Getting In the Mood: Best Christmas Albums (vol. 7)

 

Well for volume 7 we are going back...Back to my youth, back to Cleveland, Ohio. The Singing Angels is a Cleveland youth choir that was formed in 1964. My parents had a Christmas album of theirs and every year while we opened presents, The Singing Angels were the soundtrack to our unwrapping. A few years back, while missing my mom, I started searching itunes for that album. I couldn't find the exact one, but I found a 2005 version with almost all the same songs. The Singing Angels always hit me in the feels.

The Singing Angels: Somewhere in My Memory

Here is the closing number on the Album, "We Wish You the Merriest."

Here is "One Little Candle."

Next, we have "Away in a Manger." My Catholic upbringing peaking through with this album.

We'll close with "Merry Christmas Darling." This one isn't on the updated album, but it's on that one I remember so fondly, and this is my blog so I can do what I want.

That concludes this trip down memory lane. If you enjoy any of this, checkout The Singing Angels. 

Track List:

1. The Most Wonderful Time of the Tear

2. Somewhere in My Memory

3. Jingle Bell Rock

4. Away in a Manger

5. Step into Christmas

6. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen

7. Sing for Hanukkah

8. A-Caroling We Go

9. We Need a Little Christmas

10. Feliz Navidad

11. One Little Candle

12. O Holy Night

13. We Wish You the Merriest

What's Erie Like?

 

In the five years or so that we have lived in Erie, a number of people have asked me what it's like or how is it different from my lifetime growing up and living in Cleveland...I often say, having grown up in Lakewood, that "it's like living in a big Lakewood"...And I think that's a good comparison...(my friends in Ohio get it, maybe not here in Erie)....But something came to my mind the other day, thinking about the differences...I haven't had a cigarette in over 20 years...And didn't crave it a bit...But since living in Erie, I crave a cigarette at least 5 times a week....This place makes me want to smoke!

Maybe that's too harsh, but seriously, I have had dreams where I'm smoking in them...Not dreams about High School days...Dreams about right now, living here...It all started when I did my 3 year, tour of duty, working 3rd shift at the evil empire, Walmart...Many co-workers smoked, so maybe that's what put into my head...And as I said in my THERE IS NO GOD post, things have been quite stressful these days....

And probably adding to my cigarette craving...Erie, being the most northern city in a northern state, it is amazingly frustrating for having a large number of rednecks...I'm not talking about hunting and fishing people...Not even talking about Republicans...Okay, some Republicans...I'm talking about dolts who wear the Confederate Flag...That have it on their trucks...That have it flying on their homes...ASSHOLES! That is the flag of traitors of the United States...Your state, Pennsylvania fought against them...And Your state, Pennsylvania was on the side that won...WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU WAVING THE TRAITOR FLAG?!!?

UGH!

So what else does Erie have going on? It's got great sunsets! Google image search Erie, PA sunsets and you'll see some great ones...There's a popular shirt here that claims "World's 3rd Best Sunsets"....I haven't found any actual, factual shit that backs that up...It is often said "Rust Belt" cities have great sunsets because of air pollution, so yay pollution!  (Cough, cough)

We have a minor league baseball...The shitty Detroit Tigers AA team, The Erie Sea Wolves...

Well, we don't have them this season....Thanks COVID!

So Cleveland has the INDIANS and we have the shitty Tiger's AA team...

There are great Mom & Pop shops throughout Erie...Restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, clothing and apparel, knick-knacks, jewelry, bakeries, markets...Right now I fear for them all and try my best to support them when I can...

There is a cool arts and music scene here in Erie, but you really have to search it out...It isn't well promoted by the dolts (politicians & talking heads) who say they are trying to boost the economy...They help the economy by giving big corporations property, tax free for at least 10 years...You know, those taxes that would greatly help us citizens...We are paying property tax but they aren't...So us and small businesses are picking up the slack and have less money to spend to boost the economy...Like spending money at these big businesses that you gave a tax break too....

Erie has a Casino and Horse Track...I have avoided that...I'd get lost at the track and come home and have to tell the wife we're broke...

People here love the Peninsula....

 

I never knew this existed until I met my wife and we visited her folks....They love the peninsula, talked about it all the time...And we just call it the peninsula...I don't know if that is an Erie thing or just us...It's formally know at Presque Isle State Park...A crooked dick that flops out into Lake Erie lined with beaches and camp grounds, and bike/walking paths, giving the city a bay...The peninsula has animal sanctuaries, places to fish and hunt, The Tom Ridge Environmental Center which is kind of one of those places you go to once, every handful of years...maybe...There's an old school drive-in called Sara's that serves burgers, dogs, fries, onion rings, shakes and ice cream cones...In the early years of our marriage it was one of those places to hit when we would visit...Now, having lived here for awhile, it's just ok...Prices have gone up and quality has gone down...Nostalgia only goes so far for me when I'm talking about food and/or spending money....

At the top of the hill leading down to the peninsula there is Waldameer Amusement Park and water park...Growing up in Ohio, everything gets compared to Cedar Point...It ain't shit compared to Cedar Point...But it also won't cost you the fortune Cedar Point does...And a bonus, I don't like rides...So if I just want to take the kids there and just chill and watch them, I don't pay full admission...

Erie has an airport...It's small and when my wife has to fly for work she has to take a puddle jumper to a real airport with big planes...After the last couple years, she's planning on flying direct out of Cleveland or Buffalo as we are parked right between the two...

One of my favorite things here in Erie....The Erie Otters, OHL team...OHL is Junior hockey for those unaware...

These are high school to college age kids that are looking to go pro...They're so good that there is a draft for these kids each year...They move away from home to take their shot...Above, that's Chad Yetman who had a breakout season this past year before COVID fucked everything up...My youngest met him and Max Golod, another Otters star (he's behind Yetman's shoulder there before a faceoff on a power play) at her school for some class reward...All the kids got a team set of cards and these two autographed theirs...After that she wanted to go to a game and that was music to my ears...The whole family went...We sat 4 rows from the ice...All 5 of us night of fun, hockey and entertainment for (tickets, food, parking) $100...These days, that's pretty damn good...and it's good, exciting hockey...Fights too! We went to about 6 games last season.

That's Jamie Drysdale...He's going to be a first round pick in this years NHL drop...All projections have him going in the top 5 picks...

Former #1 overall pick Connor McDavid played here as well and a bunch of NHLers...

So my hometown of Cleveland has minor league hockey and here we have "Major Junior Hockey"...And it's cheaper...

Erie has a zoo...It's a shitty zoo, especially compared the the Cleveland zoo, but it's good for little kids...Cleveland's zoo is an all day event...Erie's is a couple hours at best...But it's got Giraffes....

The Mall here, is shaped like a gun...No shit! Overhead pictures show it looking like a gun pointed at downtown...

Urban Legend says that the mall was designed that way on orders from the mafia...The Mafia in Erie had ties to mob families in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Youngstown...One of the most famous mobsters from Erie, Ray Ferritto is well know for his murder of the legendary Cleveland mobster Danny Greene... 

