Fear the Deer

As promised, here is my poem about my four years at Fairfield University.


I am from right field at the Stagdome
A teamless John Stockton jersey and myTunes Redux
I am from $4 pitchers at Clubhouse and Max’s jungle juice
Al’s Place makeouts and saki bombs in Trumbull
I am from Thirsty Thursdays with Robby and Dan
Beer pong in basements and the hookah on the deck

I am from Sunday brunch at Barone
Vodka 180’s and the Country Cow
“Closing Time” at the Arena and the long walk to Kostka
I am from J2 and Room B
The Pink Box and the 313

I am from the Canisius computer lab
Turf in the basement and the chuggler
One of The Sledge Hemmers and The Shampoo Effect
From “Ballin. Count it. College.”
To “I just want to let you know that I’m cool with it.”

I am from the pages of the freshman facebook
Stuffed backpacks and chalked IDs
I am from Doc O’s enthusiasm
Fran’s guidance and Canuel’s tests
Gudelunas’ papers and all the rest

I am the He Said, The Man in The Mirror
From exit 22 and the Metro North
One of Sal C’s All-Stars and We Make It Rain
From “’CUSE!” and “Great time, good party”
To “I have two test tomorrow!” and “Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.”

I am from Saturdays at the point
$2 Tuesdays and The Sports Edge
Softball at Barlow and the reverse limbo
I am from late night bonfires and Lockhart’s pictures
From lifelong friendships and lasting memories
I am from the Class of 2008
For all of time


Things I wanted to include, but couldn’t make fit:

The foosball table, The 80’s party, Kess’ mono, Kessler Whiskey, Guitar Hero, South Padre, the numbers game (siete), watching 24 DVDs, the outdoor courts, Murph’s cargo shorts, sledding in recycling bins, the futon, bullpen sessions, and many, many others.

Poetry In Motion

A few "weekends" ago (Tuesday-Wednesday for those keeping track at home) I made my way back to the city of hopes and dreams. As always, my time there went by too quick, but it was very comforting. I don't get to spend enough time in the city where I grew up, but I know that my experiences there are always with me. That might seem a little too sappy for the first paragraph, but bear with me. In fact, I partially stole that line from a recent Mad Men episode. If you don't watch the show, you should start, because you get lines like, "When a man walks into a room he brings his whole life with him," on a regular basis.

Anyway, whenever I'm home I find myself reading a poem that my sister Maura wrote because it's posted on a cabinet in the kitchen. I'm not sure if she wrote it as part of a class or just of her own volition or if she followed some sort of structure or just wrote free verse, but it speaks to me everytime I read it.

I am from the side hall bench
Pass down cleats two sizes too big
I am from three stolen bikes and sidewalk chalk
Pine cone wars and the three-legged dog that could run faster than my brothers
I am from cops and robbers with the neighborhood kids
Salem Hyde Park and Sedgwick Farm

I am from watermelon and magic markers
From GI Joes and hairless Barbies
I am from Clifton Place and Brattle Road
I call On The Rocks my home too
Cook Ave block parties is where I grew

I am from lost glasses and blame it on Kackie
One of the three dudettes and young Uncle Tim
Marie and Irene and all in-between
From, “Stop it Danny!” to “Say CHEESE!”
To “That’s a dollar” and “Find me my keys!”

I am from the love of high school sweethearts
And four big brothers who give me pillars of support
From the girl that looks exactly like me
To the immeasurable connection
That makes me complete

I am from the dome
Sunnycrest and hot cocoa
From high school parking lots and football fields
Blue minivans and snow mounds
I am forever Syracuse bound

I am from Autumn stew and pigs in the blanket
Pudding snacks and freeze pops
Memories filled in a turtle sandbox
Ticket stubs and old mixed tapes
I am from photographs and newspaper scraps
Family videos capturing the “good old times”
For all of time.


In case you didn't pick up on it, the poem is essentially about how she was shaped by her childhood experiences. Also, in case you didn't know she has an identical twin and the two of them used to play in a sandbox that was a large plastic turtle. Obviously this poem speaks to me because I shared many of her experiences, but that aside I like her use of personification and love the lines "I am forever Syracuse bound" and "For all of time."

Now I haven't written a poem since my senior year of highschool. FYI- I was big into rhyming couplets. In fact, about 80% of the speeches I gave in my CAPS (Current Affairs/Public Speaking) class rhymed. So as I read Maura's poem this time around I thought about the things, places, etc. that I would include in a poem about my childhood. So a few days ago I began jotting down a few of those images, phrases, places, etc. and shortly thereafter I realized that I could probably also write a poem about my time in college. I planned on putting both poems together tonight, but I got an idea for a third such poem earlier today (I'll put the other two together in the near future).

