Stan Musial

Usually, I'm the type who remembers dates (and I don't mean the kind with women; I never had that many.) Case in point, I recall my grandma and mom got caught in a flash flood on September 22, 1993, and the previous two times I've vomited were October 14, 1994 and September 26, 2004.

The reason I mention this is that one of the coolest things that ever happened to me was actually one of the very things that I can't recall what day it was.

It was a weeknight during the summer in St. Louis, probably four or five years ago, and I had just finished getting a haircut at Hair Saloon for Men, a fine establishment. They offer you beer or soda when you arrive, and there are also complimentary shoeshines available. (I must admit, though, here in Kansas City I frequent Sports Clips, which is also a great place. I might even prefer it over Hair Saloon. True, Hair Saloon felt a bit classier {Sports Clips has more of a "Great Clips" feel to it}, but they have sports on TVs everywhere in the place and you can get the "MVP," which is the best haircut they offer, for $20, and it includes haircut, massaging shampoo, steaming face towel, leave-in conditioner, and a shoulder and neck massage {though it's with one of those rubber-knobbed things you always see people screwing around with at Brookstone, but still}. It's a solid, but affordable place.)

Anyway, the haircut wasn't the cool part of the story. I was departing the Saloon and approaching my car when an elderly voice asked me if I could help him put his wife's wheelchair into the trunk of their car. I'm a generally nice guy, so I said I would give him a hand. I looked at the man as I approached the wheelchair. It took me about half a second to realize who he was.

Though he was pushing 80, I knew it was Stan Musial, one of the greatest baseball players of all-time. (I guess if you aren't a sports fan, this might not be a big deal, but insert your favorite rap artist or architect into the story, and you'd get the idea). I literally have a hazy recollection of the next 30 seconds. I was in this shocked state because I was helping Stan Musial with his wife's wheelchair. I put it into the back of his Caddy and was prepared to go on my way.

Then Stan said to me, "Thanks, son; here you go." He had reached into a cardboard box in his trunk and tossed me an autographed baseball. (I guess he kept a boxful for every possible occasion, including the "thanks for putting my wife's wheelchair in the trunk after we ate dinner at this fancy restaurant" occasion). I said, "Thanks," and that was pretty much the only word I got out during the whole conversation.

Honestly, I don't care much for the autographed ball. I'm looking at it on the shelf as I write this, and the signature starting to fade. I'm sure it might be worth something if it were in better shape, but I don't think I'd ever sell it anyway. I appreciate the great story I can tell from time to time much more than any souvenir. Those two or three phone calls I made to the people I knew who would REALLY appreciate my run-in with Stan the Man right after it happened was the most fun I had had in a long time.

Here's a few Stan links, if you aren't too familiar with the guy.
Stan Musial at Wikipedia
his official site
his entry at baseballlibrary.com

phone scam?

Recently, I've been getting calls from a number that shows up as 604-550-7000.

I didn't recognize it, and when I did pick it up once or twice, there was no one there. They finally left a message. It was some lady with an accent who left an 800 number to call.

I went to trust Google and "googled" the phone number. Several things showed up about some sort of phone scam. Other links showed up about how it's just a general number that shows up when someone is using a calling card or something like that.

Anyway, I didn't know if anyone had had similar experiences. It's a nuisance more than anything, though I haven't heard from the number in a day or two.

Also, the other day I got a speeding ticket and it was bullshit of course. I'm honestly thinking about going to court though. He documented that my "state license plate" was "KS," when I actually have "MO" plates. If I recall, someone told me that that is grounds for dismissal of the charges. But, we'll see. Anyway, there's no way that the road I was on should have been 30 MPH. I was going 43 MPH. And he was sitting there yanking it, just waiting to bust some innocent civilian. It sucks for cops, because they really are there for so many good reasons, but they get such a bad name for what they spend most of their shifts doing: busting people for nothing serious, while the money just fills the government's coffers. (That's right; I said coffers.) And half the people in prison in the US are in there for drug offenses, so that's money being crapped away. But, that's a tirade for a different day.

Hmm, that was a tangent, wasn't it?

KFC Bowls

I'm a man who is not picky when it comes to food. I'll eat almost anything for the most part.

That's why it's especially shocking that I was repulsed by something I saw on TV the other day. From Kentucky Fried Chicken comes the new KFC Bowl.

A quick description: "Freshly prepared with layers of your KFC favorites - a generous serving of our creamy mashed potatoes, sweet kernel corn, bite size pieces of all-white meat crispy chicken, topped with our homestyle gravy and 3-cheese blend."

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy all of those things. But together in one bowl I find it to be a disgusting blend.

Perhaps I should keep an open mind (much like I did with herring in sour cream and cow testicles, of which I'm a huge fan of both now), and maybe I should give a Bowl a try.

But at this point, it's in the same category as Crystal Clear Pepsi and green ketchup. There just seems to be something wrong with it.

Slow Motion

My cousin writes for the Georgetown Hoya, the student newspaper. He is a sportswriter, and in my opinion, he is ridiculously good. I am a humble man, but I have to be honest: I'm jealous of his writing skills.

Well-written and eloquent, yet easy to read. THAT is the key in my opinion. If your writing is readable, that's pretty much the whole battle.

Here's his most recent article: Easy Choice is Sometimes the Best Choice

Here are the archives if you want to check out his old articles too.

Keep kicking some ass, Chris. Good stuff.