One thing that has always been near and dear to my heart as a Clevelander is Great Lakes Brewing Company...I was relieved and overjoyed when I saw their beers in stores and bars here...Even Christmas Ale makes it here...But I will say this, Great Lakes has some competition...

Erie Brewing Company makes some fine beers...Bayfront Blonde has become my fallback...If I don't know what to drink, or I'm not seeing something that catches my eye...That's what I go with...EBC's Railbender is another great one...A little darker, and can fuck you up quick...If GLBC's Conway's Irish Ale isn't in season or all the Christmas Ale is gone I go with Erie Brewing Company...

Okay, I'm not a total beer snob...I mix in some Yuengling and Moosehead too...

The weather is about the same I mean we live a hour and half east...slightly a bit more north...Spring, Summer, Fall same as back in Cleveland...Winter...Winter here often is a giant frozen, snow covered dildo up our asses...

Erie is like a small Cleveland...Not that different...But more snow...

Now, after this, I just want to crack open a beer...And think about smoking...

Monday Moaning

Cleveland is thrilled this morning...I'm happy for them...I'm happy for Cavaliers fans...I'm happy for the people who never paid attention to basketball but jumped on the 'we have a chance' bandwagon...I'm happy for the people who think some mythical curse was broken Sunday night...There was no curse...There was bad luck, better teams, and piss-poor management (just look at the Browns)....

I have never been a Basketball fan...I've never been a Cavs fan...I've never been a LeBron James fan...Hell, I'm more of a LeBron James the actor in "Train-wreck" then I am of the basketball player....So I didn't jump on the bandwagon during this run...And I'm not going to write some bullshit post like I'm Johnny Fucking Cleveland Cavalier Fan...I respect the true fans too much...I respect my hometown too much...And I respect myself...So I'm not going to sing the praises of the LBJ and Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the Cavaliers, like I have some fucking clue about the games I didn't watch...

I'm happy friends and family and fans are excited and happy...The big win had no impact on me...The AHL Lake Erie Monsters Calder Cup win was a bigger deal to me...If the Tribe takes the World Series this year...Then you may see me lose my shit...

Quickly after the win... The wonderful world of Social Media annoyed me...As the WKYC Facebook feed asked: "What Does this Championship mean to you?"

The top comment stated this:   "It means OUR CITY is FINALLY Validated!!!"

Again, Cleveland friends and fans, I'm happy for ya...But this guy is a fucking asshole... If it takes a sports team to validate a city for you, I feel very sad for you...I would think it would give greater validation if the city's schools were the best in the country, or if the unemployment rate was at record low, and the average income at record high...

I know the History of Cleveland and Cleveland sports...The first 40 years of my life are all in Cleveland...I suffered the same painful fandom losses...It sucked...But losing sports teams never made me feel like the city was a steaming pile of shit...The steaming pile of shit in Lake Erie could give that impression for you...The city of Cleveland has great Universities...Great Hospitals...An amazing and underrated food and restaurant scene...It's always had a great music scene, and performing arts...The Art Museum is unfucking real...

There are plenty of great things that should have validated the city for you...Millionaires winning a championship with your city's name on their uniform should not be what makes you think your city is worth a damn...

What the city and it's people do as a whole makes it what it is, not a team of rich guys that live there because of their paychecks...

I'm glad you're happy Cleveland fans...I'm proud to say I'm from Cleveland...And I'm proud you crazy fuckers didn't burn the whole mother fucker down...We all know how easily the river lights up!


Have a week.... 

 

Discovering Erie

I originally thought of titling this series, 'Erie, the Town I Love, but often rip on to Make Myself Feel Superior, because Forty Years in Cleveland can Make you Feel Inferior.'

But that seemed a little too wordy...I've been coming to Erie often for the last 15 years...My wife grew up here, and we have come back repeatedly to visit her parents and some friends...But this month we moved here...Her parents getting older, and needing help...Driving up from Cleveland once a week was just getting old....And late night long distance calls when they have a medical problem suck...So we uprooted our lives, and a our kids lives...My wife felt this was something she needed to do...I won't deny, I have been looking to make a move...In the past we talked about places like Boston, Seattle and Toronto...So landing in Erie, PA surprised some people...

We're in a good community, with good schools, and the neighbors seem really nice...As a matter of fact, I have run into a lot of nice so far...If you have read my posts in the past, you know I'm a bit of an angry asshole...I'm going to have to work on that here, because everyone I have met, or come across has been nice...The employees at Lowes were all nice...At the CVS, they were nice...The Plumber we needed to come out was nice...The garbage man was nice...Random people walking down the street were nice...My wife said even the people working McDonalds were nice...(In Cleveland, there isn't a nice McDonalds employee anywhere, let alone one that isn't an idiot!)

The level of asshole here seems much lower...Sorry me rolling into town bumped it up a little...It must be something in the water...I've noticed over the past 15 years visiting, that Lake Erie is much cleaner here...I find it amazing that a hour and a half West from here, the same body of water is a steaming pile of crap...Maybe it's all the shit overflowing from the Browns Stadium...

Uprooting the kids has been the toughest part...My sales pitch to them is that this will be an adventure...We have so much to discover...We know about Waldameer, and that Sara's is awesome! We know about Splash Lagoon and the Erie Zoo...But I know there's more...My youngest and I always like finding knew parks to play at...Here, we only know Frontier, because it's close to my in-laws...We will be setting out on a mission to find all the best parks and playgrounds in the area...

As a sports fan, I find myself pinned between Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh...So I'l still be able to follow the Indians...I like the Pirates, hate the Penguins, hate the Steelers, the Browns have made me hate them...Intrigued by the Sabres, and Rex Ryan makes me want to see what will happen next with the Bills...I'm also excited to see the next Connor McDavid come through the Otters organization...And I know Mercyhurst plays some good hockey...

As a food lover who has spent his life in the restaurant business, I know Erie is one of the Chain restaurant capitols in the country...But I'm looking for the good stuff...I'll tell you Alto Cucina is my favorite restaurant in town...But I want to checkout 1201 Kitchen, Cloud 9 Wine Bar, and 28 North...


I have many questions...Many things to discover....

Where is the best place for live music? Is the local music scene good?  Please don't be all Train cover bands...My wife went to school with Pat Monohan, so I have a constant reminder of how my musical aspirations failed...

Is there any chocolate better then Romolo's?  Gonna be tough to beat that...

What are the best bars?  Best old man bar? Best dive? Best grub?  Best "nice" bar for after fancy dinner and a show at the Warner Theater?  Who makes the best Moscow Mule?

Another sports question...I'm from Ohio...And I don't care what they say in Texas...You and I know that high school football is just as big of a deal in PA and Ohio....So I have to ask...With McDowell being such a big school, why is their football team struggling?  The past few years they have been taking on Northeast Ohio powers, and getting smoked...

I have a lot to do...We have a lot to discover, and I'll have more questions...But we have the rest of our lives...After the the pain in the ass that this move was, I told my wife, we're not moving again!