I was at work, talking to my cousin who will not be named on gchat and he asked me when I'll be going back home next because he claims that he wants to come with, saying, "I need some dome (that's what she said) and Suds in my life." As he mentioned the dome, all sorts of thoughts and images rushed back to me. Syracuse University athletics have played an important role in my life. How important? Well, you decide...

I am from The Loud House
A Real Men Wear Orange t-shirt that’s ripped and faded
I am from storming the court 3 times against Pitt
6 OT’s against UCONN and Big Sh#@!
I am from standing and clapping until the first made field goal
Thirddddd down and “it’s good if it goes!”

I am from dome dogs and SUper 44oz soft drinks
Varsity Pizza and pitchers at Chuck’s
I am from 311 Heaven and the 2-3 zone
From “The ‘Cuse is in the house. Oh my God! Oh my God!”
To “We wouldn’t have won 10 fucking games!”

I am from Warrick’s block and the Brominski catch
Pace’s floater and Freeney’s sacks
From Coach P and Jimmy B
To Melo’s headband and Moten’s socks
Jonny’s smile and Spotwood’s returns

I am the dome ranger
Mr. Excitement and Otto the Orange
The Pride of Scranton and 6 first half three’s
From “Wal-ter Rey-es!” and “WE ARE S U!”
To Kevin Abrams picks and Donovan Darius hits

I am from G-Mac’s run in the Big East Tourney
Our One Shining Moment and big men coached by Bernie
From beating Georgia in ’96 on John Wallace’s three
And going deep to Johnnie Morant and David Tyree
I am from retired jerseys and championship banners
Along with 34,616 (or 49,249) of my closest friends
For all of time

Double Take

I realize that it is officially football season and trust me I'm about as gun ho about it as anyone that you know, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the extraordinary year that Jose Bautista is having for my beloved Toronto Blue Jays.

Entering tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles Bautista is batting .262 with a major league leading 46 homeruns and he's also second in the American League with 110 runs batted in. The 29-yea-old's career year has seemingly come out of nowhere as his previous season high for home runs was 16.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates sent him down to their AAA team in August of 2008 he was traded to the Blue Jays for a player to be named later. In case the enormity of that statement passed you by, let me place the appropriate amount of emphasis on it. The worst team in Major League Baseball, the Pirates, decided that this guy wasn't good enough to be on their major league roster, so they sent him to the minors. Perhaps the the brass of the Toronto Blue Jays saw something that no one else did because when he was acquired I thought he was nothing more than a utility player. With his versatility (he can play third base and the outfield) I figured that he would just spell Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, etc. Well sure enough the 2009 season didn't go according to plan for the Blue Jays and Rolen was dealt at the deadline and Rios was claimed off of waivers by the White Sox. This opened the door for Bautista to play everyday in September and boy did he make the most of it. He hit 10 home runs in the month and built some serious momentum going into this season.

Now part of the reason why Bautista is quickly becoming my favorite player is because he looks exactly like my former housemate Pete.



The similarities don't stop there. Believe it or not Pete was a standout baseball player back in college. In fact, much like Bautista, he had a breakout year that seemingly came out of nowhere. In his sophomore season (2006) Pete hit just .238 and led the team in strikeouts. The kid couldn't lay off those sliders in the dirt. The following year he was an entirely different player. Now I can't find the final boxscore for the Stags 2007 campaign anywhere online, but as of this article written about him (by yours truly) on April 30th of 2007 he was leading the team with a .377 batting average, 16 doubles, and 5 home runs.

Pete's 2007 season earned him all sorts of accolades. He was named First Team All-MAAC, played in an All-Star Game in Fenway Park, and was named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Watch List.

So naturally I pointed out this striking similarity to Pete back when the Blue Jays first acquired Bautista. At first I'm not sure that Pete had ever heard of Bautista, but he's an avid baseball fan so he eventually saw him play the Yankees, his favorite team, and he saw the resemblance. I have a lot of friends that like sports, but at that point in time no one else that I knew (and who knew Pete) would have known who Jose Bautista was, so I don't think I mentioned this doppelganger situation to anyone else.

So throughout the course of this season whenever I'd be at work watching a Blue Jay game and Bautista would homer I would text Pete and let him know what a great job he was doing, or that his twin brother hit another homerun, etc. Now that Bautista leads the bigs in home runs he's become something of a household name (at least to those of us who play fantasy baseball), so more and more people that know Pete have noticed the resemblance.



