As many of you know - personally or otherwise - my pop is the main reason for my Rutgers Athletics fanaticism. Essentially from the day I was born. Dad graduated in '59 and has been a season ticket holder for both football and basketball as long as I can remember. From Section 104 Row JJ at the OLD, wooden-plank-splinter-laden bleachers of the original stadium and behind-the-basket 2nd level seats at The Barn, I never had a choice. And I was 100000% okay with that at the time because, well, in my 10th year of life hoops went undefeated then, the following autumn, football went undefeated!! I was "IN" and there was no stopping me!! Little did I know what......
....okay everyone pretty much knows what occurred as a department, in football and hoops. over the next couple/few decades, I don't need to get into that now it'll be saved for my memoirs which, eventually, I'll continue work on again one of these nights lol!
Earlier this year, just before the season began, I got a call from my pop - in a car with his PCP - letting me know he was on the way to the hospital to get checked in so that could "run some tests." Welp....my pop ended up missing the 1st 3 home games of the season (made 3 of the last 4) - despite being out of the hospital before the regular season began - the first home games I can remember him missing, purposely, in my lifetime. Now....I'm gonna cut this short again....but that REALLY got to me. Really, really got to me....again, there's so much more to this/these stories, but not for now....I just need to apologize (but remember one thing: I made 100% CERTAIN that my dad got included in the B1G RU-Louisville special along with me. That's what this "bond" means to me....). Anyway....
....Last Saturday, with my dad well on the way to his 87th birthday (yesterday), when i went to visit my pop both pre-game then again at halftime, I lost it. I lost it big time. Knowing he was soon to have a kidney removed, and coming off 4-day trip to the hospital and enough tests to get any child beyond nervous, I started to think to myself "what if this is his last game in attendance....." - shit, it's getting to me again right now - and I couldn't get it out of my head the ENTIRE 2nd half. While I'm sure the drinks/shots pre-game didn't help - duh - and being an emotional **** to begin with (I'm Greek, from NJ and my sign is "cancer" lol....), I still was able to concentrate on the game and, as has been my place since we got our group's season tickets in 121 Rows 11 and 12 back in 2001(?), I was standing one leg on the railing in front of me, the other on the bleacher, leading 121 all the way through the game-winning drive. Or so I thought.
I just couldn't get it out of my head walking out of the stadium, to the busses, back to College Ave, walking to meet my buddy so we could stop at Evelyn's, waiting for my dad's post-game call (EVERY football/hoops game since the day I can remember), the call and then the train trip back to Newark and JC.
Stupidly.....I couldn't stop posting. Usually I'm pretty good with NOT posting on game day or after games, SPECIFICALLY DUE TO THE EMOTIONS OF BEING A FAN(atic) but sometimes I will (admittedly A LOT more lately than in the past....) and the emotion of the ENTIRE day for me, and how that game went down - while thinking about my pop and the future - got the best of me. The thread about Greg and then the MSU thread - we don't need to get into them again - were both "over-the-top" and I knew it the second I his "post thread" for each one. I easily couldn't asked Richie to delete the threads, but that wouldn't have been cool IMHO, so I let them ride....AND "ride" they did lol!!
Guys.....MEA CULPA....but can I need to stop eating crow now??? I have had crow apps, crow dinner, multiple crow desserts and now crow breakfast. I'm all "crowed" out guys lol!!!
Luv you'ze all (refuse to say "ya'll" until we get to Nashville....)!!!
NUTS
*** please ignore spelling and grammatical errors at this moment, as I don't feel like checking myself, as well as the brevity of the pop/son story (for now.....)!!!
....okay everyone pretty much knows what occurred as a department, in football and hoops. over the next couple/few decades, I don't need to get into that now it'll be saved for my memoirs which, eventually, I'll continue work on again one of these nights lol!
Earlier this year, just before the season began, I got a call from my pop - in a car with his PCP - letting me know he was on the way to the hospital to get checked in so that could "run some tests." Welp....my pop ended up missing the 1st 3 home games of the season (made 3 of the last 4) - despite being out of the hospital before the regular season began - the first home games I can remember him missing, purposely, in my lifetime. Now....I'm gonna cut this short again....but that REALLY got to me. Really, really got to me....again, there's so much more to this/these stories, but not for now....I just need to apologize (but remember one thing: I made 100% CERTAIN that my dad got included in the B1G RU-Louisville special along with me. That's what this "bond" means to me....). Anyway....
....Last Saturday, with my dad well on the way to his 87th birthday (yesterday), when i went to visit my pop both pre-game then again at halftime, I lost it. I lost it big time. Knowing he was soon to have a kidney removed, and coming off 4-day trip to the hospital and enough tests to get any child beyond nervous, I started to think to myself "what if this is his last game in attendance....." - shit, it's getting to me again right now - and I couldn't get it out of my head the ENTIRE 2nd half. While I'm sure the drinks/shots pre-game didn't help - duh - and being an emotional **** to begin with (I'm Greek, from NJ and my sign is "cancer" lol....), I still was able to concentrate on the game and, as has been my place since we got our group's season tickets in 121 Rows 11 and 12 back in 2001(?), I was standing one leg on the railing in front of me, the other on the bleacher, leading 121 all the way through the game-winning drive. Or so I thought.
I just couldn't get it out of my head walking out of the stadium, to the busses, back to College Ave, walking to meet my buddy so we could stop at Evelyn's, waiting for my dad's post-game call (EVERY football/hoops game since the day I can remember), the call and then the train trip back to Newark and JC.
Stupidly.....I couldn't stop posting. Usually I'm pretty good with NOT posting on game day or after games, SPECIFICALLY DUE TO THE EMOTIONS OF BEING A FAN(atic) but sometimes I will (admittedly A LOT more lately than in the past....) and the emotion of the ENTIRE day for me, and how that game went down - while thinking about my pop and the future - got the best of me. The thread about Greg and then the MSU thread - we don't need to get into them again - were both "over-the-top" and I knew it the second I his "post thread" for each one. I easily couldn't asked Richie to delete the threads, but that wouldn't have been cool IMHO, so I let them ride....AND "ride" they did lol!!
Guys.....MEA CULPA....but can I need to stop eating crow now??? I have had crow apps, crow dinner, multiple crow desserts and now crow breakfast. I'm all "crowed" out guys lol!!!
Luv you'ze all (refuse to say "ya'll" until we get to Nashville....)!!!
NUTS
*** please ignore spelling and grammatical errors at this moment, as I don't feel like checking myself, as well as the brevity of the pop/son story (for now.....)!!!