So my journey to become an Erieite begins...If you have tips, feel free to share them.

Where is Beverly Potts

(This is the Only blog post, that I go into the archives to repost...And until we know what happened Beverly Potts, I will continue to do so...August 24th 2015 marks the 64th anniversary of Beverly's disappearance...Amazingly, authorities may have some new CLUES...)



Friday August 24th 1951, 10 year old Beverly Potts vanished from her Cleveland neighborhood...Never to be seen again...The case is still open...And even though it has nothing to do with me...It haunts me...

She had disappeared after attending a showagon at Halloran Park....The showagon was a group of singers dancers, and other performers, that went from park to park near the end of Summer...Halloran Park was at the corner of Beverly's street, Linnet and 117th...

Beverly had gone there with her best friend and next door neighbor, Patsy Swing...Beverly was told she stay for the whole show...Patsy had to be home by dark...When it got close to 9:00 PM...Patsy left...She tried to get Beverly to come with her...But Beverly wanted to stay...And did...

Once it was 10:00 PM, Beverly's parents, and older sister became worried...Her father and sister went to the park to look for her...They came back with no signs of Beverly...They checked again...Her mother called the police...Later, after the police hadn't shown up...Her sister called the police again...It was now after midnight...The search was on...Her father Robert searched the neighborhood...Neighbors began to realize something was wrong...And started searching also...

By all accounts, Beverly was extremely shy...Especially around boys, and men...Even men she knew...So the thought that she would have left willingly with some one was highly doubted...Yet no one at the park had noticed any type of struggle, or anything alarming...It's estimated that there was 1500 people there...

Then Saturday morning came...No sign of Beverly...The neighborhood was in shock...The Cleveland police was working non-stop, lead by Chief of Detectives, James E. McArthur...Every lead...I stress every, was checked out...Hot lines were setup...All three Cleveland papers were covering the story, non-stop...

One of the scariest things to me, is the number of stories that came out...A woman down the block from the Potts house hearing a girl scream "I want to go home!" as a car sped by...A man seeing a young girl in a car with an older man...And then seeing that car in a field a short time later, about a mile or so away...The man beating the girl...A cab driver picking up a suspicious looking man and a young girl on 117th, and taking them to the bus station...These are just a few...You can't be sure what is true, and what isn't...But if any of them are true, why the hell didn't some one do something, or speak up sooner...

There was also many reports of people seeing a particular type of car...With a creepy looking person...Some accounts saying two people...Trolling around the park during the Showagon...

It's all so sketchy...Especially 60 years later...Yet...Even today...If a tip comes in...It's checked out...It's still an open case...Nothing has ever been found...

"The earth might as well have opened up and swallowed the child. She has vanished into nothing." -Ben R. Tidyman in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9-4-'51

The Potts family was investigated...Neighbors interviewed...Classmates interviewed...Every know sex offender questioned...I was surprised to read how well the police kept tabs on sex offenders back then...Over the years, there have been many promising tips, that have just never panned out..

In 2001 letters were received at the Cleveland Plain Dealer...A dying man confessing to the disappearance, molestation, and murder of Beverly...On the 50th anniversary of the disappearance, he was going to turn himself in at Halloran Park...Then he sent another letter, just weeks before...Saying he has become to sick, and was being put into a nursing home...The Police checked everything and anything they could...The man was never found....Beverly has never been found...No trace of her has ever been found...

It's been said, that after Beverly's disappearance, Her mother Elizabeth, "seemed to be crying softly virtually all the time." I can only imagine. Elizabeth Potts died 5 years later, in 1956...

I said at the beginning that this story haunts me...I'm not sure why...I do know that it bothers me even more, now that I have kids of my own...My father grew up at Halloran Park...It was just steps from his childhood home...He knew of Beverly Potts...He's a few years older then her...She was friends with my aunt...

I had spent plenty of time at Halloran Park when I was kid...We'd walk up there when we were visiting my grandfather...I didn't find out about the Beverly Potts story until I was in high school...Although I didn't think much of it...But I always felt uneasy at the park after that...I took my wife there once...It was our first date that didn't start in a bar after work...We went ice skating there...But I still felt strange...I drive past Halloran everyday...And I think about what may have happened to that little girl...

I always think about how much better things were in our society, when i was kid...I knew there were kid touchers, and evil people...I was prepared for it...But it didn't seem to be too bad...Then I would think about when my parents were growing up, and how much better a time it was in the world...There couldn't be this much bad sh!t...Then I learned about Beverly Potts...And her story leads you to so many more horrible stories that happened back then...Clearly, this world has always been f**ked up....

I guess all we can do is prepare our children for the bad as best we can...While not forgetting to show them the good...

Many times you hear questions like, 'If you could ask God one question...What would it be?' Or some silly sh!t like that...I'd ask, WHERE'S BEVERLY POTTS?

Not that it would do any good for her family...They're all gone...Maybe it's just my Catholic upbringing that just wants that poor child's soul to finally rest peacefully.

For more on Beverly Potts case...There is a great book called "The Twilight Of Innocence" by James Jessen Badal.
-
Beverly's page at The Charley Project... http://charleyproject.org/case/beverly-rose-potts
-

Monday Moaning

It's Memorial Day and I honestly don't feel much like writing...I spent Sunday with Little Beeze and myself both sick...He's really feeling shitty...just wrecked...I could trudge but I was finding myself on the shitter way too often...It was a real bummer because I spent some time Saturday whipping up and awesome slaw for a party friends were having Sunday...We were really looking forward to it, but then the boy got sick...There was talk of our oldest staying with him while we went briefly, she was feeling lazy after having a couple friends sleep over Saturday night, and of course they were up all night...But then my issues started, and the day was kicked in the head....

Yes, spare me the lecture that Memorial day isn't about cookouts and parties...I know, I actually read history books...Nonetheless it is a time when we happen to make time to see people we maybe haven't for awhile, so take a breath...We're hoping the boy will be up for going to the Parade Monday morning in our neighborhood...molls is very excited...

The big news in Cleveland, beside the Cavs, which I have yet to catch that fever, and don't plan on getting it...but the other news broke Saturday morning when the verdict on Officer Brelo came down...What a judge...Dropping the verdict on a Saturday morning, during a holiday weekend...Stellar move if you ask me...People are moving slow Saturday morning...So their protesting game took a hit...Brelo was on trial for shooting and killing too people who had lead police on a 22 mile high speed chase, and then had rammed a police car...There were over a hundred bullets fired, by a bunch of cops, but this poor bastard was the guy thrown on the grenade...Well, he got off...And the judge went into great length and detail explaining why... Here is a LINK to the entire transcript of the judge's decision....

Personally, here's my view...Mistakes were made...It's easy to say that after the fact...And when a bunch of cops put over 100 bullets in the car, why was one guy taking all the heat? But in my opinion, the most important part of this whole thing is, things wouldn't have gone so badly, and two people wouldn't have died, if these two dolts just would have pulled over...As I heard the two dozen protesters yelling "Hands up don't shoot!" I got really frustrated...These two didn't have their hands up, they were fleeing the police, and then rammed a police car...Then I saw the same phrase hash-tagged all over twitter, so I started tweeting comments ending with #PulloverDontRun...