Another similarity between Pete and Bautista is that they are both masters of "the pimp job". I'm not sure what, if anything, the term has to do with actual pimps, but what it refers to is the arrogant extended stare after hitting a homerun, or the cocky bat flip afterwards. Jose has obviously hit and pimped a lot more homeruns than Pete, but Pete pimped lazy flyballs like there was no tomorrow.

Man v. Food

On last night's episode of Man v. Food Adam Richman invaded the city of hopes and dreams in search of some good eats. Now I normally don't watch the show (despite my dream to one day be a competitive eater), but you better believe that I tuned in last night.

If you aren't familiar with the show, this guy goes from city to city and eats at three local hotspots. At the first two he just houses the signature dish and at the third he partakes in some sort of eating challenge. On last night's episode he dined at Dinosaur Barbecue, Heid's, and ate a six pound frittata at Mother's Cupboard.

In terms of picking the local hotspots from the city of hopes and dreams he did okay in my opinion. Dinosaur Barbecue probably has the most cachet out of any other Syracuse restaurant, Heid's is a very popular spot (although I'm a little surprised that it was chosen), and I don't know of too many eating challenges in the Syracuse area, so I guess he found a pretty good one at Mother's Cupboard (a tiny place that I've driven by thousands of times and have never been to).

If it were up to me I would have sent Adam to the two places that I miss the most when I think about Syracuse food: Tully's and Brooklyn Pickle. I would have loved to have seen Adam down some Tully's Tenders while enjoying a tall boy and then demolish a corned beef sandwich with loads of Russian at Brooklyn Pickle, but that doesn't mean that the episode didn't have highlights.

Case in point, look who showed up.


Not only that, but one of my brother Pat's best friends was one of the guys talking to Adam at Heid's.

Also, even though it didn't really fit in at all, Adam threw on some Syracuse lacrosse gear (including a #22 jersey....of course) and tossed the ball around with some laxers for a bit.

Now that Man v. Food has been to Syracuse (and Hartford), all I'm waiting to see is when he makes his way to Fairfield, CT.

Believe it or not, there's been talk among my college friends for a food related reunion of sorts in the town of Fairfield. The way it would go down would be very similar to a bar crawl, but instead of getting loaded at a bunch of different bars we would eat at all of our favorite establishments. This event would not be for the weak of heart. I'm talking at least six places over the course of one day.

The food crawl would start where we started many a morning during our college days; The Country Cow Deli. While there you would be required to eat a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich of some kind (with ketchup for me) as well as drink an Arizona Iced Tea or and an Arnold Palmer.

Breakfast would then continue at the sloppiest diner in America; The S&S Dugout, where this man would slop about a pound of butter onto whatever you ordered.


The S&S man

Actually I think his only responsibility nowadays is the toast. FYI- I'd order two eggs over easy with white toast, french toast, and corned beef hash.

Lunch would then commence at Archie Moore's right by the Fairfield train station. While there you'd start things off with an appetizer that many a man has turned into a meal. Just be sure not to spill the barbecue sauce.



After devouring some delicious wings, you'd be off to 1 of 2 Italian Deli's: A&S or Pranzo. A general consensus could never be reached as to which place was better (so maybe we'd have to do both?). Either way, if A&S was the choice I'd order a meatball parm with fresh mozzarella and get a death stare from the Italian guy with the mustache. If Pranzo was the pick, I'd no doubt go with The Trooper.

Post Italian deli, it'd be time for some Mexican. Where better to get authentic Mexican cuisine than Senor Salsa (La Salsa back in my college days)? At Senor Salsa I'd go with any of the following three options: the Quesadilla Grande without any black beans (trust me, I have enough gas), the Grande Burrito, or El Champion. If Adam Richman from Man v. Food chose Senor Salsa (and if he ever goes to Fairfield he should), he'd be required to get El Champion.

Next on the crawl would be Rawley's to get a delicious burger. Rawley's actually reminds me a lot of Heid's in Syracuse. I've even heard some people say that they've had "the best time ever" there.



Last, but certainly not least on the Fairfield food crawl would be the Ash Creek Saloon. They are known for their ribs, but I'd go with either the wings or the guacamole burger.

In the event that two people are still standing at the end of this all day eating affair, the score could certainly be settled with some dessert at Sunny Daes or with a trip to Duchess.

Now what I just ran through would be the varsity team's slate for the Fairfield food crawl. In order to increase attendance (because that's a daunting challenge), a JV schedule would also need to be created. Without going into too much detail, here is what that would look like.

Breakfast- Village Bagel AND Circle Diner
Lunch- Firehouse Deli (chicks got off to this place) AND Senor Salsa (it's a must)
Dinner- Joe's American Bar & Grill

My apologies for not mentioning the San Diego Chicken challenge at What's Cookin', but I've heard that it's out of business.