So so being the swell dad that I am, right after school Friday I took my oldest back to Ohio to see the last home game of the season for our Brooklyn Hurricanes...She wanted see her friends, and see the fantastic band one more time...she even had hope that the 1-7 'Canes would pull out a win...
But with a minute left, they blew it, and lost 24-21...
She had fun and was happy to see her friends...Then we went to the old house and grabbed some odds and ends that were "non-essentials" in the move...got gas, and a coffee and headed home...
I unloaded a few things and said screw it...It was midnight and I had been up since 6:45 AM....Then the damn dog starts bugging me for a walk, because he didn't get our standard late evening stroll...After that I caught some scores and passed out on the couch...woke up at 3:00AM and dragged myself off to bed...
For today, I have to take the kids to get pumpkins, and hit the grocery store so I can make some grub for friends that are coming over...
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.
I feel you bro....I was that fucking tired this weekend too!
Okay...Maybe not that tired...I may have been able to wake up for that party!
I'll be honest right from the top...I really don't have much in the way of sports...I posted my WEEKLY HAT TRICK a couple days late...I knew just what I wanted to write about, but with Friday being the big moving day, I just couldn't get to it...I thought maybe Friday night...But by the time I got the chance sit down, and not worry about anything, I was just wiped out like that dude above...And there was still plenty more to do Saturday...
Here's Molly and Finnegan settling in at the "pizza slice" table as Molly named it...
...I did see the second half of the Notre Dame and USC game Saturday night...I was glad to see the Irish pull out the win...We often see a team in a fucked up situation like USC, come out with another level of emotion that helps inspire them to a win...And the ND defense again showed lapses, but nutted up in the 4th quarter...
What a fucking mess at USC...How is Pat Haden still the the AD there...How is it the AD is the only guy who doesn't know Steve Sarkisianis fucking drunk...Not some softy drunk...A real drunk...him and a couple assistants knocking back 8 shots and 5 beers at 11:30 AM before going to recruit kids kind of drunk...Then Haden is going to act surprised when he hears Sarkisian coached a game shitfaced...And showed up to practices, and meetings in the bag...Fuck you Haden...
This guy has had 4 head football coaches in 4 years...And the best one, Ed Orgeron, he let walk, because Orgeron wasn't a big enough or sexy enough name to be coaching at USC...Who fucking cares if the team played it's best under him...Haden in 2013 also shit-canned his baseball coach 3 days before the season started, because of a NCAA rules violation that limit the number of hours players can do activities supervised by coaches...Again this was a case of Haden acting late...Instead of being on top of his coaches and making sure they don't screw up, he didn't act until the shit hit the fan...
Haden was going to be the guy to turn USC around and get things back on track and raise the bar again...Instead, Haden and USC are still shitting the bed...Good! Fuck'em!
Sunday rolled around, and I could have watched some football, but we all know I hate those fuckers...Plus, I wasn't really excited by my choices...Now living in Erie, PA. I am pinned between Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh...My one o'clock options were the Browns game and the Steelers game...NO THANK YOU!
So we hung out...Relaxed a little...Unpacked some more stuff...My wife's friend and her son who is little Beeze's age came over to hang a bit...It was a solid lazy day...
After my wife and oldest were done watching the stupid Walking Dead, I got the good TV to watch the second half of the only NFL game I wanted to see...The Patriots at the asshole Colts...I was confident the Patriots would win, but because of what I have learned about gambling from my father, I was more intrigued...The Patriots were only a 7.5 point favorite (that was the line when I looked Thursday)...many of us expected the Patriots to destroy the Colts...So seeing this line made me skeptical...It seemed to low...My Uncle John taught my Dad, and my dad taught me...If a line looks really out of wack stay away, the Line-makers know something you don't...I expected the line on this game to be at least 10 points, if not more...Well, if you felt confident with the Pats minus 7.5, sorry folks...