The local media was very proud of how peaceful Cleveland was, but there were 71 arrests as the day moved into the night and people started acting dumb....They didn't bother to show this...




Yep, people were out enjoying the nice weather, having some dinner, and "protesters" started getting physical, throwing stuff, and spraying random people with pepper spray....Again I'll say it...People will not sympathize with your cause when you act like an asshole...Speak your mind...Have rallies...Protest...Go for it...But when you stop being peaceful, you lost all ground.


-As for sports, the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning series has been driving me crazy...While Lundqvist is the better goalie, the Lightning look to be the better team...Better speed, better passing, better scoring chances...The Rangers are a defense first team, and when they have the lead, they lay back and play only defense. (except in game 4)...But their defense has been picked apart by great passing and speed in this series...Tampa Bay keeps their foot on the gas the entire game...they play good defense, but they never stop looking for a chance at more offense...The Lightning are up 3-2, and I'm losing the hope I had after game 4...The Rangers were so flat in the third period, I put on M*A*S*H* the movie...Such a great, classic!

I hated when the Rangers traded for old man Martin St. Louis...I hated when they signed even older man Dan Boyle...(you can look up the old blogs and tweets)...And I wasn't please when they traded their first round pick, and top prospect Arizona for Keith Yandle...Everyone said Yandle would be the perfect QB for the power play...He doesn't even play on the top power play unit now...His Defense sucks and his offense is weak...Yeah, he got a goal the other night...The shot was going 6 feet wide, when it hit a Tampa Bay defenseman's leg and deflected in...Dude blows!

-Anyways...I feel like crap...I'm going to lay down...Have a good Memorial Day...Have fun...and if at some point you forget what the day is about, sit in front of the TV and put on "Band of Brothers" or "The Pacific" or "Hamburger Hill" and then maybe it will come back to you,  just how lucky we are to live in a country where people (right or wrong) can protest, and the brave few are why.

Have a week.

Monday Moaning

How was everyone's weekend...We had beautiful weather here in Cleveland...Yes, I said Cleveland...Unlike every hipster, and every company in this city's marketing department that has decided to call Cleveland "the #CLE"...Yeah, often with the fucking hashtag!  While I find it annoying, whatever...People are trying to feel better about this city and hype the positives...and no way are they showing the negatives like "Tent City"...

Tent City Cleveland. #cle #cleve #cleveland #clevenders #thisiscle #thisismyneighborhood #clevelandgram #clevelandyearbook #homeless #hobo #tentcity #poor #tents #camping #campground

A photo posted by Francis B Angelone (@photosbyfrancis) on May 3, 2015 at 11:38am PDT

I would suggest checking out this guys full Instagram feed...Great shots of all of Cleveland....

But back to this #CLE shit...I really hit my boiling point when I was watching my local 6:00 PM "News" on WKYC and the anchor never said Cleveland...He only would "the CLE"...When I say people are saying this I mean they are literally saying the individual letters C-L-E, like they are spelling it but just got too fucking lazy to finish with the V-E-L-A-N-D...You're a fucking news anchor...You are suppose to be giving me the news...You're not suppose to be a PR firm for the city...

I have given up on the 24 hour news channels to be legit news more so then entertainment...For Christ's sake CNN admitted that the best News coverage they brought the public about the earthquake in Nepal was from their "I Reporters"...Which means, viewers who pulled out their phones and started filming, and then CNN ripped it fromYouTube...And I've gotten use to these dolts talking about what's trending on twitter as if it's news...It's not, they're just lazy...But the local and Nightly News have started doing this too...

Listen Mr. News Man, if you think you are keeping up with the times, and reaching all demographics by telling us what's trending on Twitter, you've got a serious problem...People who seriously use twitter and other social media know what trending already...Shit, they're part of the reason why shit is trending...Then you have people like me...I use it...But I filter out the nonsense, so if #KimKardasianEatsCockBallsAndAss is trending, I pay it no attention...If #7000DeadInEarthquake is trending, I'll take a look at that...Then you have people like my Dad...He doesn't have Twitter...He doesn't have a computer, or tablet, or smart phone...He's as close to off the grid you can get in this day and age...He reads the newspaper every day...Yep, he's one of the handful left...He want to get the news when he watches the news, not some vest wearing douche saying "The CLE"... and not some prompter reading twat saying, "Trending today!"

I'm really saddened by the direction our media has gone...Hell, I'm pretty saddened by the direction our country as a whole has been going...

-Do we want to talk about Baltimore? Listen, I don't know what happened to that guy other then he died...I'm guessing that mistakes were made by the police, but I wasn't there, and I don't do there job, so I'm not going to try and play judge and jury here...I'm willing to wait for the full story to come out...But if people feel a wrong has been done, they have the right to speak up...They have the right to protest...The thing is, protest doesn't mean assault...It doesn't mean steal...It doesn't mean burn down stores, burn cars, destroy others property...The second a protest goes there, I stop caring about your cause...You lost your credibility...What injustice gives you the right to steal, destroy some one's place of work, destroy another's property?  Oh, and the assholes cutting fire hoses live on TV and the firefighters are trying to stop your neighborhood from burning, should be charged with attempted murder...Sorry, folks, when you act like a fucking asshole, I can't have your back...

But let me add this to the conversation.....

That's Molly playing at a park right by the kids' school...We were the only ones there...And sitting there the whole time was that police car just behind her...he is not parked in a spot on the lot...He is aimed right at the playground...I wondered, is he sleeping while my tax dollars pay him?  Is he just there doing some obnoxious paperwork he has to do after answering a call that was a complete waste of his time and our tax dollars? Is he having a late lunch wishing he was playing with his kid? But as time went on it got more uncomfortable...Is he creeping on my kid?  Is he thinking I'm a creep that snatched this kid?  Not that she looks like she is terrified of being there with me...What the fuck is this cop's problem?

That is exactly what went through my mind...I took this picture along with others, all of Molly with Johnny Law in the background...I texted them to my wife and asked her if I was nuts because this cop was creeping me out? She thought it was weird, but figured I had no reason to worry...I took one more picture...Not of Molly or any of the playground...Just him...Seconds later he left...I was relieved when he left, but even more bothered...

Bothered that he immediately pulled out when I snapped a picture...Bothered that a police presence made me uncomfortable...Bothered that I was relieved to not a police presence....I know police officers...The ones I know personally are great guys...I know this isn't just inside my head...Is it because the media only shows us when police screw up? Or not even when they don't screw up, it is skewed as if they did...Is this really where we are?

My one Uncle, a former Police Officer told me when I was young, never trust a cop...I always took that in sense of if I had done something wrong, don't trust them...Don't talk yourself into more trouble...I mean let's be honest, my family history has bootleggers and bookmakers in it, so not trusting police wasn't a surprising thing to hear...But I never thought I would feel unsafe because a cop was nearby...Again, I'm saddened by the road we are on...

