I was hoping to see an undefeated Crimson Tide team play my wife’s Alma mater, Mississippi State, this weekend in Starkville, MS.  But, it’ll still be a fun time with my brother and sister in-law!  Looking forward to it.

Speaking of football trips, we had a really nice overnight last weekend in Nashville watching the Titans beat the Colts.  Our friend Andy, pictured with giant Colts jacket, has had a rough year considering he’s also a UT fan!

Some suggestions for Nashville… Stay downtown.  It’s more expensive but you can walk everywhere or take a short cab ride.  We stayed at a really nice hotel called the “Indigo” and took in Broadway.  Even got some new boots!  Margaritaville was fun because of the music and the balloon hat maker.

But the icing on the cake for the last 2 weeks had to be my beloved Saint Louis Cardinals winning the World Series.  Time stops and all is right with the world when the birds on the bat win it all!   We were there opening day in 2006 when they opened Busch and won it all that year.  Ironically, we were at opening day this year.  Coincidence?

But it brought back some great memories.  The band at the high school where I went has kind of fallen on tough times over the past few years.  Part of it is leadership.  It’s embarrassing to watch them march when I see them in a parade.  Shelby’s band (and every band I saw this weekend) is playing at a very different and much higher level of performance.  In a word, all the bands were “tight”. 

The band director when I was in school, ironically named “Ben King”, was a very good conductor, teacher, and leader.  We also had a culture then where the sports players played in the band and it was considered “cool”.  Nowadays, things are so “specialized”. 

But I truly think leadership is what inspires the future.  It was really exciting to see the young people this past weekend and it brought back some great memories.  I thought about Mr. King this weekend. I may not be a professional saxophone player, but band and his leadership changed my life.  I hope Shelby relishes these experiences. 

This trip was partly to celebrate my wife starting her new job at Willis here in Memphis.  I’m so proud of her.  I admire her work ethic very much. 

Not only did we take time to celebrate her new job, but we went to our friend Bob and Joyce Sanvi’s annual “canjun” party.  We actually passed a trailer rig labeled with LSU stuff from Hommes, LA on I-55 in the Missouri boothill.  Stacy and I kept talking about that trailer because we knew LSU didn’t play Missouri or Illinois.  Turns out, they were the cooking crew for the party we went to the next day!

Friday night we also saw the Cardinals beat the Phillies and advance to the NLCS in baseball.  I’m obviously a huge Cardinals fan.  I actually have a “friend” here in Memphis who played for the Cardinals who is going to the game Friday.  I’ll share the rest of that story after Friday’s game!  But the story with the Cardinals has been this silly squirrel who ran across home plate.  The marketing has kicked in on that…with the rally squirrel stuff.  The funniest thing was when that “squirrel” turned up in the Philadelphia celebration with Octavio Dotel marching it around the clubhouse.

But Bernie Miklaz, a local columnist in St. Louis, brought up a good point that my friend Dennis and I were talking about.  The Cardinals aren’t about silly slogans, rally monkeys, squirrels, etc.  They are about Hall of Famers, Stan the Man, history, Red, Whitey Ball, the Wizards, the voice of Jack Buck saying “that’s a winner”, and guys like me who nearly cry on opening day when they prance the clydesdales out.  It’s like a part of your childhood that you feel.

Speaking of childhood, on our trip my son Jake (who almost suffers from exhaustion he loves my folks farm so much) made his monthly trip to see his friends (horses) Queenie, Cari, and Cooper.

We also had the chance to catch some fish at my folks’ pond and raise a flag at “Jake’s Place” (AKA “the Cardinal Cabin”), which is great and provides nice shade at our monthly fishing hole.

But there’s nothing like time on the farm… and time in Cardinal country!  I’m sensitive that we’re not technically in Cardinals country 100% because I have several Braves and Cubs friends.  But it makes me happy that the Cardinals are still playing baseball.

If you want to hear the games, you can support them on the other stations I work with: 92.9 FM ESPN/680 AM or 790 AM (tomorrow and Wed. games on 790 AM).  I’m actually responsible for managing content on those 2 stations.  Soon (Oct. 17th…you’re one of the 1st to know this if you’re reading my blog) we’ll launch another 790 Sports with even more sports content here in Memphis.

So, I finally had multiple deals and things come together to make the trip happen.  Much of it because of my friends who I worked with that live in the area.  It was also my son Jake’s 1st plane ride, and he did so good!  Luckily in Philadelphia they had a “play” airport that he enjoyed while we waited for the return trip.

It was fun to see Jake hit the beach because it was like a massive sandbox to him.

We also had the chance to take Jake to Ocean City, NJ. to enjoy the ocean, boardwalk, shopping, great pizza, and the carnival.  They had unlimited rides for $10 on the day we visited.  His favorite part was driving this little motor boat.

We also took the Cape May-Lewes Ferry across the Delaware Bay because of “more” shopping for my wife at their outlet mall.  Jake enjoyed his first “cruise ship”/ferry ride.  It also had a game room, which he enjoyed more than watching us cruise outside.  He was reppin’ Memphis with his little Jersey in this picture.

Luckily, while “mom” was shopping Jake and I spotted a candy shop and this massive lollipop.

But it was truly great to see all of my friends out there and introduce them to my family.  My friend Eddie worked with all the kids making smores.   Not an easy task with 3-year-olds.

And my wife now believes me when I tell her that not everyone is just like “Jerseylicious” or “Snookie” in New Jersey and that the area really has some charm with fun things for families to do.  I’ll never forget our very first family trip (airplane trip) to the Jersey Shore.

Yesterday, my brother in-law Mike, his wife Angie, and my wife and I ventured to the Liberty Bowl.  Clearly they need to prepare when they actually get crowds at Liberty Bowl.  Especially crowds, unlike Southern Heritage Classic crowd, that do not spend the night at Tiger Lane.  Please have a traffic direction plan.  Also, closing entire exit roads isn’t a good strategy y’all.

But a good game in the Skybox as I dressed up like a coordinator for Mississippi State…

Really looking forward to a fun weekend of family, food, and football!!! Is it Fall yet?  I heard low 80’s for Monday, so who knows?

Later he did things like weld together the framework for a massive wood deck with a platform that included built-in seats and 3 sets of steps customized for their old house.  For their new house he welded the entire framework for their very large rap-around porch before having it powder coated and painted.  These types of stories go on and on and on, in a variety of personal and professional endeavors.

About 4 years ago while visiting us here in Tennessee he was looking around at various “cabins”.  Many of them were small, but effective.  Eventually he came up with the plan that he was going to build his own with the hard team work and labor of his friend Jim Lueker (who’s the best).  And when we say “build”, we’re talking about the size of the average Shantee with about 5-tons of mass.  2-years after starting, it’s now in place thanks to an old Oliver tractor and some skids.  He never fails to amaze and impress me.

Took the portable studio on the road for a few days with the family to visit my folks in Illinois (our home away from home).  My dad is very close to placing the new “cabin” by the lake.  He’s been working on this thing for two years.  Met up with my entire family there, including getting all the “grandkids” together for the first time.

The radio show on Classic Hits 94.1 KQK has been keeping me busy.  Lots of events including making an appearance on “Watercooler Wednesday” thanks to Marybeth Conley and Newschannel 3.  I’ll be back on that show on Wed., Sept. 14th at 9 a.m.  If you missed it, here it is:

And today, I was bird watching out my window here at the radio station.  What is this thing?  It’s much bigger than a hawk it appears?