Opening Day

Friday April 4th, 2008 - Sault Ste. Marie, MI/Lake Villa, IL

Another hellishly long drive today but I actually saved about 70 miles coming through Wisconsin rather than the Michigan route I took to get there. It was only 474 miles but it seemed longer because a lot of it was through the two lane highways of the U.P. That can be a hassle when following some nose picking Yoop-tard driving his rusty pick up truck.

I had my share of those and more but I knew I had a long drive today so I shut up for the long haul and tried to make the best of it. I had my USA Today crossword puzzle to finish and also my printed out material to look over so I made the best use out of my time today.

It was opening day for the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park and I caught some innings on the way down. I love listening to both Bob Uecker and Jim Powell who are as good as it gets in my opinion as far as baseball announcers go. I met Jim years ago when we were in a fantasy football league together. The draft was at his house and he was a great guy.

I think he’s an outstanding baseball announcer plus he fits the city well too. He’s not a pretentious guy at all and he comes across like a buddy on the air. I think he’s a real pro. I also love to listen to Bob Uecker just because he’s so sharp and funny. I always wanted to be the funniest guy to come out of Milwaukee but I’ll never have that honor. Bob gets it.

He’s one of my three favorites I’d love to meet in person. I already met my other two in Rodney Dangerfield and George Clinton and both were a thrill. I think Bob Uecker would be the same. I know a lot of people who know him like Drew Olson and Tom Haudricourt and Jim Powell and at some point I would love to just shake hands and say a quick hello.

I’ve been meaning to do it for years and just never did get to do it. I don’t get star struck a lot but he’s in the stratosphere as far as I’m concerned just because of his amazing skills as a comic. His timing and rhythm are right up there with the greatest I’ve ever seen and I see a lot because I study comedians. Bob Uecker is right up there with the best of all time.

Listening to those guys made the drive go faster but I’m glad I wasn’t there in person. It must mean I’m officially old but I could not care less if I ever see another Opening Day in my life. Nuts to butts drunks slobbering on each other and waiting half an hour to urinate has never been appealing to me and the older I get it dims even more. I prefer it on radio.

I stopped in Milwaukee to visit my friend Todd Kasulke who I haven’t seen in a while. I just got a strange urge to go visit him so I did. I had my phone turned off because I didn’t have my charger with me and it turned out he had just called me 20 minutes earlier. Wow. That was something right out of the Twilight Zone. Both of us thought of the other one.

We had a hamburger and talked about ideas for Uranus. Todd has a welding shop and he loved the idea and is going to work on some things he can make out of steel. Maybe we’ll come up with something and maybe not but at least we’re thinking about it. I am glad we got back in touch. Todd is a good friend and very funny and he’ll be perfect for Uranus.