-So should I mix in some sports now? Who watched the big fight? No way I was paying for that...1. I don't have $100 for a fight that should have happened 5 years ago...2. Why pay, or go to a crowded bar and pay for overpriced drinks, when you can download a free app, and watch it on your phone...Yep, an app called Periscope...People all over the world were streaming it off their TV's through their phones, for anyone else to watch for free...When it was over, I regretted wasting the time, but was happy that I wouldn't need a sleep aid...Just a totally boring fight...Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can tell me Mayweather out thought him...Whatever...He danced and didn't fight Pacquiao...He boxed not to lose, instead of boxing to win...In my book there was no winner, not even bastards like me who watched for free...All this fight proved was the sport of boxing dying a slow death...The fight everyone wanted for 5 years and that was intensely hyped for months, was a glorious letdown...And the sport has no stars on the horizon that will energize like the greats of yesterday...

-The Kentucky Derby on the other hand was very exciting...I had Dortmund...Molly Frosted...The other kids and the wife finished back in the pack...I knew I was in trouble Dortmund was out in front setting the pace...Just ran himself out...Frosted really impressed me...That horse closed great...Second year Molls has picked good one...

That's it for now...This week I start my new career adventure, and I'm really excited about it...

Have a week...

Monday Moaning

Welcome one and all to the new and improved You Gab Sports...A server company that doesn't suck balls...Nice, fresh, clean look...Almost like we're slowly becoming adults now...

I gotta ask, did any of you notice the dog is wearing a tie?

It wasn't that long ago I was ready to walk away from writing and from my share of YGS...But the crew here showed me a ton of support, and after talking with Sully, Jeff, and B.O.B. I knew that I needed to stay...And a BIG thanks to B.O.B. for all his hard work he put in to getting things worked out with this new site...

A big reason for me considering hanging it up, is my lack of interest in sports...It's still present...I'm into Hockey, just limited time to follow...I'm not ready for Baseball yet, but I'll get there...I'm so fucking sick of football...Which sounds like a sin in Cleveland, but to me it perfect sense...The Browns suck...They haven't done shit in free agency...Players are running away from here...Past draft picks are looking bad...But what is the number one topic in Cleveland...The Browns...'What are they gonna do in the draft!?!'   Ummm, probably shit the bed again!

True story: Saturday night the Mrs. and I were sitting in a local steakhouse...I was drinking Moscow Mules and eating Prime Rib...She was drinking Red Wine and eating a Filet...And this asshole table of six next to us wouldn't stop talking about the Browns...Across the room, the Indians Spring Training game was on...just acouple nights ago Kyrie Irving went bat-shit crazy for something like 57 points...(I only know because twitter was going nuts)...March Madness is getting ramped up...And these twats were talking about "What a great value signing Josh McCown is."  And "They're gonna need to draft another quarterback."  and "Manziel has a good head on his shoulders."  WHAT!  That guy must be fucking hammered! and on and on and on...

Listen, I hate basketball, and don't watch it...But if you're Mr. Fucking Cleveland Fan, put on the Cavs...They're playing right now, and they aren't a steaming pile of shit...The Indians season starts in what, 25 days...They have the reigning Cy Young winner...Some good talent...An excellent manager...Talk about the Tribe!  At least take a fucking month off of talking about the city's biggest scam artists, The Browns...

Yes, Scam artists...They say they're a NFL team, but they look like shit...They say they're changing the logo, but it's still a stupid orange helmet...They religiously suck, continue to raise ticket prices, and people keep filling the seats...They're scamming you! Wake up!

Last week, On Tuesday I posted a short Monday Moaning with my feel good story...I pulled it from the Chicago Blackhawks who have a great campaign going on called #WhatsYourGoal...Search them out when you have free time...It's good stuff...

This week's feel good story is from some Middle School basketball players and one of their Cheerleaders who has Downs Syndrome...





Yeah, that's a good one!

-Now lastly...Everyone is getting geared up because it's tourney time...Filling out those brackets...Let me just clue you in to the big winner...Yeah, I don't follow basketball a damn bit, but I'm fully confident in saying that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are going to take the whole damn thing!


-I hope you all enjoy the new look Gab, we're looking to take this place to the next level, and we're very excited about it...Tell a friend...Share a link...

Have a week.

Monday Moaning

I hope all had a good week...The first two days I was at work for about 26 hours...Then I was on vacation the rest of the week...Not for anything exciting...The Mrs. had to have some minor surgery, so I had to be around for that and to be Mr. Mom...Something I didn't mind too much...I haven't had a lot of time with the kids lately...Too bad it's in the negative degrees category....But we don't have 8 feet of snow like they do in Boston, so fuck it!

I've spent too much time hearing this fucking 50 Shades of Grey movie/book...From everything I've read it's a story that if it was happening in real life, women would be telling their friend to stay away from this asshole, abusive creep...But it was book that got women moist, so they (generally speaking...Not all of you) are all drooling over it, and calling it a sexy love story...Mind you, if you tried to get your wife/girlfriend to do some of the shit this guy does with his chick, she'd tell you to go to hell...For fuck's sake, how many of these skirts that are all moist over this movie/book, won't watch hardcore porn with you...Most of them right...My wife liked the book...Wants to see the movie...Won't watch hardcore porn with me...Shit, she won't let me tie her up, and whip the shit out of her either....WHAT THE FUCK!

Fuck that movie...You can lick the 50 shades out of my ass!

-Saturday night I was watching the Notre Dame vs. Providence hockey game...And jumping to the Bluejackets vs. Islanders game...You know, 'cause I'm a man!  Then while looking at my phone, I saw something on Twitter about there being a fashion show at the NBA "All-star" weekend...Now I already had no respect for basketball and the NBA, but when I saw that, I knew there was no hope for that silly game...Yeah, I get it...All these guys want to be music and fashion moguls like their idiot hero, Jay-Z...You know they guy that built himself up from being a drug dealer...Fucking dolts!

-And while I'm dogging basketball...Sunday I was given another reason to never support the Cavaliers...Hell, really all pro-sports in this town probably....I have often ripped on this city, and reading THIS article, the whole damn county is full of and run by fucking idiots!

Taxpayers have paid out $154,852,113 for cost overruns for the Quicken Loans Arena and other bullshit in the Gateway area...(Progressive Field and shit)...$88,701,131 came from the "general fund"....I don't know, I would think we would want to use that "general fund" money on important stuff, like our shitty schools, police and fire departments who are always the first to take cuts when their is a budget crunch....Maybe fix a couple of these bridges...Or rehab a shit neighborhood that we've ignored forever...Nope...And Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and city officials think we should continue to do so for another 17 years...17 more years of paying for their cost overruns...NBA teams will share $2.66 billion in TV revenue this year, but aren't expected to pay for any of their buildings costs....And While I'm dumping of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, this shit goes on all over this country...

