The Twins being down two games to one, makes everyone sick to their stomach.  Many have already given up hope that the Wild will do anything this year, and the T-Wolves, ha, they are a team that has lost all hope.  At least we have the Gophers.  Oh that's right, not even gopher hockey is able to salvage a winning season lately.  All that being said, when push comes to shove, life isn't that bad.  There's more to life than sports.  I recently had breakfast with a seventy-four year old man on his birthday.  I picked this man up at his house and took him back across the high bridge into Saint Paul.  I threatened to take him to Mickey's Diner on West 7th, but changed my mind and knew that he deserved better. 

The man has been through some rough times recently.  He has struggled with sobriety, and I believe that he has turned the corner and will win the fight.  He recently returned home from California to be with his family.  This man's family was rooting for him but dealing with it in different ways.  My only concern was reconnecting with this fella and reintroducing him to his seventeen grandchildren, four in particular.  He informed me that detox units are the worst place you could ever be and I responded that I don't think that they should make them a place to dwell for a long time.  The man admirably completed a in house treatment program, and is living in a sober house, where the focus is of course, sports.  There's more to life than sports.

I have known this man my whole life.  I know his strengths, his weaknesses, his personality.  The odd thing is, that I have not had a real connection with him for some time.  The past two months  we have reconnected and he has become a part of my life again.  Someone to talk on the phone with about sports, family etc.  When I lost my father-in-law last year, I lost a nightly phone call from a man who chatted about sports with me, before he asked to speak with his daughter.  The man that calls my home now usually will call to chat about sobriety, family, and oh yea, sports.  He has a special interest in hockey.  He grew up and played hockey in Winona, and told me that the hardest he was ever hit was by Ken Yackel.  He saw stars for days.  It's refreshing to talk to him and not feel uncomfortable, or making small talk.  We engage about real life.  He doesn't call with problems, or just when he needs something.  He calls to find out what crazy schedule we have that day, or just to say he got back from a meeting that went well.  Whatever the reason, it's all good.

Why am I writing a blog for a sports station about this man?  This has nothing to do with sports.  No, but is has everything to do with winning.  It's like winning on a game show.  Behind curtain number three, was this man.  I won already, and we are still playing the game.  I'll help him find a job, make him drive my kids to games and practices, and show him how cozy this century old house is on Christmas Eve. 

By the way, breakfast was great.  He had a stack of pancakes that had blueberries, bananas, walnuts.  I didn't know he liked those.  I can't wait to find out what other types of breakfast food he likes.  At breakfast, he had the attention of a guy that was eager to listen to how his day was yesterday, and what he had planned for his birthday.  The Twins didn't come through for him, but there's more to life than sports. 

Welcome home Bob M.  I missed you. 

Bud (proud son)