The choices we make can have a major impact on our lives...If you were choosing from the picture above, you're decision would be based on limited information...Who knows what the fronts look like...What if one of them has a dick? Like I said, choices can make a major impact...
In the NFL, teams have to make important choices based on the information they have...Some teams just don't know how to read that information...Perfect example...The Cleveland Browns...They consistently drafting poorly...They've had about 24 different QB's in 15 years...They thought these FUBU looking uniforms were a good idea...
And Josh McCown thought this was going to work out...Dude looked brain-dead before he hit the ground...
Another example, would be which of two big-name college QB's should you draft...Right away I thought the Tennessee Titans got it right with Marcus Mariota...
Kid looks so comfortable, and confident...Has plenty of skills and room to improve...
But based off of everything we knew, I thought Tampa Bay was making a mistake drafting Jameis Winston...The kid carries trouble in his back pocket, and in his brief college career showed so many flaws, not just in his character, but also in his abilities...The Titans D watched the film...
Honestly, I only watched some highlights...I truly can't stand the NFL...I got sick seconds after popping on the Jets / Browns game...And it wasn't just those god-awful uniforms...Just have no taste for the NFL and all their bullshit...I jumped over to NFL network to check on my fantasy guys, just to find out half my team was playing Monday night...
-Sometimes we make choices that lead to change...Sometimes change leads to making choices...The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have to make some choices after finding out they are changing QB's for the rest of the season after this...
That's starting QB Malik Zaire breaking his ankle Saturday...Now Sophomore DeShone Kizer takes over...Another "dual-threat" QB...But do they use the full playbook with Kizer? Do they try to keep him from running to prevent another season ending injury? Do they lean toward the running game? Passing game? Balanced? Choices...Choices based on what they know...Which is more then us when it comes to Kizer...
-There is a choice that needs to be made in Pennsylvania High School football...That choice is to play defense...First, teach kids how to play defense...Friday night Meadville beat DuBois 107-90...Not in basketball...Football...Meadville's offense was lead by running back Journey Brown who rushed for 722 yards on 30 carries, with 10 TD's....Shockingly while setting a PA record for yards, it's not a national record...That is 754 yards set in New Jersey by John Giannantonio in 1950...
Dubois' offense was lead by the arm of QB Matt Miller who set a national high school record, throwing for 782 yards, adding 10 TD's himself...
I find this lack of defense disgusting...But I wanted to find some video of these kids lighting it up...Local TV highlights were crap...I couldn't find anything of Miller, but I found Journey Brown's 2014 highlight video on YouTube...
Kid can run...And it sounds like he made a highlight video for 2015 all on Friday night...
-Lastly in this post about choices, is the choice my wife and I have made...With her father having dementia issues, and having had a number of small strokes over the last couple years, as well as her mother having more troubles as she's getting older, we have decided to move toe Erie, PA...We will be able to help handle things for them more, instead of being on call and having to drive in all the time from Cleveland...They don't drive at this point, and my father-in-law's health issues are far more then what my mother-in-law can handle...At some point when we get him into a full-time care facility (which will most likely eat up all their money) we'll take her in with us...
The boy, and Molly are excited...The 13 year girl isn't so thrilled as she is all goo-goo for a boy and has some very good friends here...But she understands why we are making this choice...It wasn't long ago when I wrote about needing a change...Well, here it is...And I'm very excited about it...
After we made our final decision, and signed wheat we needed to sign, I did something I never thought I would do...I started a "go fund me" page to ask for help for this big transition....but I figured millionaire actor Zach Braff used crowd funding to pay for a bad movie studios didn't want to make, why shouldn't I to help get a couple appliances our new home needs, along with a couple pieces of furniture and some paint...The boy doesn't like the idea of his bedroom staying light pink! So, if you're interested and able, any HELP would be greatly appreciated...
As for the sports scene in Erie...Beside no defense high school football...There is junior hockey, college sports, AA baseball...and it's a hour and half from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo...So, I can continue being miserable!