Dan Gilbert, you won't see me in your Casinos, or at you basketball teams games, or doing anything to put my money in your pockets...That is except for the money you and the county officials are stealing from me...Fucking whores!

-Lastly, I joked about a month ago, that I was going to get out my old art supplies and start working on my career as an offensive cartoonist...Well, Friday the kids and I went to the one art store and loaded up on stuff so we could do some projects and keep them out of  Mom's hair...A kit for making necklaces for the girls...Clay and paper and glue sticks for Molly and Tomas...this and that...And I got a sketch pad, pencils, and a set of drawing pens...I knocked a few things...It was fun to be drawing again...I even did my first stereotypical, Islamic terrorist...Then Saturday another cartoonist had an attempt on his life in Denmark...Then another shooting in Denmark...

So, Sunday I was inspired...I did a quick sketch that would not be liked by certain Islamic assholes...I planned on posting it...But my wife would prefer I didn't...Now me writing this probably doesn't help...I'm sure is some nut-jobs that hate me and want me dead just for typing that I drew some bullshit...Hell, they'd probably want me dead for half the blogs I've written....But out of respect for my wife, for now I won't post it...For now...Maybe I'll work on it...Get it just right!

That said, fuck these assholes...And these ISIS fuck stains...These twats need to all be wiped out...I actually sat and watched the video of the Jordanian pilot being burned alive...Just to be clear, the guy doing their videos could have had a career in Hollywood...that's' how well it was done...You actually forgot what you were watching was real life...That's how well it was shot, and edited...But then I slapped myself, and reminded myself that this shit was real...So I am all for these fuck-sticks being wiped off the face of the Earth...And Initially I was the guy saying, fuck it...They're over there....Let all those bitch-ass countries in the Middle-East handle it...Handle their own mess...Clean up their own damn neighborhood...But the fact of the matter is, is that these assholes have passports...they're from countries all over the world, and they're running around Europe shooting cartoonists...

So, can the dipshits in the Middle-East, and fuckers in Europe, and us, and everyone else with a slight bit of sanity get together and end these pricks, so my wife won't fear for my family's lives because I wrote a blog, or drew a picture that might upset some fucking twat!

Have a week...

The Beeze.

Black Friday....

 

Well, for some it's black Friday...But for me, fuck that...

I think this week, for Rosie and I...It feels like a Blue Friday...

Now this may get uncomfortable for some people, but that's too bad...It would be easy to bang out a 'What I'm thankful for' blog, or talk turkey and football...But why would I want that...

Much of my life, I've been called a "Liberal" and it hasn't bothered me...Not all my views are truly "Liberal" but I've been called much worse...And the fact of the matter is, in this day and age, Lincoln and Eisenhower would be considered "Liberal"  and I would consider them greater Republicans then the almighty Reagan...But the fact is my views touch both sides, which is where I think most people end up, which would explain why people are so disengaged in the political system these days...

What I'm about to say will not be viewed as "Liberal" and they may actually take my card away...

The media has been pushing this story in Ferguson, and from what I saw on CNN, they took the Mike Brown side...I would like to point out this bit of info...All those assholes who rioted, and looted, and burned down businesses, if you had any important to say, any view you felt needed to be heard, YOU BLEW IT!  Brown's stepfather stood on car and shouted, "Burn this bitch down!" repeatedly...And you fucking dolts listened...I no longer feel bad for the Brown family, because you just ruined innocent people's lives...All in the name of your son who you said was innocent...

Except he wasn't...He robbed a store...There is video of it...But everyone want to ignore it...The same store he robbed, was destroyed, because Ferguson cares so deeply for innocent people! He didn't listen to a police officer, then got physical with him...Then charged the officer when the officer went after him...Brown then got dead...And I don't feel bad about it...Because while you looted, and rioted, and started fires, and threatened innocent people, I read the Grand Jury transcripts...70 hours of testimony, and evidence, and witnesses, including some that admitted to originally lying about the events leading up to Brown's shooting...And the fact that Brown didn't have his hands up...So put that shit to bed already!

If you know me, you know I have often referenced a couple police officer uncles, that told me "never trust a cop"...And there have been plenty of times when I have voiced displeasure with the police...But not this week...

But wait, there's more...This past Saturday in Cleveland, a 12 year old boy was shot by police, and later died...A 9-1-1 call came in that there was "a man with a gun by the swings"...There is surveillance video of the boy, playing with the gun...Pointing it at people...Acting like a punk...When police rolled up on him, instead of putting his hand up, he reached for the gun...The video shows all this...The officer on the passenger side dives out of the car and fires at the suspect...The officer rolled, and got to his feet behind the car, as his partner got out and was taking aim at the now down on the ground suspect...They didn't know he was 12...Nor did they know the gun was a bee-bee gun...The evidence photo makes it clear, that the gun looked real...Should it matter that the kid was just 12?   It matters to many people, but when you have a split second to make what could be a life or death decision, are you really trying to figure out the person's age?  Are there questions? Yes...Could the officers handled it differently? Sure...That doesn't guarantee a different outcome...It's real easy for us to sit here and judge how some one does a job that we aren't willing to do ourselves...

And it would be the first time a kid used a gun...Just Wednesday, near where this shooting was, juveniles were arrested for robbery...And yes, kids were packing  bee-bee guns...

I can't fault the Cleveland Officers for how they responded...Yeah, a kid is dead, and that's horrible, but attacking the police, and threats to the officer are wrong...

And then there were the protesters...They remained peaceful in their protest here in Cleveland...I was happy to see that...But at one point they decided to walk up on the Shoreway bridge, and stop rush hour traffic...People were stuck in traffic for 3 hours...The police let it happen, and did not get confrontational...They shouldn't have...It's on the books people...It is illegal for pedestrians to be on that bridge...To be on that highway...They should have fire hosed every fucker off of there...

What would have happened if an ambulance needed to get through and couldn't? What if some one was in their car, going to the hospital, and then was stuck? They couldn't get there, they died...The ambulance couldn't get through to save some one...Would the organizers be charged with manslaughter?  They should be...Protest is fine...Breaking the law to do so isn't...Are the organizers going to pay the extra parents were charged because they were late picking up their kids from daycare? I doubt it...I'm glad I wasn't there...It would have been hard for me to not step on the gas, or get out of my car and start swinging...

Hey, I'm glad you want to question the system...I'm glad you were motivated to protest and speak your mind...That's great...But if you're breaking the law, then you're no better then those you are questioning and protesting...And again, you weren't in the officer's shoes during that split second...

And let me ask this...Why is anyone still listening to Al Sharpton...The man is a liar, and crook...

And since Al wants to make everything about race...Let me play a race card back at him...Convicted black, felon Kenan Ivery, has been charged with shooting and killing white, Akron Police Officer, Justin Winebrenner, on Sunday, 11/16/14...Ivery has also been charged with wounding four others. This past Saturday Officer Winebrenner was laid to rest ... without a single instance of rioting, looting, or burning.

