Number #6611 was retired by the Fire Department. Michael was a Cadet with the Boston Cadets Baseball Team in Brooklyn. In 1982 Michael was a recipient of the coveted Bruce Windorf Award. His number in the Cadets #15 was not retired, instead his cousin and Godson, Joe Fox, also a Cadet with the Baseball Team, is wearing Michael's number in his honour. On May 10th, 2003, the corner of East 53rd Street and Avenue L in Brooklyn was co-named “FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL ROBERTS CORNER” in his honour.

Source

Today's always a sad day for me. It seems sometimes that I've gotten over what happened, but then days like today come and I'm reminded of the horror of the day & the worry and despair of the following days. I wish it would have never happened, but what can I do?

Where were you 5 years ago today & what was flowing through your head?

Had a blast in Kansas City...watched a good game, spent some quality time with my girl & my sons.

Also met my 3 most favorite ballplayers...probably of all time. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams & Jorge Posada. Fucking sweet.

As most of you know, I'm now a little gimpier in my left leg.

I've been a member of many groups in my life, but Wednesday I became a member of a new group. People with lawnmower injuries. 80,000 people a year require hospital treatment because of lawnmowers. Yeah, I had no idea it was that high either.

I mow my grandparents' lawn every weekend cuz it's too damn hot for my grandpa to get out there. It's a good thing he has a riding mower.

So next time I'm mowing our lawn, I'll be out there looking like this:



Everyone have a nice holiday weekend, stay safe & watch out for the wierdos....like me.