Now was it necessary for me to put the race of these two men in this story? No...Should I have taunted black people that white people didn't act like fools? No...The story is a piece of shit, shot multiple people, and killed a cop...And a possible side note, that no one called for riots, but properly paid their respects to the fallen officer, and his family...Not everything is about race...Bad shit just happens...

Have a week

The Beeze.

Monday Moaning

Welcome to another edition of Monday Moaning...Clearly the top two topics in sports have been the NFL's two star running backs who are both complete pieces of shit...Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson...We heard enough about Rice...Then we found out Peterson beat his 4 year old son with a "Switch"....Now I'll never be the guy to say, "you don't spank kids." If I fucked up big time, my dad gave a me a couple across the ass with a belt...My mom broke a wooden spoon on my brother's ass...But like I said, it had to be serious...Like the the time I called the operator and said there was a fire somewhere there wasn't...When you have uncles that are cops and fire fighters, that gets you and instant ass-whoopin'...The old man left work early for that one! I was also 10 or 11 and knew better...

Peterson cracked his kid (4 years old) at least 14 times...Bruises, welts, cuts...Injured the kids junk for God's sake...That's way too far...My son took a marker to the walls, lamp shades and one of my Guitars when he 4...He got a couple hands swats across the ass...He got the point...Well the point got across well when I saw my guitar, the last thing I noticed...And I punched a hole through a wall...When he found out I was that pissed, markers stayed on paper...

But seriously...The NFL was taking enough heat already this year...For fuck's sake 32 players were suspended for opening weekend...I don't think they really want this for a PR poster...

Had to do it!

Honestly...I'm not just talking shit...I'm done with the NFL...I will finish out my fantasy football seasons, because I have talked too much shit not to stick it out...But I just can't support this fucking asshole league full of criminals, and run by greedy fucking shit-dicks who will try to turn a blind eye to this shit, and try to keep it from the public...Fuck them all...Eat y ass!

And the NCAA isn't far behind, as they tried to slip THIS news past us last week...Two years of noo university cover-ups and no child rape apparently makes up for 20 years of Jerry Sandusky running wild, fucking kids on the Penn State campus!

I was happy to see that Not just me and IHM aren't willing to let go of this...The good fans at Rutgers let PSU fans know what's up...

Might not be classy...But it's classic!

But the topic that got me fired up late Saturday night...A fellow Clevelander on twitter decided to bash the Indians, and he tweeted his thoughts at the Indians and at second baseman, Jason Kipnis...He was upset the Indians lost to the Tigers...You know me, I'm all for bashing teams and players...What I'm not for is assholes crying about it when an athlete gives it right back to them...

Dude dogged the tribe for being 5 games behind the Tigers...The Indians, a team full of scrubs, just trying to grind it out...5 games behind the bought and not developed Tigers...Fuck off dude...Kipnis defended the heart, and play of his teammates...Here's a taste...

Tom Horsman @TomHorsman "And we wonder why only 9,000 people show up to Indians game in September. This team is pathetic. @Indians @TheJK_Kid"

Jason Kipnis @TheJK_Kid  

"@TomHorsman Pardon my language but you're a fucking idiot.. This team competed it's ass off tonight and played a great game."

Kipnis continued..."I get it..You can be frustrated. We got guys underachieving, not playing well, no ones hot and no real mashers, AND WERE STILL IN THIS THING"

"So don't ever question this teams heart or effort.. You should want over achievers! That means they have a pulse and give a damn each game!"

So of course the media had to chime in and give Kipnis crap for speaking his mind...And of course many fans were unhappy too...

Wait a minute...You, you, and you, and you, and me, we can whatever the fuck we want about these guys...And now, because of social media, we can basically say this shit to them....Then you're gonna cry foul when dude calls you a fucking idiot!?!  Sorry people but we are going to hang out hats on freedom of speech, then so can athletes and celbritards...You don't like, fuck off!  Why are you held to a higher standard?  If you'r going to talk shit, you need to be prepared to get it back...

Bunch of fucking children!

Goddamn Clevelanders...You know why only 9,000 people go to Indians games in September...Because baseball plays a fuck ton of games and that shit adds up...80 home games ain't cheap! And well, the economy in this town sucks my balls...Oh, then you need to remember this is Cleveland...Friday, Saturday, and Sunday means football...High school, college and the shitty Browns will win out against most anything...Yes, even the Browns...15 years of constant bad decisions and ticket price increases, and this dolt filled fanbase won't stop throwing their money at them....Fuck you, I know they won Sunday...They always pull out a few wins each year...Don't get too hard too soon, you'll blow your load too fast dummies!

Fuck! 

Have a week...I'm tired...

The Beeze.

Where Is Beverly Potts?

(This is the Only blog post, that I go into the archives to repost...And until we know what happened Beverly Potts, I will continue to do so...August 24th 2011 marked the 60th anniversary of Beverly's disappearence)



Friday August 24th 1951, 10 year old Beverly Potts vanished from her Cleveland neighborhood...Never to be seen again...The case is still open...And even though it has nothing to do with me...It haunts me...

She had disappeared after attending a showagon at Halloran Park....The showagon was a group of singers dancers, and other performers, that went from park to park near the end of Summer...Halloran Park was at the corner of Beverly's street, Linnet and 117th...

Beverly had gone there with her best friend and next door neighbor, Patsy Swing...Beverly was told she stay for the whole show...Patsy had to be home by dark...When it got close to 9:00 PM...Patsy left...She tried to get Beverly to come with her...But Beverly wanted to stay...And did...

Once it was 10:00 PM, Beverly's parents, and older sister became worried...Her father and sister went to the park to look for her...They came back with no signs of Beverly...They checked again...Her mother called the police...Later, after the police hadn't shown up...Her sister called the police again...It was now after midnight...The search was on...Her father Robert searched the neighborhood...Neighbors began to realize something was wrong...And started searching also...

By all accounts, Beverly was extremely shy...Especially around boys, and men...Even men she knew...So the thought that she would have left willingly with some one was highly doubted...Yet no one at the park had noticed any type of struggle, or anything alarming...It's estimated that there was 1500 people there...

Then Saturday morning came...No sign of Beverly...The neighborhood was in shock...The Cleveland police was working non-stop, lead by Chief of Detectives, James E. McArthur...Every lead...I stress every, was checked out...Hot lines were setup...All three Cleveland papers were covering the story, non-stop...

One of the scariest things to me, is the number of stories that came out...A woman down the block from the Potts house hearing a girl scream "I want to go home!" as a car sped by...A man seeing a young girl in a car with an older man...And then seeing that car in a field a short time later, about a mile or so away...The man beating the girl...A cab driver picking up a suspicious looking man and a young girl on 117th, and taking them to the bus station...These are just a few...You can't be sure what is true, and what isn't...But if any of them are true, why the hell didn't some one do something, or speak up sooner...

There was also many reports of people seeing a particular type of car...With a creepy looking person...Some accounts saying two people...Trolling around the park during the Showagon...

It's all so sketchy...Especially 60 years later...Yet...Even today...If a tip comes in...It's checked out...It's still an open case...Nothing has ever been found...

"The earth might as well have opened up and swallowed the child. She has vanished into nothing." -Ben R. Tidyman in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9-4-'51

The Potts family was investigated...Neighbors interviewed...Classmates interviewed...Every know sex offender questioned...I was surprised to read how well the police kept tabs on sex offenders back then...Over the years, there have been many promising tips, that have just never panned out..

In 2001 letters were received at the Cleveland Plain Dealer...A dying man confessing to the disappearance, molestation, and murder of Beverly...On the 50th anniversary of the disappearance, he was going to turn himself in at Halloran Park...Then he sent another letter, just weeks before...Saying he has become to sick, and was being put into a nursing home...The Police checked everything and anything they could...The man was never found....Beverly has never been found...No trace of her has ever been found...

It's been said, that after Beverly's disappearance, Her mother Elizabeth, "seemed to be crying softly virtually all the time." I can only imagine. Elizabeth Potts died 5 years later, in 1956...

I said at the beginning that this story haunts me...I'm not sure why...I do know that it bothers me even more, now that I have kids of my own...My father grew up at Halloran Park...It was just steps from his childhood home...He knew of Beverly Potts...He's a few years older then her...She was friends with my aunt...

I had spent plenty of time at Halloran Park when I was kid...We'd walk up there when we were visiting my grandfather...I didn't find out about the Beverly Potts story until I was in high school...Although I didn't think much of it...But I always felt uneasy at the park after that...I took my wife there once...It was our first date that didn't start in a bar after work...We went ice skating there...But I still felt strange...I drive past Halloran everyday...And I think about what may have happened to that little girl...

I always think about how much better things were in our society, when i was kid...I knew there were kid touchers, and evil people...I was prepared for it...But it didn't seem to be too bad...Then I would think about when my parents were growing up, and how much better a time it was in the world...There couldn't be this much bad sh!t...Then I learned about Beverly Potts...And her story leads you to so many more horrible stories that happened back then...Clearly, this world has always been f**ked up....

I guess all we can do is prepare our children for the bad as best we can...While not forgetting to show them the good...

Many times you hear questions like, 'If you could ask God one question...What would it be?' Or some silly sh!t like that...I'd ask, WHERE'S BEVERLY POTTS?

Not that it would do any good for her family...They're all gone...Maybe it's just my Catholic upbringing that just wants that poor child's soul to finally rest peacefully.





For more on Beverly Potts case...There is a great book called "The Twilight Of Innocence" by James Jessen Badal.
-
Beverly's page at The Charley Project... http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/potts_beverly.html
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National Center for Missing and Exploited Children... http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US

Monday Moaning

Okay Cleveland...You had your fun...You had your excitement...Now it's time for your friendly wake up call...It's time to relax Cleveland...

Hey...Listen up...I said relax!

What part of relax don't you understand...Well maybe you two can have a few more minutes....

So why am I telling Cleveland to relax...Because this city went bat-shit crazy over LeBron James deciding to sign with the Cavaliers...And him and his sweet, well thought-out essay he co-wrote with a Sports Illustrated hack...Yeah, it was well written...It was good...But these dopes in the media act like he woke up Friday morning and did that shit...He had been working with this SI guy, Lee Jenkins for a couple weeks...Seriously, dude said so in an interview on Mad Dag Radio...All last week, the sports media world was talking about 2 things...Johnny Manziel possibly doing blow...and "Where will LeBron sign?"  James played the media last week as well as he plays basketball...

And Cleveland...This is my hometown...As much as I rag on it, I love this bitch...But this city disappointed me with their begging for James to come back...Just 4 years earlier so many of them were mother-fucking him...Me, I had been trashing him for a good 3 years before that...But it was nice to not be alone anymore...But last week, they were swinging on his nuts again...And those dopes on WKNR....Go find that audio...These two clowns, when the news broke, you could hear them cumming and crying while they squealed like little school girls...I wanted to puke in my cheerios...

So Cleveland was thrilled with the news...People who burned jerseys 4 years ago were heading to the store to get a new one...Whatever tool-bag...But I finally was completely sickened, and embarrassed by my city, when multiple people in the local media, besides the average joe idiots said, "This is one of the greatest days, possibly the greatest in Cleveland Sports History!"

Are you for fucking real? Seriously, you cover sports in this city and you said that Jim Donavan? Oh he wasn't alone...A fuck-ton of his fellow media members said this shit...How about you idiots read a fucking book!  Shit, Google something other then LeBron James!

I know the Browns have sucked balls for ages, but they were the shit many years ago...8 League Championships...AAFC Championships (4)  1946, 1947, 1948, and 1949...NFL Championships (4)  1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964...Jesus Christ, one of your "Journalism" brothers that this area loves so much, Terry Pluto wrote a book titled "When All the World was Browns Town"

What the hell is the matter with you assholes?

Yeah, the Indians have only won two Worlds Series, but shit that 1948 team was stellar...And I think Larry Doby being the first black player in the AL, just a couple months after Jackie Robinson broke in, would rank higher then James signing with the Cavs...What about Frank Robinson being the first black manager in baseball...With the Indians...Oh, and in his first at-bat as player manager, he just hit a HR...Thats' not fucking sweet at all right...

If you really think a player signing to your local team is the greatest sports moment ever, then you need to walk away from sports...

Cleveland fans for years have patted themselves on the back for being such loyal and devoted fans...(I would consider the 455 straight sellouts at Jacobs Field to be a bigger deal)...The national media also from time to time talk about the great fans in Cleveland...What made Clevelanders so tough and loyal?

It was all the downs...Not the few and far between ups...Not the highs, but the lows...The fucking Drive...The fumble, that made me cry...Jordan's jumper over Ehlo...Red-Right-88...The '95 Indians losing to the Braves...The Braves who couldn't even sellout for their playoff games...The '97 Indians, a cock-strong team, one out away...Beaten by a Marlins team that was rented, and sold off weeks later...Yeah, that one hurt like a bitch...How about my Dad seeing the '54 Indians, one of Baseball's best teams ever, lose it to the Giants...

It's those painful moments, that made Clevelanders tough...After those defeats, Cleveland came back to the respective stadiums, and rooted for their teams...Clevelanders didn't take off Chief Wahoo cap...They didn't say fuck it, and throw away there Browns gear and sell their season tickets...They were right back there next year with that stupid dag mask on, throwing dog biscuits at opposing players...

In my opinion, those losses are great Cleveland Sports moments, because we didn't burn the city down and riot like Vancouver...We took it on the chin, and came back for more...The Cleveland that I love would have never begged a guy to come back, and wouldn't have acted so insane if he did...The Cleveland I love would not be going crazy for an egotistical rookie QB who parties constantly and acts like an ass...I understand...Clevelanders are thirsty for a winner...Thirsty for positive coverage in this town...I hope we see it...But we're better than this...


I'll leave you with this...

Have a week....

The Beeze.